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Villiers (Kilpeacon & Beech Hill)
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The Reverend Fitzgerald in a footnote in his book gives an account of the owners of Kilpeacon, county Limerick. The castle was originally the property of Sir William King. As he had no direct heirs it passed to his grand nephews Richard and Edward Villiers who also died childless. The property then passed to their nephew Joseph Crips of Edwardstown, who took the name Villiers. Edward Villiers the proprietor in the 1820s was his grandson. In the early 1840s the whole parish of Kilpeacon was held by the representatives of Edward Villiers. In the mid 19th century Edward Cripps Villiers owned an estate in the parishes of Kilpeacon, baronies of Smallcounty and Pubblebrien and Ballycahane and Crecora, barony of Pubblebrien, county Limerick. His county Limerick estate, which included houses in the city of Limerick, plus a fee farm rent on lands in county Clare and some land in county Kilkenny were first advertised for sale in July 1850. Kilpeacon was sold to Major George Gavin. Edward C. Villiers appears to have bought the Beech Hill estate, parish of Grange, barony of Kilconnell, in county Galway, at this time. He was in possession of the Beech Hill estate in 1855. In the 1870s Edward C. Villiers estate in county Galway amounted to over 500 acres and his representatives owned 118 acres in county Limerick. In 1906 Villiers was in possession of almost 500 acres of untenanted demesne land at Grange including Beech Hill House valued at £26.
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