Plunket (Baron Plunket)
During the 19th century the Plunkets, many of whom were prominent clerics in the Church of Ireland, held a sporting estate in the parish of Ballyovey, barony of Carra, county Mayo, from the Lynch Blosses. Thomas Plunket, Bishop of Tuam, Killala and Achonry and 2nd Baron Plunket purchased a large part of the Lynch Blosse estate in the barony of Carra in 1859. He also bought the Ballybanaun estate of the Moores of Moorehall sold in the Encumbered Estates' Court in 1854, so that by the end of the 1850s he owned approximately 14,200 acres in the county. At this time he was involved in a very public dispute with Father Lavelle, the local parish priest, concerning proselytising activities on his estate. Following the bishop's death in 1866 his daughters sold the Tourmakeady Lodge estate to William Horsfall, a worsted manufacturer from Bradford. In 1875, Horsfall sold the estate to the Mitchell brothers, also from Bradford, Yorkshire. The Bishop's sister Catherine Plunket also owned land in the parish at Cappaghduff where she built Drimbawn House. She left her property to a McCausland cousin from county Donegal. In the 1970s Drimbawn was the home of the actor Robert Shaw. At the time of Griffith's Valuation Lord Plunkett held an estate in the parish of Shandrum, barony of Orrery and Kilmore, county Cork. The Plunket family’s county Monaghan estates were bought by Dr Patrick Plunket, older brother of William Conyngham Plunket, 1st Baron. In 1795, Dr Plunket purchased the interest of William Giles of Rakane, county Cavan, in the Raw estate in the parish of Aghnamullen and in 1802 he bought the interest of the de Clifford family in the Milltown estate in the parish of Ematris held in perpetuity from Baron Cremorne. By the time of Griffith’s Valuation these estates were in the possession of Bishop Thomas Plunket and included four townlands in the parish of Tedavnet, north of Monaghan town, part of the See estate of the Bishop of Clogher held in perpetuity by James Rose of Monaghan. In the late 1870s the 4th Baron Plunket owned 1,057 acres in county Cork, 2,592 acres in county Monaghan and 185 acres in county Dublin.
Associated Families
Houses
| Name | Townland | Civil Parish | PLU | DED | Barony | County | Map Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toormakeady Lodge | Toormakeady East | Ballyovey | Ballinrobe | Cappaghduff 29 | Carra | Mayo |
OSI Ref: M088 683
OS Sheet: 109 Discovery map: 38 |
|
| Drimbawn | Cappaghduff East | Ballyovey | Ballinrobe | Cappaghduff 29 | Carra | Mayo |
OSI Ref: M102 675
OS Sheet: 109 Discovery map: 38 |
|
| Aasleagh Lodge | Srahatloe | Aghagower | Westport | Erriff 131 | Murrisk | Mayo |
OSI Ref: L895643
OS Sheet: 116 Discovery map: 37 |
|
Archival sources
- Martin and Brett Solicitors' Deposit, title deeds, leases, rentals, maps etc for Plunket estates in Cos Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, Louth, Monaghan and Cork. D/3406/A; Public Record Office, Northern Ireland
- 11 volumes of correspondence of George Henry Moore re administration of his estates and other family, financial and political matters 1826-1870. MSS 889-899; National Library of Ireland
- Photos. 011/083 (Tourmakeady Lodge) & 011/053 (Drimbaun); Irish Architectural Archive
- Crown and Peace Records, Register of Trees, Co Mayo 1775-1919. ID/51/62, p.122, 125 & Plunket of Aasleagh 137, 139, 143; National Archives of Ireland
- McDonnell Papers, include documents re the McCausland & Plunket families, mainly 19th century. PC 917-926; National Library of Ireland
- ROD 491.339.318367 (1795) and 546.133.359066 (1802). ; Registry of Deeds
- Papers of the Rose Estate, Co Monaghan, 1829-1929. MIC663/1; Public Record Office, Northern Ireland
- Rent books of estate of Bishop Thomas Plunket, 1862-1865, Lady Louisa Baroness Plunket, 1889-1899 and the Hon Katharine & Gertrude Plunket & Hon Mary Forster, 1902-1907. P/1/2/19, /54 & /65. Also rent book of the estate of Frederick John Foster (brother-in-law of Bishop Plunket and his trustee), 1884-1902. P/1/2/49; Monaghan County Library (Clones Branch)
Contemporary printed sources
- LEWIS, Samuel. ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland''. London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837: Vol I, 161
- ''GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Ballinrobe Union, 8
- ORDNANCE SURVEY NAME BOOKS, County Mayo: Vol II, 77
- PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''Return of owners of land of one acre and upwards, in the several counties .... in Ireland''. HC 1876, LXXX: 311
- 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] : 369
Modern printed sources
- MORAN, Gerard. ''A Radical Priest in Mayo, Fr Patrick Lavelle: the rise and fall of an Irish Nationalist, 1825-86''. Blackrock, Co Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1994: 15-45
- NATIONAL LIBRARY OF IRELAND. Reports on Private Collections: McDonnell, reference to correspondence and will of Plunkets. No. 495
- ''Jnl. of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society'': LANE, Pádraig G. Lord Plunket and the Partry Mountains: A study of 1850s Landlordism. XLVI (1994), 156-172
- ''Irish Architectural and Decorative Studies: the journal of the Irish Georgian Society''. : BOWE, Patrick. Irish Sporting Lodges. VII (2004), 106-139
- HEANEY, Henry (ed). ''The Irish Journals of Robert Graham of Redgorton''. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1999: 270
- ''Jnl. of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society'': Ó FIAICH, Tomás. The Patriot Priest of Partry: Father Lavelle: 1825-1886. XXXV (1976),129-148
- CLESHAM, Brigid. ''Tourmakeady History & Society'', (Cong, Mayo Historic Estates, 2021): All
- COLLINS, Peter. ''County Monaghan Records in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland''. PRONI, Belfast, 1998: 179-181