Cuff

Sir James Cuff was granted the town and lands of Ballinrobe, barony of Kilmaine, county Mayo, under the Acts of Settlement, date of grant 1 Feb 1667. Under this grant he was given 1,872 acres in county Mayo which included lands in the baronies of Kilmaine and Carra and 1,963 acres in the county Galway baronies of Longford, Dunkellin, Clare and Ross. He also received a small parcel of land in county Clare. By a further grant dated 27 May 1669 he received smaller acreages in the baronies of Kilmaine and Tirawley, county Mayo and in the baronies of Longford and Ballymoe, county Galway. He also received grants of lands in the parish of Kilmainemore, barony of Kilmaine and in the parishes of Kilbelfad and Crossmolina, barony of Tirawley. His son Gerald Cuff, collector of quit rents, bought land from Colonel John Browne of Westport, near Belcarra, barony of Carra and built Elmhall. He was succeeded by James Cuff of Elmhall and Ballinrobe Castle, who, in 1731, married Elizabeth, sister of Arthur Gore, 1st Earl of Arran. It was their son, James Cuff of Ballinrobe, who was created Baron Tyrawley of Ballinrobe in 1797. The Cuffs leased land in the barony of Tirawley from the Gores, mainly in the parishes of Ardagh, Crossmolina and Kilbelfad. The rest of their estates were in the parishes of Ballinrobe, barony of Kilmaine and Drum, barony of Carra. Most of the estates of Lord Tyrawley passed to his daughter Jane and her husband, Colonel Charles Nesbitt Knox. Jane's niece, Harriet Gardiner, for a time claimed the Belcarra estate. From the early 18th century a branch of the Cuff family had an estate at Creagh, just outside Ballinrobe, but this eventually reverted to the Knoxes. In 1876 Colonel St George Cuff of Deel Castle owned 3,205 acres in county Mayo. Monuments in memory of family members are located in the Church of Ireland graveyard, Ballinrobe. A branch of this family resided at Ballymoe in the 18th century and intermarried with the Caulfields of Donamon and the Bagots of Aghrane.

Associated Families

Houses

Name	Townland	Civil Parish	PLU	DED	Barony	County	Map Ref
Creagh	Creagh Demesne	Ballinrobe	Ballinrobe	Ballinrobe 23	Kilmaine	Mayo	OSI Ref: M163 655 OS Sheet: 117 Discovery map: 38
Elmhall	Elmhall	Drum	Castlebar	Breaghwy 63	Carra	Mayo	OSI Ref: M199 854 OS Sheet: 90 Discovery map: 31
Castle Gore	Deelcastle	Ardagh	Ballina	Ardagh 14	Tirawley	Mayo	OSI Ref: G180184 OS Sheet: 30 Discovery map: 24
Ballinrobe Castle	Ballinrobe Demesne	Ballinrobe	Ballinrobe	Ballinrobe 23	Kilmaine	Mayo	OSI Ref: M185 643 OS Sheet: 118 Discovery map: 38
Deel Castle	Brackloonagh	Ardagh	Ballina	Ardagh 14	Tirawley	Mayo	OSI Ref: G182 187 OS Sheet: 30 Discovery map: 24
Castle Lackan	Castlelackan Demesne	Lackan	Killala	Lackan North 98	Tirawley	Mayo	OSI Ref: G176 367 OS Sheet: 14 Discovery map: 24

Archival sources

Westport Estate Papers, Collection List 78; National Library of Ireland
Kenny Papers, including land agreements, estate management and financial records with some family papers. Collection list, MP03; Mayo County Library
Encumbered Estates' Court Rentals (O'Brien), Cuff, 19 Dec 1851, Vol 12, MRGS 39/005, (microfilm copy in NUIG); National Archives of Ireland
Pedigree of Cuff of Somerset, of Ballinrobe and Elm Hall, Co Mayo, Baron Tyrawley, Countess of Longford, 1544-c 1785. GO MS 168, 296-7; National Library of Ireland
Map of Deel castle demesne, 19th century. 16.1.3(4); National Library of Ireland
Arran Papers, photocopies of 18th century agents' letters and papers re lawsuit against James Cuff, Lord Tyrawley over lease of Castlegore, 1783-1825, [originals in TCD]. T/3200; Public Record Office, Northern Ireland
Gore, Earls of Arran. family and estate papers. MSS 7576-7635; Trinity College Dublin
Map of townland of Ballyviane [Ballyweeaun], parish of Ross, county Galway, the property of James Cuffe, Creagh, May 1828. 16 H 5 (12); National Library of Ireland
Map of Esker, Co Galway, estate of James Cuff of Creagh, by Henry Joynt and Son, 1841. 16.H.5(17); National Library of Ireland
Map of Esker, barony of Tiaquin, surveyed for James Cuff of Creagh by Patrick Browne, Sept 1823. 16.H.5(11); National Library of Ireland
Irish Tourist Association. Topographical and General Survey, 1941-1945. File Mayo East 1-24, parish of Drum (Elmhall); Mayo County Library

Contemporary printed sources

TAYLOR, George & SKINNER, Andrew. ''Maps of the Roads of Ireland, surveyed in 1777 and corrected down to 1783''. Facsimile of 2nd edition. Shannon: Irish University Press, 1969: 79 (Elmhall), 213 & 217 (Creagh)
LEET, Ambrose. ''A directory to the market towns, villages, gentlemen's seats, and other noted places in Ireland''. Dublin: Printed by B. Smith, 1814 : 99 (Castle Lacken), 138 (Creagh), & 149 (Deel Castle)
LEWIS, Samuel. ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland''. London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837: Vol I, 41 (Deel Castle), 116 (Creagh), 191 & 510 (Elmhall)
ORDNANCE SURVEY NAME BOOKS, County Mayo: Vol I, 384 (Deel Castle), Vol III, 78 (Elmhall)
HUSSEY DE BURGH, U. H. ''The Landowners of Ireland. An alphabetical list of the owners of estates of 500 acres or £500 valuation and upwards in Ireland''. Dublin: Hodges, Foster and Figgis, 1878. [available online at www.askaboutireland.ie] : 110
PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''Return of owners of land of one acre and upwards, in the several counties .... in Ireland''. HC 1876, LXXX: 308
M'PARLAN, James. ''Statistical survey of the county of Mayo''. Dublin: Royal Dublin Society, 1802: 100 & 107
''GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Ballina Union, 3 (Deel Castle)
''The Irish Builder'': Lord Tyrawley's Castle, Ballinrobe. XVI, No. 343, (1874), 95
PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''15th Annual Report of the Commissioners of Public Records Ireland,'' 1825. Vol XVI, Appendix I, Grants under Acts of Settlement: 102 & 189
LEGG, Marie Louise (ed). ''Census of Elphin 1749''. Dublin: Irish Manuscripts Commission, 2004: 316 (Bellamoe - Thomas & Francis Cuff)
ORDNANCE SURVEY NAME BOOKS, County Galway, http://places.galwaylibrary.ie/default.html: Ballynacourty Parish
WILSON, William. ''The Post-Chaise Companion or Travellers Directory Through Ireland''. The author: Dublin, 1786 : 109 (Castle Gore), 123 (Elmhall), 124 (Castlegore), 128 (Creagh)

Modern printed sources

QUINN, J. F. ''History of Mayo''. Ballina: Brendan Quinn, 2000: IV, 209-219
BENCE-JONES, Mark. ''A Guide to Irish Country Houses''. Revised ed. London: Constable, 1988. : 69-70
RUANE, Patrick. Thesis entitled ''Mayo Country Houses before 1840 - Vernacular country houses in the classical tradition'' (M.U.B.C.), 1996: Appendix VI
SIMINGTON, Robert C. ''Books of Survey and Distribution, Co Mayo''. Dublin: Stationary Office, 1956: Index of persons
MULLOY, Bridie. ''Itchy Feet & Thirsty Work: A Guide to the History & Folklore of Ballinrobe''. Lough Mask and Lough Carra Tourist Development Association, 1990: 44-51
KELLY, James (ed.). ''The letters of Lord Chief Baron Edward Willes to the Earl of Warwick, 1757-1762''. Aberystwyth: Boethius, 1990: 87-88
''Jnl. of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society'': BLAKE, Martin J. Notes on the Place Names mentioned in Browne’s map of Mayo 1584. VI (1909-1910), 34-50
''Analecta Hibernica'': Longford Papers. XV (1944), 111-127
GLIN, Knight of, GRIFFIN, D. J. & ROBINSON, N.K (eds).'' Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland''. Dublin: Irish Architectural Archive/Irish Georgian Society, 1989. : 110
BURKE, Sir Bernard. ''A genealogical and heraldic history of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland''. London: Harrison & Sons, 1886: 66-67 (Bagot of Ballymoe)
BURKE, Sir Bernard. ''A genealogical history of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire''. London: Harrison, 1883: 149
HEANEY, Henry (ed). ''The Irish Journals of Robert Graham of Redgorton''. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1999: 270