De Vesci

Family title

Viscount Abbeyleix

Estate(s)

Name	Description
De Vesci	In his introduction to the Collection List (No 89) of the De Vesci archive in the National Library of Ireland, Dr A.P.W. Malcomson gives details of the acquisition of the various estates held by the De Vesci family. Most of them, including the estates at Abbeyleix, county Leix, Buttevant, county Cork and the moiety of what became known as the Longford/De Vesci estate at Dun Laoghaire, county Dublin, Passage West, county Cork, Limerick city and county, were inherited from Denny Muschamp, father-in-law of Sir Thomas Vesey. Denny Muschamp was the son of Colonel Agmondisham Muschamp of Buttevant and Ballybricken, county Cork. Michael and his son, Richard Neville Parker, were agents for this estate in the early 19th century and were replaced by the land agency firm of Stewart and Swan, later Stewart and Kincaid, in the late 1830s. In 1835 some of the Longford/De Vesci estate was partitioned, the Veseys retained about 1,500 acres at Monkstown, near Passage West, barony of Kerrycurrihy and Lord Longford took the Ballyhindon estate of about 2,300 acres in the baronies of Fermoy, Condons and Clongibbons. The joint estate is documented in the De Vesci Papers in the National Library. In 1805 lands at Grange East and West, parish of Buttevant, barony of Orrey and Kilmore were settled on Charles Vesey, younger brother of the 2nd Viscount. At the time of Griffith's Valuation the Hon Mrs S. Nugent and John T. Vesci held two townlands in the parish of Buttevant. Mrs S. Nugent [of Portaferry, Co Down] was a daughter of the 1st Viscount de Vesci. The lands of Grange East and West were advertised for sale in May 1860. In the 1870s the De Vesci estate in county Cork amounted to 818 acres, 420 acres in county Dublin and 15,069 acres in county Laois.
Pigott (Chetwynd & Knapton)	A family originally from Shropshire, who settled in county Laois in the 16th century. Alexander Pigott, a younger son, was granted over 4,500 acres in county Cork in 1666 and further lands in a number of counties in 1668. His family was established at Innishannon in county Cork by the end of the 17th century. A number of generations of the family lived at Chetwynd, parish of St Finbarrs, Cork city, in the early 18th century. By the late 18th century the family had moved to Knapton, county Laois and in 1808 George Pigott was created a baronet. In the mid 19th century Sir George Pigott held an estate in the barony of Cork parishes of Inishkenny, Killanully and St Finbarrs. In May 1857 the 2,679 acre estate of the trustees of Sir Charles Robert Pigott Baronet in the baronies of Cork and Kinalea, county Cork was advertised for sale. His representatives were the proprietors of over 500 in county Cork in the 1870s, leased from the De Vesci family of Abbeyleix. This included lands in the parish of Inishannon, barony of Kinalea.
Vesey	In December 1698 John Vesey, Archbishop of Tuam from 1679 to 1716, bought almost 750 acres in the Hollymount area, barony of Kilmaine, county Mayo, from the sale of the estate of Colonel John Browne of Westport. In 1703 he bought circa 2000 acres in the barony of Clanmorris from the trustees for the sale of forfeited estates. These lands had formerly belonged to James Browne and Thomas Burke. Sir Thomas Vesey of Abbeyleix, eldest son of the Archbishop, bought Togher and Lehinch from Peter Browne of Westport in 1712. His half brother George was the rector of Hollymount. Title deeds in the De Vesci Papers in the National Library suggest that Sir John Denny Vesey sold part of his estate in counties Galway and Mayo to his uncle by marriage Henry Bingham of Newbrook and part to his uncle the Reverend George Vesey in 1731. It was George's daughter Frances who married Thomas Lindsey in 1757. The Vesey estate in the Hollymount locality appears to have passed into the possession of the Lindsey family through this marriage. The Lehinch estate was in the possession of the Blakes throughout the 18th century. John Wesley visited Hollymount in 1756 and described the house and gardens built by the Archbishop.
Shaw (Monkstown Castle)	Bernard Robert Shaw (1801-1880) of Monkstown Castle, county Cork, was the son of Bernard Shaw, Collector of Cork, and his wife, Jane Westropp. This family was a junior branch of the Shaw family of Bushy Park, county Dublin. In 1822 he married, as his first wife, Rebecca Reeves of Castle Kevin, county Cork and they had a number of sons including Sir Eyre Massey Shaw, who became head of the London Metropolitan Fire Brigade. At the time of Griffith's Valuation Bernard Robert Shaw held land in the parishes of Templerobin and Clonmel, barony of Barrymore, and at Monkstown, barony of Kerricurrihy. Monkstown was held from the Earl of Longford and Viscount de Vesci. In June 1871 the estate of Bernard Robert Shaw amounting to 905 acres was advertised for sale. This family were related to the dramatist George Bernard Shaw.