Gray (Claremorris)
In the 1780s the Gray family from Ballybay, county Monaghan, settled at Turlough, near Castlebar, county Mayo. John Gray moved to Claremorris following his marriage to Elizabeth Wilson and leased properties in the town from the Brownes of Claremount. He bought the house Coursefield from the Nettervilles and an estate of 199 acres. He had a large family, one of whom became Sir John Gray, proprietor of the ''Freeman's Journal'' in the 1850s. In 1861 the Grays sold their Coarsefield estate. A sale of further Gray property in Castlebar and Claremorris took place in November 1863. The purchasers included Messers. Brabazon, Young and Griffin, as well as Patrick Joseph Kelly purchasing in trust.
Associated Families
Houses
| Name | Townland | Civil Parish | PLU | DED | Barony | County | Map Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coarsefield | Coarsefield | Tagheen | Claremorris | Cloghermore 89 | Clanmorris | Mayo |
OSI Ref: M273 763
OS Sheet: 101 Discovery map: 38 |
|
Archival sources
- Landed Estates’ Court Rentals (O’Brien), Gray, 16 Apr 1861, Vol 61, MRGS 39/031, (microfilm copy in NUIG); National Archives of Ireland
- Landed Estates’ Court Rentals (O’Brien), Gray, 6 July & 20 Nov 1863, Vols 69 & 70 , MRGS 39/034 & 39/035, (microfilm copy in NUIG); National Archives of Ireland
- Letters to Edward Dwyer Gray, 1851-1904. Ms 3490; Trinity College Dublin
- Edmund Dwyer Gray, Irish journalist & politican, scrapbook relating to his life, c 1880-1889. Acc. 6256; National Library of Ireland
Contemporary printed sources
- LEET, Ambrose. ''A directory to the market towns, villages, gentlemen's seats, and other noted places in Ireland''. Dublin: Printed by B. Smith, 1814 : 135 (Netterville)
Modern printed sources
- ''The Irish Genealogist'': RUTTLEDGE, Thomas Ormsby. The Gray family of Claremorris, Co. Mayo. VII, No. 4, (1989), 551-562
- ''Crossboyne Parish Magazine'': Sir John Gray 1816-1875. III (1999), 46
- ''Irish Times'': Landed Estates Court sales, 21 November 1863, p.4