French (Tyrone)
Description
This family was known as St George from 1774.
Estate(s)
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| French (Brooklodge) | At least two generations of Frenches, a junior branch of the Frenches of Tyrone, lived on the Brooklodge estate in the late 18th century. It was held on a lease dated 1775 from Ambrose Deane to Christopher French. The lease was bought from the Frenches by Thomas Hynes in 1808 and sold on in 1813 to the Blakes of Ballyglunin, with whom the Frenches had intermarried. |
| French (Tyrone) | Jeffrey French was granted various lands in counties Mayo, Galway, Roscommon and Clare by patent dated 10 Aug 1678. His brother Arthur French of Tyrone, county Galway, Mayor of Galway 1691, had 2 sons Christopher from whom descend the French/St George family of Tyrone and Arthur ancestor of the French family of Cloonyquin, parish of Elphin, barony of Roscommon, county Roscommon. Patrick French of Brook Lodge, parish of Killererin, barony of Clare, county Galway, was a younger son of Christopher of Tyrone. Burke writes that Arthur French, Christopher's heir was involved in a case in the House of Lords 1764-1765 French v Caddell. In 1736 he married Olivia Usher sister of St George Usher St George of Headford, county Galway, created Baron St George of Hatley St George. Their son Christopher assumed the surname St George in 1774 in compliance with his great grandfather's will. |
| St. George (Tyrone House) | The St.George estate was centred on the house at Tyrone, parish of Drumacoo, barony of Dunkellin, built about 1779. This had originally been a French estate but the family assumed the title of St.George in 1774 due to inheritence from the St.George family of Hatley Manor, county Leitrim. In the 1830s A.F. St. George owned Tyrone House and Kilcolgan Castle, his agent was J. O'Hara. Wm. Griffith of Dublin also acted as an agent for the St. George estate. Arthur French St. George is described as a resident proprietor in 1824. In the early 19th century the St. Georges also owned large amounts of land in the baronies of Moycullen, Ballynahinch and Clare, which they advertised for sale in the early 1850s. Land in the barony of Clare had been acquired through Arthur French's marriage with a Kirwan in the late 17th century. A portion of the St. George estate, situated in the barony of Longford, was offered for sale in the Encumbered Estates court in November 1853. In 1870s the family owned 15,777 acres in county Galway. By the early 1900s, however, some of the estate had been sold and the house at Tyrone had been left empty for long periods. In 1914 over 3000 acres of an estate descibed as St. George and Concannon was vested in the Congested Districts Board. Many members of the family are buried in a church-style mausoleoum in the cemetery at Drumacoo. |
| French (Cloonyquin) | ''Burke's Irish Family Records'' states that Arthur French of Tyrone bought Cloonyquin from the Right Honourable William Conolly, who had bought it from the Trustess of Irish Forfeitures. From Arthur French's second marriage to the widow of Iriel Farrell of Cloonyquin descend this branch of the French family. Arthur French of Cloonyquin bought part of the estate of Colonel John Browne of Westport in the barony of Ballymoe, county Galway, in the late 17th century. In 1828 William French of Clooniquin was a member of the Grand Panel of county Roscommon. By the mid 19th century the French estate was in the parish of Elphin, barony of Roscommon. Some of it was leased by Patrick Taaffe of Foxborough. Christopher French of Cloonyquin owned 3,701 acres in county Roscommon in the 1870s. Part of the French estate was conveyed to the Congested Districts' Board in July 1906. |