Landed Estates
University of Galway

Blake (Ballyglunin)

In ''Blake Family Records'' Martin J. Blake states that Martin Blake of Cummer, county Galway, purchased Ballyglunin from Charles Holcraft, the grantee under the Cromwellian settlement and that he was confirmed in his possession of 1,895 acres in the barony of Clare by patent dated 26 July 1677. By the mid 19th century the Blake estate was in the parishes of Kilmoylan, Belclare, Killererin, Annaghdown and Tuam, barony of Clare, in the parish of Abbeyknockmoy, barony of Tiaquin and in the parish of Rahoon, barony of Galway. In the 1870s the Blakes owned over 10,000 acres in the locality. By March 1916 the Blakes had accepted a final offer of over £60,000 from the Congested Districts' Board for almost 9,800 acres of their estate. The early generations intermarried a number of times with members of the Joyce family. John Blake, a younger son of Martin Blake and his wife Bridget Joyce, married Olivia French of Brooklodge in 1803. However the sale rental of Brooklodge and other property in the county of the town of Galway belonging to Walter Martin Blake dated 1867 indicates that Martin J. Blake bought the lease of Brooklodge for £10,000, rather than inheriting it. The property in the town of Galway was purchased by Messers. Browne, Higgins, O'Flaherty and West.

Associated Families

Houses

Name Townland Civil Parish PLU DED Barony County Map Ref  
Ballyglunin Ballyglooneen Kilmoylan Galway Ballynapark 189 Clare Galway OSI Ref: M453 417
OS Sheet: 58
Discovery map: 46 		Photo of Ballyglunin
Ballina Ballina Killererin Tuam Ballynapark 189 Clare Galway OSI Ref: M483 443
OS Sheet: 58
Discovery map: 46 		Photo of Ballina
Brooklodge Brooklodge Demesne Killererin Tuam Ballynapark 189 Clare Galway OSI Ref: M466 421
OS Sheet: 58
Discovery map: 46 		Photo of Brooklodge
Culliagh North [Knockmoy Abbey] Culliagh North Abbeyknockmoy Tuam Abbey West 188 Tiaquin Galway OSI Ref: M500432
OS Sheet: 58
Discovery map: 46 		Photo of Culliagh North [Knockmoy Abbey]

Archival sources

  • Blake of Ballyglunin Papers. M.6931-6937 & T.17170-17186A; National Archives of Ireland
  • Landed Estates' Court Rentals (O'Brien), Blake, 17 May, 5 July & 22 Nov 1867, Vols 85, 86 & 87, MRGS 39/041& 39/042, (microfilm copy in NUIG); National Archives of Ireland
  • Pedigree of Blake of Ardfry, Cummer, Ballyglunin, Co Galway and Dunmacreene, Co Mayo and of the West Indies and Suffolk, c 1560-1829. GO MS 170: 210-224; National Library of Ireland
  • Blake of Ballyglunin Papers. LE7; James Hardiman Library, University of Galway
  • Blake of Ballyglunin, Collection List A6, legal and financial correspondence, accounts, labourers and servants' records, maps and plans, 1840s-1920s. MSS 26,979-27,015; National Library of Ireland
  • Notebooks containing a record of letters sent and recipes, early 19th century. MS 19,702 (1-2); National Library of Ireland
  • Blake of Brooklodge Papers, including land surveys, rent and household accounts and correspondence re family trusts, 1666-1934. G00/1; Galway County Council Archives
  • Estate records of Denis J. Kirwan and Sons, land agents, Tuam, mid 19th - mid 20th centuries, includes ledgers of rent receipts for Walter M. Blake's Ballyglunin, Ballyturick, Rusheen, Bonoughanane, Cloondahamper & Briarfield estates c 1860s-1880s, maps of Shantalla, Galway & other accounts. Kirwan of Tuam & Dalgin, Collection List 142; National Library of Ireland
  • Ballina House photos. 024/006; Irish Architectural Archive

Contemporary printed sources

Modern printed sources