Macnemara/McNamara (Cong)
From 1722, George Macnemara held the Abbey lands in the parish of Cong, barony of Kilmaine, county Mayo and associated land from the Tasburgh family. George Macnemara was involved in litigation over the ownership of the Abbey lands in the 1730s. By the 1770s at least 500 acres, including the Abbey and the lands of Cornamona and Clogher, county Galway, formerly held by George Macnemara (died 1760), were being leased by his brother-in-law, Stephen Creagh Butler, to his son, Bartholomew Macnemara. The Irish Tourist Association file records that Bishop Pococke described the Abbey House in 1770 as the most delightfully situated residence he had seen in the course of his travels. In 1786, Wilson refers to "the beautiful seat" of George McNamara. The Abbey lands were acquired by Sir Richard O'Donel of Newport in the 1780s and sold to Joseph Lambert of Brookhill, parish of Crossboyne, barony of Clanmorris, in 1852.
Associated Families
Houses
| Name | Townland | Civil Parish | PLU | DED | Barony | County | Map Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abbey House | Cong South | Cong | Ballinrobe | Cong 31 | Kilmaine | Mayo |
OSI Ref: M146 552
OS Sheet: 120 Discovery map: 38 |
|
Archival sources
- GO MS 179, 243; National Library of Ireland
- 316.148.210405 Creagh Butler to McNamara (Dec 1776); Registry of Deeds
- Henry Tasburgh and George MacNamara v Sir Robert Echlin and others re lands in Co Mayo formerly belonging to Abbey of Cong, Mar 1733. House of Lords Appeals Vol II; King's Inn Library
- Irish Tourist Association. Topographical and General Survey, 1941-1945. File Mayo East 1-24, parish of Cong, Cross & The Neale; Mayo County Library
Contemporary printed sources
- WILSON, William. ''The Post-Chaise Companion or Travellers Directory Through Ireland''. The author: Dublin, 1786 : 129 (Cong)
Modern printed sources
- O'HANLON, Terence. "The Highwayman in Irish History". Dublin: M.H. Gill & Son, 1932: chapter on McNamara
- MULLOWNEY, Peter. ''The expansion and decline of the O'Donel estate Newport, Co Mayo, 1785-1852''. M.A. thesis, NUI, Maynooth, 2002: Appendix 2
- HIGGINS, Patrick. ''A brief sketch of the romantic life of George Macnamara of Cong Abbey''. Ennis: Clare Journal, 1899: All
- ''Jnl. of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society'': Ó DUÍGEANNÁIN, Mícheál. On the temporalities of the Augustinian Abbey of St. Mary the Virgin, Cong, Co Mayo. XVIII (1938-1939), 154-156
- ''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
- ''Jnl. of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society'': Nĺ CHINNÉIDE, Síle. A Frenchman’s Tour of Connacht in 1791. XXXV (1976), 52-66
- ''Jnl. of the South Mayo Family Research Society'': CLESHAM, Brigid. A voyage to the kingdom of the Joyces in 1756. VII (1994), 2-5
- CLESHAM, Brigid. ''George Macnemara of Cong, Folklore and Facts 1722-1760''. Cong, Mayo Historic Estates, 2020.: All