Johnston (Kinlough)
The Johnston family from Fermanagh purhased land in Leitrim in the early 18th century. In 1802 McParlan recorded Counsellor Johnston of Oakfield on his list of ''resident gentlemen of property''. In the mid 19th century St George Robert Johnston, third son of Robert Johnston of Kinlough House, owned a townland in each of the parishes of Killoscobe and Moylough, barony of Tiaquin, county Galway. Ballaghnagrosheen, in the parish of Killoscobe was bought from the sale of the estate of George Ruttledge in 1851. In 1861 Stephen Johnston offered for sale the house and demesne at Mount Prospect, barony of Rosclogher, previously let to the Connolly estate. Weir and Elizabeth Johnston offered for sale almost 400 acres in the parish of Killasnet, barony of Rosclogher in January 1869. This appears to have been leased from the Earl of Leitrim's estate through the Armstrong and Cullen estates. In the 1870s William Johnston of Kinlough owned 10,633 acres in county Leitrim while his brother St George Johnston, who lived at Rathcline House, Lanesborough, county Longford, owned 1,139 acres in county Galway and 217 acres in county Leitrim. Hussey de Burgh records Robert St. George Johnston as the owner of over 3000 acres in County Donegal in the 1870s. His address is given in this source as Port Nassau, Ballyshannon but the contemporary Landowner’s Survey suggests this was the house built by the Allinghams known as Portnason. Another Robert Johnston occupied Laputa House at the time of Griffith’s Valuation. An offer from the Congested Districts Board on over 250 acres of Forbes Johnston's estate was accepted in 1913.
Associated Families
Houses
| Name | Townland | Civil Parish | PLU | DED | Barony | County | Map Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kinlough House (Oakfield House) | Kinlough | Rossinver | Ballyshannon | Kinlough 5 | Rosclogher | Leitrim |
OSI Ref: G817554
OS Sheet: 2 Discovery map: 16 |
|
| Brookhill (Rossinver) | Cloonawillin | Rossinver | Ballyshannon Union | Kinlough 5 | Rosclogher | Leitrim |
OSI Ref: G807533
OS Sheet: 2 Discovery map: 16 |
|
| Mount Prospect | Aghaderrard West | Rossinver | Ballyshannon | Aghavoghil 3 | Rosclogher | Leitrim |
OSI Ref: G848544
OS Sheet: 2 Discovery map: 16 |
|
| Laputa | Knader | Kilbarron | Ballyshanon | Ballyshannon Rural | Tirhugh | Donegal |
OSI Ref: G903609
OS Sheet: 107 Discovery map: |
|
| Portnason | Portnason | Inishmacsaint | Ballyshannon | Ballyshannon Urban | Tirhugh | Donegal |
OSI Ref: G865613
OS Sheet: 107 Discovery map: |
|
| Cherrymount (Ballyshannon) | Cherrymount | Kilbarron | Ballyshannon | Carrickboy | Tirhugh | Donegal |
OSI Ref: G902605
OS Sheet: 107 Discovery map: |
|
| Rathcline House | Rathcline | Rathcline | Longford | Rathcline | Longford |
OSI Ref: N001665
OS Sheet: 17 Discovery map: 40 |
|
Archival sources
- Irish Tourist Association. Topographical and General Survey, 1941-1945. Kinlough Parish, File 145. ; Leitrim County Library
- Rental book from Johnston estate, Kinlough, 1889. File 79.; Leitrim County Library
- Kinlough House. Photographs. 054/015.; Irish Architectural Archive
- Landed Estates' Court Rentals (O'Brien), Johnston, 8 March 1861, Vol 61 MRGS 39/031, (microfilm copy in NUIG); National Archives of Ireland
- Rentals of the Drumkeeran estate of William Johnson, 1845-1856 & 1884-1890. MS 9465 & 9466; National Library of Ireland
- Landed Estates' Court Rentals (O'Brien), Johnston, 15 January 1869, Vol 92, MRGS 39/044, (microfilm copy in NUIG); National Archives of Ireland
- Encumbered Estates' Court Rentals (O'Brien), Johnston, 25 June 1850, Vol 1 , MRGS 39/01 (microfilm copy in NUIG); National Archives of Ireland
- Landed Estates’ Court Rentals (O’Brien), Johnston, 27 Jul 1867, Vol 86, MRGS 39/042, (microfilm copy in University of Galway Library); National Archives of Ireland
Contemporary printed sources
- 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] : 238
- PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''Return of owners of land of one acre and upwards, in the several counties .... in Ireland''. HC 1876, LXXX: 296 & 304
- LEWIS, Samuel. ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland''. London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837: Vol. II, p.49 (Cherrymount & Laputa), p. 537 (Brook Hill).
- ORDNANCE SURVEY NAME BOOKS, County Leitrim: Vol II, 493, 535.
- ''GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Ballyshannon Union, p.43 (Cherrymount).
- PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''24th Annual Report of the Congested Districts' Board for Ireland'', [Cd 8356], HC 1916, vi, 564-586. Appendix VIII: 49 , 50.
- PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''Return of Untenanted Lands in Rural Districts, Distinguishing Demesnes on Which There is a Mansion...'', HC 1906, c, 177: 345.
- McPARLAN, James. ''Statistical Survey of the county of Leitrim''. Dublin: Royal Dublin Society, 1802. : 111.
- SLATER, Isaac. ''Royal National Directory of Ireland: List of the principal seats''. (Manchester: 1894) : xxiii, 84 (Brookill), xxix, 72 (Kinlough), xxx, 84 (Mount Prospect)
- BATEMAN, John. ''The great landowners of Great Britain and Ireland''. London: Harrison, 1883. : p.243
- ''GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Longford Union, p.40 (Rathcline)
Modern printed sources
- BURKE, Sir Bernard. ''A genealogical and heraldic history of the Landed Gentry of Ireland''. London: Harrison & Sons, 1912: 353
- GLIN, Knight of, GRIFFIN, D. J. & ROBINSON, N.K (eds).'' Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland''. Dublin: Irish Architectural Archive/Irish Georgian Society, 1989. : 95.
- MCHALE, Bernard. ''Menlough Looking Back, a parish and sporting history''. [1989?]: 77
- ''Donegal Annual'': Helen. Ballyshannon gentry families. 71 (2019), pp.48-52.
- ''Jnl of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland'': Corlett, Christiaan. The 1946 Survey of the Area Flooded by the Erne Hydro-Electric Scheme, Co. Donegal. 136 (2006), pp.50-98.