Guinness

Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness of the famous brewing family began to purchase Connacht estates for sale in the Encumbered Estates' Court from 1852. He bought the Ashford estate from Lord Oranmore and Browne, the Doon estate from Sir Richard O'Donel, the Cong estate from Alexander Lambert, part of the Rosshill estate from Lords Charlemont and Leitrim, parts of Connemara from Christopher St George and Kylemore from a banking consortium in 1859. Guinness acquired lands in county Kerry in the 1850s and was a principal lessor in the parish of Kilcrohane, barony of Dunkerron South at the time of Griffith's Valuation. He bought the Elwood estate of Strandhill, just across the river from Ashford, Cong, in 1871 and Lord Kilmaine sold him Inishdoorus, islands on Lough Corrib and lands in the barony of Ross, part of Nymphsfield in 1875. William Burke of Lisloughry was his agent. Arthur Guinness (1840-1915) was granted the title Baron Ardilaun in 1880. In the 1870s Arthur Guinnes owned 19,944 acres in county Galway, 3,747 acres in county Mayo and smaller acreages in counties Wicklow and Dublin. In 1906 Lord Ardilaun's estate held over 1700 acres of untenanted demesne land at Moyode, Loughrea as well as the mansion house at Moyode. By March 1916 final offers had been accepted from the Congested Districts' Board for over 2000 acres of the Guinness estate in county Mayo and for almost 28,000 acres in county Galway. The Board paid £50,000 for the Galway acreage. An offer had also been accepted for the purchase of the Aran Islands by the Board. The Guinness and St Lawrence families had inherited the Aran Islands from the Digbys through the Barfoots. The Guinness family retained Ashford Castle and the surrounding woods until 1939 when the property was sold to the Irish Government.

Associated Families

Houses

Name	Townland	Civil Parish	PLU	DED	Barony	County	Map Ref
Ashford Castle	Ashford	Cong	Oughterard	Cloonbur 157	Ross	Galway	OSI Ref: M148 546 OS Sheet: 27 Discovery map: 38
Rosshill	Kilbeg Lower	Ross	Oughterard	Cloonbur 157	Ross	Galway	OSI Ref: M087 569 OS Sheet: 27 Discovery map: 38
Strandhill	Strandhill	Cong	Ballinrobe	Cong 31	Kilmaine	Mayo	OSI Ref: M150 547 OS Sheet: 120 Discovery map: 38
Kylemore Lodge	Kylemore	Ballynakill	Clifden	Cushkillary 30	Ballynahinch	Mayo	OSI Ref: L762 578 OS Sheet: 23 Discovery map: 37
Moyode	Moyode Demesne	Kilconierin	Loughrea	Moyode 117	Athenry	Galway	OSI Ref: M531232 OS Sheet: 96 Discovery map: 46
Doon	Drumsnauv	Cong	Oughterard	Cong 158	Ross	Galway	OSI Ref: M025 495 OS Sheet: 39 Discovery map: 45
Lisloughrey	Lislaughera	Cong	Ballinrobe	Cong 31	Kilmaine	Mayo	OSI Ref: M155 544 OS Sheet: 120 Discovery map: 38
Macroom Castle	Lackaduff	Macroom	Macroom	Macroom 227	West Muskerry	Cork	OSI Ref: W338 728 OS Sheet: 71 Discovery map: 79

Archival sources

Pedigree of Guinness of Dublin, Ashford & Rosshill, Co Galway, c 1730-1867. GO MS 179: 235-240; National Library of Ireland
Sale catalogue of Ashford, Doon etc. May 1939 & press cuttings. 0094/016; Irish Architectural Archive
Photos. 022/085 (Rosshill House) & 004/039 (Ashford) ; Irish Architectural Archive
Irish Tourist Authority. Topographical and General Survey, 1941-1945. File Mayo East 1-24, parish of Cong, Cross & The Neale; Mayo County Library
Bantry Papers 1671-1980s, include many documents relating to Lord & Lady Ardilaun and the conferring of the title Baron Ardilaun of Ashford to Sir Arthur E. Guinness. IE BL/EP/B; University College Cork, Boole Library Archives

Contemporary printed sources

COULTER, Henry. ''The West of Ireland: its existing condition and prospects''. Dublin: Hodges and Smith, 1862: 156-158
PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''Return of owners of land of one acre and upwards, in the several counties .... in Ireland''. HC 1876, LXXX: 296
''GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Oughterard Union, 62
LEWIS, Samuel. ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland''. London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837: I, 392
''The Irish Builder'': GILDEA, J. Notes on works in South Mayo. (Jan 1875), 5
PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''24th Annual Report of the Congested Districts' Board for Ireland'', [Cd 8356], HC 1916, vi, 564-586. Appendix VIII: 45, 47 & 55
PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''Return of Untenanted Lands in Rural Districts, Distinguishing Demesnes on Which There is a Mansion...'', HC 1906, c, 177: 326 (Moyode), 331 (Ashford), 332 (Rosshill) & 356 (Strandhill)
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] : 196
PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''Return of names of proprietors and area and valuation of properties in counties in Ireland, held in fee or perpetuity or long leases at chief rents,'' 1876. (412) LXXX. 395: 148.
SLATER, Isaac. ''Royal National Directory of Ireland: List of the principal seats''. (Manchester: 1894) : xxi, 42
SLATER, Isaac. ''Royal National Directory of Ireland: List of the principal seats''. (Manchester: 1894) : xxx, 264 (Macroom Castle)
BATEMAN, John. ''The great landowners of Great Britain and Ireland''. London: Harrison, 1883. : 13

Modern printed sources

''Jnl. of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society'': LANE, Pádraig G. The General Impact of the Encumbered Estates Act of 1849 on Counties Galway and Mayo. XXXIII (1972), 44-74
''Cathair na Mart : Journal of the Westport Historical Society'': MORAN, Gerard. Landlord and Tenant Relations in Ireland, Sir Arthur Guinness and his Estate at Ashford Castle, 1868-1882. X (1990), 69-78
SEMPLE, Maurice. ''Reflections on Lough Corrib''. Galway: the author, 1974: 170-186
SEMPLE, Maurice. ''By the Corribside''. Galway: the author, 1981: 105-128
SEMPLE, Maurice. ''Where the River Corrib flows''. Galway: the author, 1988: 86-102
FITZGERALD, Olda. ''Ashford Castle through the centuries''. Dublin: Cadogan Publications Limited, 2000: All
BENCE-JONES, Mark. ''A Guide to Irish Country Houses''. Revised ed. London: Constable, 1988. : 12
MOSLEY, Charles (ed). ''Burke's Peerage and Baronetage''. Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999: I, 1249-1255
ROBINSON, Tim. ''Connemara, Part 1: Introduction and Gazetteer''. Roundstone: Folding Landscapes, 1990: 35
HOWARD, Joseph Jackson and CRISP, Frederick Arthur (eds). ''Visitation of Ireland''. Baltimore: reprint by Genealogical Publishing Co. Inc., 1973: Vol II, 74-81
Shand, A. Innes. ''Letters from the West of Ireland 1884'' (Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1885),: 137-139
MONTGOMERY-MASSINGBERD, Hugh (ed). ''Burke's Irish Family Records''. London: Burke's Peerage, 1976: Turnly of Drumnasole, Co Antrim. 1145-1146
WALFORD, Edward. 'The County families of the United Kingdom''. London: Chatto and Windus, 1885): 25 (Ardilaun, Lord)