Crichton, Earl of Erne
Description
Lord Erne held estates in Counties Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim
Estate(s)
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Crichton (Erne) | The Earls of Erne owned property in several western counties including Sligo and Mayo. This was acquired in the 18th century through inheritence from the Smith family. The Cloverhill estate, county Sligo, was occupied for much of the 19th century by the Chambers family. The Earl of Erne's estate also owned land in the parish of Drumrat, barony of Corran, county Sligo. The Earl's Mayo property was in the parishes of Aglish and Breaghwy, barony of Carra, and Ballinchalla, barony of Kilmaine. He employed various agents including Ormsby Elwood, James Ruttledge and Charles Boycott. It was on his property at Lough Mask in the parish of Ballinchalla that the first "boycotting" incident took place in 1880. The county Mayo estate was vested in the Congested Districts' Board on 29 January1914.The Earls of Erne had an estate of over 30,000 in county Fermanagh and their residence was Crom Castle, near Newtownbutler. |
| Chambers | The Chambers family came to Kilmacowen in the 18th century when they took over the former Smith estate at Cloverhill. Roger Chambers, his wife, seven children and four servants are recorded as living at Cloverhill in the 1749 Census of Elphin. The Smith property had passed, through inheritence, to the Crichtons, Earls of Erne, of Crom Castle, Co. Fermanagh. The Chambers also had associations with this family and acted as agents on their Sligo estates. In 1857 Charles Chambers was leasing the house at Cloverhill, valued at £28, from the Earl of Erne. |
| Boycott | Charles Cunningham Boycott lived on Achill Island, county Mayo, from 1855-1873. He leased about 2000 acres from a relative through marriage, Murray MacGregor Blacker, who held land from the Achill Mission. Charles and his wife lived at Corrymore, while resident on the island. In 1872 they moved to Lough Mask where Boycott became agent to the county Mayo estates of Lord Erne in the baronies of Kilmaine and Carra. In 1874 Boycott signed an agreement with Lord Erne for the lease of the farm at Lough Mask, amounting to 629 acres. Following the first boycotting incident on the farm in 1880 Boycott left Ireland and became agent to the Flixton estate in Suffolk, England. |
| Nicholson | The Nicholsons received grants of land in Sligo under the Acts of Settlement and one of them became High Sherrif of Sligo in 1671. In 1675 Edward Nicholson, described as of Cummin or Knocknaray, served as High Sheriff of Leitrim. The Nicholson estate extended in to the Barony of Leyny, covering part of the parish of Achonry. This estate was sold in the Landed Estates court in 1876 on behalf of Agnes Mary Nicholason, an infant. McTernan states that the Gethin family were the purchasers and they in turn leased it to several other parties. There were also legal proceedings within the family due to loans and mortgages. Two granddaughters of James Nicholson (d.1810), Emily and Harriett Douglas, were married to Adam Mossman and Thomas White, who also held land in Sligo. Adam Mossman was a Liverpool merchant. Various members of the Mossman family, who were married into the Nicholason family, held c.1000 acres in County Sligo in 1876. In November 1865 James C. Whyte Douglas offered lands at Luffertan, Woodpark and fishing rights at Culleenduff for sale in the Landed Estates Court. The original leases were between James Nicholson and the Earl of Erne's estate. George W. Douglas was still the owner of 70 acres at Culleenduff, in the 1870s. |
| Crichton (Fermanagh and Donegal) | The Crichton family, Earls of Erne, held over 30,,000 acres in County Fermanagh in the 1870s as well as over 4800 acres in County Donegal. Roulston notes that some of this property had been held by Sir Richard Hansard in the 1600s. The family's main seat was at Crom Castle, Newtownbutler, County Fermanagh. The estate in County Donegal was acquired through a marriage into the Hamill family of Strabane. This estate was among the principal lessors in the parish of Clonleigh, barony of Raphoe, County Donegal, at the time of Griffiths Valuation in the 1850s. |