Kilkelly (Mossfort)

John Kilkelly bought his estate at Mossfort in the parish of Donaghpatrick, barony of Clare, county Galway, from Christopher St George of Tyrone in 1853. He had previously been leasing the land. In the 1870s he owned 1,009 acres in county Galway, including some land in the parish of Dunmore. The Kilkellys also leased the townland of Cave from the Nesbitts. M.J. Hughes writes that they sold their estate at Mossfort about 1890. The owner John Michael Kilkelly was married to the only daughter of George Henry Moore of Moore Hall and later lived in county Longford. Hughes states that Mossfort was built by the Kilkellys. The Irish Times reported on the sale of the Kilkelly estate in May 1890. Some lots in the barony of Dunmore were sold to Martin McDonnell while the sale of other lots was adjourned.