Landed Estates
University of Galway

Blood (Roxton & Cranagher)


Estate(s)

Name Description
Blood (Roxton & Cranagher) The Blood family was established in county Clare from the early 17th century. By the mid 18th century the senior branch of the family was living at Roxton, parish of Rath, barony of Inchiquin and by the end of the 18th century their main residence was Cranagher, parish of Clooney, barony of Bunratty Upper, inherited through William Blood’s marriage to Elizabeth Bindon in 1772. Their grandson, Professor William Bindon Blood (1817-1894), leased Cranagher to Giles Darcy in the 1850s. It was valued at £1.10 at this time. Weir writes that a new house was started some distance from the old one in the 19th century but was never finished due to financial difficulties. Cranagher was sold by General Sir Bindon Blood in 1905. In the mid 19th century the Blood estate was mainly in the barony of Burren, in the parishes of Abbey, Carran and Gleninagh but they also held land in the parish of Clooney, barony of Bunratty Upper and in the parishes of Kilkeedy and Killinaboy, barony of Inchiquin. In June 1858 Roxton and 452 acres were advertised for sale in the Encumbered Estates' Court. By the 1870s Roxton was in the possession of James Darling Wilson. In the 1870s William Bindon Blood owned 2,464 acres and his brother Bagot Blood owned 4,460 acres in county Clare. At the time of Griffith's Valuation Neptune Blood of Applevale held three townlands in the parish of Rath and Frederick William Blood held land in the parishes of Rath and Killinaboy. In March 1879 part of the lands of Applevale, including the house, the estate of Fanny Copleston and Margaret Augusta Biscoe (nee Blood), was advertised for sale. In July 1911, 1,288 acres of tenanted land belonging to Neptune W. Blood, was vested in the Congested Districts' Board and over 3,000 acres belonging to Captain Bindon Blood was sold to the Board in June 1913.
Tymons Weir writes that a John Tymons was resident at Riverston, county Clare, in 1799. Michael Blood of Baskin Hill, county Dublin, attorney at law, was the fourth son of William Blood of Roxton, parish of Rath, county Clare. Michael Blood had one daughter Frances who married in 1828 James Tymons of Riverston and later of Baskin Hill. At the time of Griffith's Valuation James Tymons held over 1200 acres in the parish of Killinaboy, barony of Inchiquin. In the 1870s their son the Reverend Frederick Tymons owned 2,470 acres in county Clare and James Tymons, a minor, of Riverston owned 301 acres.
Blood Smyth In 1784 Matthew Blood, a Lieutenant in the 57th regiment, son of John Blood of Castlefergus, parish of Doora, barony of Bunratty Upper, county Clare, assumed the additional name of Smyth after his marriage to Dorothea Julia Ingram, a great granddaughter of the Reverend Thomas Smyth, Bishop of Limerick 1695-1725. In the mid 19th century Matthew Blood Smyth held land in the parishes of Doora and Quin, barony of Bunratty Upper. This estate amounted to 954 acres in the 1870s. In 1910 the Venerable William Augustus Blood Smyth, Archdeacon of Killaloe, sold Castlefergus to his cousin, Captain Charles F. Blood of Ballykilty, parish of Quin.
Blood (Ballykilty) The Bloods of Ballykilty and Blood Smyths are junior branches of the Blood family of Cranagher, county Clare. John Blood of Castlefergus bought the lease of Ballykilty in the neighbouring parish of Quin, barony of Bunratty Upper, county Clare in 1785. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Charles Fitzgerald of Shepperton and Castlekeale, county Clare. Their eldest son was Matthew Blood Smyth and their second son was Neptune Blood of Ballykilty. John Blood held lands in the parishes of Clooney and Kilfenora, barony of Corcomroe, and in the parish of Quin, in the mid 19th century. The estate of John Blood of Ballykilty was comprised of 1,655 acres in the 1870s.
Wilson (Roxton) In the 1870s James Darling Wilson of Roxton, Corrofin, county Clare, owned 1,184 acres in the county. He was a Justice of the Peace in county Clare in 1859 and it seems probable that he bought Roxton from the Bloods in the late 1850s. He still owned Roxton in 1906.