Johnston (Williamstown & Bawnboy)
Estate(s)
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Johnston (Williamstown and Bawnboy) | In the 1870s William Johnston of the Rent Office, Williamstown, county Galway, owned 584 acres in the parish of Templetogher, barony of Ballymoe, part of the estate of the McDermotts of Springfield at the time of Griffith's Valuation. He purchased his Williamstown estate from the Connollys in 1860. William Johnston had a brother Captain John Johnston, who owned an estate in county Cavan. William Johnson's nephew Robert Henry succeeded to both the Williamstown and county Cavan properties. Robert Henry Johnston was also a land agent and by the early 20th century controlled a number of estates in both counties Galway and Cavan. A strong supporter of the Orange Order he became heavily embroiled in disputes with tenants over land ownership. William Keaveney has written a book about Johnston's treatment of tenants on his wife's estate at Aughrim and his own estate at Williamstown, county Galway. Robert Henry Johnston was the eldest son of Captain John Johnston of Swanlinbar, county Cavan, who died in 1864, and his wife Isabella Eccles daughter of Captain John Jameson of Clonkeen, county Monaghan. In the mid-19th century Captain John Johnston of Mackan, parish of Kildallan, held an estate comprised of six townlands in the parish of Kildallan, county Cavan and his brother William held some land in the parish of Urney. In 1876, William Johnston of Bawnboy House owned 1,016 acres in county Cavan. In 1872, Robert Henry married Mary Elizabeth Blackstock and they had a son Arthur Henry. By 1904 their residence was Bawnboy House, county Cavan. Corville had also been the home of this family for a time. Robert Henry Johnstone of Bawnboy House died in 1934 and is buried in Templeport graveyard. |
| McDermott (Springfield) | According to William Keaveney this estate in the parish of Templetogher, barony of Ballymoe, county Galway, was a Kelly property in the late 18th century. William Kelly had two daughters who married Owen McDermott and Glasgow Connolly respectively. Owen McDermott was granted Springfield in a deed of settlement. However in the mid 19th century following legal proceedings the estate was divided between the McDermotts and the Connollys. William McDermott, son of Owen, built the town of Williamstown. Both parts of the estate were offered for sale in the early 1860s. The Connolly moiety of the estate was bought by William Johnston, a Dublin solicitor, who was one of the creditors. Over 2,000 acres of McDermott property in the baronies of Ballymoe, county Galway and Athlone, county Roscommon, was offered for sale in the Encumbered Estates' Court in 1863. In the 1870s their estate amounted to 2571 acres. |
| Blackstock | In 1856 Thomas Blackstock was leasing properties in various parishes in the barony of Longford, county Galway. He in turn was the lessor of houses and over 360 acres in the parish of Kiltormer to Joseph Hardy. In 1858 Thomas Blackstock bought just over 400 acres at Aughrim, straddling the three baronies of Kilconnell, Clonmacnowen and Leitrim for £1,805 from William Phibbs Knott and his wife Ruth, orginally part of the Handy estate. This property was inherited by Mary Elizabeth Johnston, daughter of Thomas Blackstock. O'Gorman notes that Blackstock also acted as agent for John Pelly Geoghegan's estates in the parish of Fohenagh. |