|
Daly (Dalystown)
|
In 1814 the Rt. Hon Denis Bowes Daly was the owner of the Dalystown estate, the son of Hyacinth Daly and Rose Daly. He had a long career in politics, representing both county Galway and Galway Borough as well as King's County (Offaly). He married Charlotte Ponsoby in 1780 but she died a year later. Melvin writes that when Denis Bowes Daly died in 1821 the Masonbrook part of his estates was placed in the hands of trustees to settle his debts. In 1834 it was sold by the Court of Chancery to James Smyth of Loughrea for £12,100.
|
|
Mason (Masonbrook)
|
The early generations of this family, Robert Mason and his sons, George and Robert of Loughrea, are documented in the Westport Papers. Robert Mason was an agent for Colonel John Browne of Westport in the early 1690s. In 1703 he bought part of the forfeited estate of Thomas Burke in the barony of Leitrim. Some genealogists suggest that there is a link between these Masons and those of Waterford and of Ballymacelligott, county Kerry. Melvin writes that the Mason family sold Masonbrook to the Dalys of Dalyston in the 18th century.
|
|
Smyth (Masonbrook)
|
The Smyths acquired property in and around the Loughrea area in the early 19th century. In 1828 they purchased large portions of the estate of the ffrenches of Rahasane, including a number of townlands in the parish of Cummer, barony of Clare. Masonbrook, which became the centre of their estate, had been sold by the Mason family to the Dalys of Dalyston in the 18th century. In 1862, lands belonging to John Blakeney were sold in the Landed Estates Court. The purchasers included James Smyth of Masonbrook. The Smyth estate amounted to over 9000 acres in the 1870s. In 1906 John J. Smyth was in possession of about 600 acres of untenanted land and a mansion house at Cooleeny, Kilmeen. At the same time he held over 700 acres of untenanted land and a mansion valued at £60 at Moanmore, Loughrea.
|
