Gunning (Co Roscommon)
Description
There are 2 branches of this family descended from John Gunning and his wife Margaret Malone of Castlecoote in the 17th century.
Estate(s)
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Gunning (Horton) | A family who came to Ireland in the early 17th century and settled in county Roscommon. From about the mid 18th century they were absentee landlords. Robert Gunning (1734-1816), a diplomat of the 1760s and 1770s, was rewarded with a baronetcy in 1778. In 1781 he bought the Horton estate in Northamptonshire, which remained in the possession of the Gunning family until 1888. In the mid 19th century the Gunnings owned land in the parishes of Killinvoy and Rahara, barony of Athlone, Kilteevan and Roscommon, barony of Ballintober South, county Roscommon. In the 1870s the Reverend Sir Henry John Gunning of Horton House owned 704 acres in county Roscommon and 2,033 acres in county Longford. At the time of Griffiths Valuation in the early 1850s, Sir Robert Gunning was among the principal lessors in the parish of Killashee, County Longford. Other members of the Gunning family such as the Reverend Hodson Gunning and Alexander Gunning held land in the parish of St Johns, barony of Athlone, in the 1850s and are recorded as owning respectively 185 acres and 215 acres in the county in the 1870s. |
| Gunning Plunkett | 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 |
| Blakeney (Holywell) | In 1761 Charles Blakeney, a member of a junior branch of the Blakeneys of Abbert, married Bridget, daughter and heiress of Barnaby Gunning of Holywell, county Roscommon. Their second son, the Reverend Thomas Blakeney, rector of Roscommon parish in the early 19th century, took over the Holywell estate. He was succeeded by his son Charles William, who sold the estate comprised of 1681 acres of the townland of Coolteige, in 1853 and emigrated to Australia. Other descendants of Charles and Bridget Blakeney are recording as holding small estates in county Roscommon in the 1870s. 579 acres belonging to Anne Blakeney in county Roscommon was vested in the Congested Districts' Board in March 1912. |
| Browne (Mount Browne) | George Browne held 3 townlands in the parish of Kiltrustan, barony and county of Roscommon at the time of Griffith's Valuation which he purchased from the sale of Gilbert Conry's estate in 1853 and had a house at Falsk in the parish of Killukin. He was a brother of Arthur Browne of Newtown, parish of Oran and a descendant of John Browne 1st Earl of Altamont. Arthur Browne, third son of George, owned an estate of 455 acres at Mount Browne in the 1870s. |
| Davis (Carrowmore) | John Davis of Carrowmore, parish of Roscommon, held a small estate from the Gunning family. In the 1870s John H. Davis of Carramore owned 567 acres in the county. |
| McDonnell (Dunmore) | 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. |