|
Olpherts
|
Capt. Richard Olpherts was one of the principal lessors in the parish of Dromard, barony of Tireragh, at the time of Griffith's Valuation. Accounts suggest that he purchased the estate at Tanrego from Col. Irwin's representatives in 1855. He served as a magistrate for county Sligo in 1862. Francis M. Olpherts acted as agent for the Wynne estate in the mid nineteenth century and resided at Mount Shannon House, near Sligo. Though the family originated in Derry, Francis Olpherts father, Richard, was rector of Bushmills, county Antrim. Richard Olpherts sold the Tanrego estate to Richard Verschoyle in the 1860s.
|
|
Irwin (Tanrego)
|
McTernan states that John Irwin, a Cromwellian soldier, was granted the lands at Tanrego in the seventeenth century. The Irwin family also had property in the parish of Achonry, barony of Leyny. Turlough O'Carolan was a frequent visitor to Tanrego and composed a number of tunes in honour of the family including "Colonel John Irwin". In 1855 John Lewis Irwin offered for sale lands in the baronies of Tireragh, Leyny and Carbury, including Tanragoe. The estate was acquired by the Olpherts and later the Verschoyle families. The house was occupied in the 1850s by Capt. Richard Olpherts. The house and lands at Barnabrack were also part of the Irwin estate.
In the mid-19th century, Reverend Crinus Irwin, Archdeacon of Ossory, held three townlands in the parish of Kildrumsherdan, county Cavan. He was the second son of Lewis Francis Irwin of Tanrego and his wife Elizabeth Harrison. He married Amy Chamberlain and they had two sons John Lewis Irwin of Tanrego and Lewis Chamberlain. The Irwins did not own land in county Cavan in the 1870s.
|
|
Olphert/Olpherts
|
Wybrant Olphert and Thomas Olphert were both among the principal landowners in the parish of Raymunterdoney, barony of Kilmacrenan, County Donegal, at the time of Griffith’s Valuation. In the 1870s, Wybrant Olphert was recorded as the owner of over 18,000 acres in County Donegal. Local sources suggest the estate was eventually sold by the Land Commission in the 1920s. Burke traces the ancestry of this family to Wibrant Olpherts, said to have been in the employ of Charles I in the seventeenth century.
|
