Elwood

Description

A branch of the Elwood family settled at Kilkeeran Castle, in the parish of Kilmainebeg, barony of Kilmaine, count Mayo, in the mid 17th century. Thomas Elwood is variously described as of Kilkeeran, Loughmask and Cloonkerry in early 18th century documents. He leased lands held from the See of Tuam and from others. By the 19th century his descendants were settled at Strandhill in the parish of Cong and at Annefield House in the parish of Kilcommon. Another branch of this family had lands in county Roscommon and they retained Kilkeeran and the lands in the parish of Kilmainebeg.

Estate(s)

Name	Description
Elwood (Strandhill)	An estate in the parish of Cong, barony of Kilmaine, county Mayo leased from the Bishop of Tuam from the mid 18th century. At the time of Griffith's Valuation the Elwoods held four townlands in the parish. Most of the Elwood estate of 621 acres was sold to Sir Arthur Guinness in 1871. The Irish Times reported that the sales realised over £21,000. This branch of the Elwood family were related to the well known collector of Japanese folklore, Lafcadio Hearn.
Roberts	A small estate at Lackafinna, parish of Cong, barony of Kilmaine, county Mayo, was bought by Elizabeth Ormsby from the Millers of Milford, parish of Kilmainemore, for £5,200 in the 1830s. This property was inherited by Mrs Ormsby's daughter Jane Elizabeth who was married to Dr Watkin William Roberts. He was resident at Carnarvon in Wales in 1878. At this time he held 792 acres in county Mayo, 692 acres in county Longford and an acre in county Clare.
Elwood (Roscommon)	The Elwood family settled at Kilkeeran Castle, in the parish of Kilmainebeg, barony of Kilmaine, count Mayo, in the mid 17th century. The Irish Tourist Association File records that "Tradition says the castle was owned by eleven brothers called Elwood who were drowned while crossing a lake which was beside their home, a piper who was also in the boat was saved". The senior branch of the family settled in county Roscommon in the 18th century although they retained ownership of Kilkeeran and Knockroe, of which they were proprietors at the time of Griffith's Valuation. Captain Robinson of Boyle, county Roscommon was their agent in the 1830s. In the 1870s the Elwood family held 500 acres in county Roscommon.
Bowen (Annefield)	The Bowens of county Mayo appear to be descended from the Bowens of Ballyadams, Queen's county [county Laois]. At the end of the 16th century a branch of the Bowens of Ballyadams was settled at Castlecarra, parish of Burriscarra and later at Liskilleen in the parish of Ballinrobe. By the late 18th century Christopher Bowen of Hollymount, a lawyer, held the properties known as Annefield and The Heath. He had daughters who married Anthony Elwood, a younger son of Thomas Elwood of Strandhill, Cong, and John Blake of Windfield, county Galway. By his will Christopher Bowen left Annefield and The Heath to two of his grandsons respectively, Anthony Elwood, who assumed the name of Bowen, and Henry Blake. Anthony Bowen Elwood had no children and Annefield also passed to the Blake family. Anthony Bowen Elwood held lands in the parishes of Kilcommon, barony of Kilmaine, and in Kilcolman, barony of Clanmorris. He was recorded as an absentee landlord in 1802 and the estate was run by his agent, Charles Cromie, who also resided at Annefield.
Stoney	James Butler Stoney and his son, Robert Vesey Stoney, built up a considerable estate in the Burrishoole area, county Mayo, in the latter half of the 19th century. They also purchased land near Boyle in county Roscommon. The Elwood lands of Knockroe and Kilkeeran, barony of Kilmaine, came into their possession through marriage. By 1876 they owned almost 7,000 acres in county Mayo, most of which was sold to the Congested Districts' Board on 30 June 1900. On 29 Jan 1914, 764 acres in county Roscommon, belonging to Robert Vesey Stoney, were vested in the Congested Districts' Board. In February 1855 George Waller Vesey, James Butler Stoney and Arthur Rowley Symes offered for sale in the Encumbered Estates Court lands in the barony of Tyrawley, county Mayo, as well as property in other parts of Ireland. George Foote was the purchaser.
Jones (Belville)	Belville in the parish of Ballyloughloe, county Westmeath, was the home of the Jones family. It was a small estate, in the mid-nineteenth century, confined to the townland of Belville, 242 acres. Gustavus Robert Jones was the son of Gustavus Jones and his wife Susan Margaret Holmes of the Moycashel family. Gustavus R Jones had two sisters who were married to Thomas Elwood of Strandhill, County Mayo and Archdeacon Trench. He married Hester E Butler Bryan. By the mid-1870s he appears to have been living in Cong, county Mayo, the home of the Elwood family, when he was recorded as the owner of 242 acres in county Westmeath. At the time of both the 1901 and 1911 censuses he was described as a widower living at Greaghans in the parish of Hollymount, county Mayo with his two nieces, Alice and Hester Elwood. In the 1870s Gustavus Robert Jones of Galway owned 709 acres in county Tipperary. He was a member of the Jones family of Belville, county Westmeath, see Irish Chancery Reports, Vol 13, page 416. The Jones family of Moate were related to the Belville family (O'Brien). On 12 December 1837 William Jones of the city of London executed a deed with Edward C Browne of Paradise Row, Dublin, to bar the entail on the townland of Jones Lake, (Abstracts of Deeds Inrolled in Chancery 1834-1839, (1840), 115).