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McDonnell (Roscommon)
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Griffith's Valuation shows that Farrell McDonnell was in possession of a townland in the parish of Abbeyknockmoy, barony of Tiaquin, county Galway in the mid 1850s. In the 1870s Farrell McDonnell owned 149 acres in county Galway and 1,034 acres in county Roscommon. 578 acres belonging to him was vested in the Congested Districts' Board on 16 Feb 1911. By March 1916 he had received a final offer of over £18,000 from the Congested Districts' Board for his 4,500+ acres in county Galway. In March 1912 over 2,000 acres in county Roscommon belonging to him were vested in the Congested Districts' Board. He was related to Martin McDonnell as there is reference to his estate at Meelick, just south of Williamstown, [parish of Boyounagh, barony of Tiaquin] in a Dail debate. This townland belonged to Martin McDonnell at the time of Griffith's Valuation. see http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/0347/D.0347.198402150037.html Farrell McDonnell, Sweeney and Company are a firm of solicitors in Abbey Street, Roscommon. Information in the Farrell McDonnell file in Roscommon County Library records Farrell McDonnell (1845-1904) as a solicitor and the first Chairman of Roscommon County Council. He was a son of Mark McDonnell of Roscommon and Ballaghderreen and a nephew of Martin McDonnell of Roscommon and of Farrell McDonnell Senior, who had extensive business interests in Roscommon town. Possibly there were 2 Farrell McDonnells as Sister Delaney writes that Martin McDonnell of Dunmore had 2 sons James who lived at Waterslade, Tuam and Farrell, who married a daughter of Frank McDonagh of Wilmount, Portumna.
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McDonnell (Dunmore)
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Martin McDonnell was a merchant from Roscommon who prospered significantly in the mid 19th century. He held eight townlands in the parish of Boyounagh, barony of Tiaquin, one townland in the parish of Tuam, barony of Clare and one townland in the parish of Dunmore, barony of Ballymoe, county Galway at time of Griffith's Valuation. P. Lane writes that McDonnell bought almost 6,000 acres of Lord Fitzgerald's estate in the vicinity of Dunmore in the early 1850s. By the 1870s he owned over 9,000 acres in county Galway, 2,940 acres in county Roscommon and three acres in county Mayo. The lands in Roscommon included property in the parish of Kiltullagh, barony of Castlereagh. Sister T.Delaney writes that in 1893 he bought Headford Castle and much of the town. Over 3,000 acres of the estate of his son, James McDonnell, in county Galway was vested in the Congested Districts' Board on 24 Mar 1911 and a further 1,000 acres in February 1912. The Congested Districts' Board was negotiating the purchase of some of McDonnell's county Roscommon estate in 1916. Martin McDonnell also had a son named Farrell. Sister Delaney writes that Farrell went to Clongowes and married the daughter of Frank McDonagh of Wilmount, Portumna. She also records James McDonnell residing at Waterslade, Tuam and at Castle Ellen, Athenry.
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Fitzgerald/Vesey Fitzgerald
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Catherine Vesey Fitzgerald was elevated to the peerage of Ireland as Baroness Fitzgerald and Vesey in 1826. Her father, the Reverend Henry Vesey, was Warden of Galway and a great, great grandson of John Vesey, Archbishop of Tuam. She and her sister eventually succeeded to the estates of her father and uncles, John and Agmondisham Vesey. Her eldest son William succeeded her as Baron Fitzgerald and Vesey and died unmarried in 1843. In 1853 his executor advertised for sale lands in the baronies of Clare and Tiaquin, county Galway, amounting to almost 4,000 acres. The lands in the barony of Tiaquin were bought by the Reverend George Salmon and those in the barony of Clare by the Very Reverend Henry Vesey Fitzgerald, Dean of Kilmore, brother of Willliam and his successor as Baron Fitzgerald and Vesey. His county Galway estate was in the parishes of Belclare and Lackagh, barony of Clare and in the parish of Tuam, barony of Dunmore, while his county Clare estate was mainly in the parishes of Inchicronan, barony of Bunratty Upper and Kilkeedy, barony of Inchiquin. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Standish O'Grady of county Limerick and had 5 daughters. He died in 1860. His daughters appear to have succeeded to his county Galway estates while his sister Letitia Foster Vesey Fitzgerald's children succeeded to the county Clare estate. In the 1870s his representatives owned 1,437 acres in county Galway while Walter Trevor Stannus is recorded as owning 2976 acres. Two of the Baron's daughters married sons of the Very Reverend James Stannus, Dean of Ross, and the 5,678 acre estate of M.G. Stannus and others in county Galway was vested in the Congested Districts' Board on 5 March 1914. The sale of 1,567 acres belonging to Mary G. Fitzgerald and others to the Congested Districts' Board was proceeding in 1909. P. Lane writes that Martin McDonnell bought almost 6,000 acres of Lord Fitzgerald's property around the town of Dunmore in the early 1850s. Besides the estate in county Galway the representatives of Lord Fitzgerald and Vesey owned 628 acres in county Cavan. Griffith’s Valuation records lands in the parishes of Ballintemple, Denn, Kilmore, Crosserlough and Castlerahan belonging to Lord Fitzgerald and Vesey.
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Gunning Plunkett
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The Gunnings were an English family who settled at Castlecoote in county Roscommon in the 17th century. In 1768 General John Gunning married Susanna Minifie and had a daughter Elizabeth. Elizabeth Gunning was a novelist and a niece of the famous Gunning sisters. In 1803 she married Major James Plunkett son of Bartholomew Plunkett. James Gunning Plunkett, an army officer, was their grandson. He owned an estate in the parishes of Athleague, barony of Athlone, Roscommon, barony of Ballintober South, Killukin and Kilcooley, barony and county of Roscommon . He was a non resident proprietor who lived in Lancashire and owned The Northern Press and Liverpool General Advertiser in the 1860s. In June 1857 the estate of James Gunning Nelson Plunkett was advertised for sale in 2 divisions, Tulsk and Roscommon, amounting in total to 2,407 acres. Two lots were readvertised in May 1864. This was the senior branch of the Gunning family. http://www.unl.edu/Corvey/html/Projects/CorveyNovels/Gunning/Gunning%20Family%20Overview.htm
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McDonagh (Lickmolassy/Wilmount)
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According to Burke's ''Landed Gentry of Ireland'' (1904) the McDonoghs held land in the Gort area in the late 18th century and were resident at Wilmount, near Portumna, county Galway. At the time of Griffith's Valuation Matthew McDonagh held land from the Shees in the town of Tuam. In 1865 Francis Joseph McDonagh, son of Matthew, married Mary Bodkin of Tuam. One of their daughters married Farrell McDonnell, son of Martin McDonnell of Dunmore and Headford Castle. One of their sons Thomas McDonagh resided at Headford Castle before moving to Moyne Hill. Matthew McDonagh with an address at Wilmount, Portumna, owned 174 acres in county Galway in 1876. Slater refers to a Mrs. Mary McDonagh, resident at a property called Glenallen, Portumna in 1846. The McDonaghs were very involved in the racing world in the latter half of the 19th century.
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