King (Earls of Kingston)

Family title

Kingston, Earls of , Lords Lorton

Description

The Kings were one of the most influential landed families in the West of Ireland. The family also held extensive lands in other parts of the country notably around Mitchelstown, Co. Cork, held as the Earls of Kingston.

Estate(s)

Name	Description
King (Kingston/Lorton)	The King estate was one of the largest in Connacht including lands in Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo as well as the main estate in County Roscommon. In 1667 Lord Kingston was granted over 23,000 acres in Connacht and over 14,000 acres in Munster and other very large estates particularly in counties Cork and Tipperary in 1669. Most of the King's Munster estate was in County Cork and through marriage with the Harman family they also acquired lands in County Longford. The family name became at various times King-Harman, Harman-King-Harman and Stafford-King-Harman. In 1703 lands at Ardcarne were conveyed to Neave Coghill. At the same time Sir Robert King sold lands to George Gore. The estate was centred around Boyle in County Roscommon, firstly at King House and later at Rockingham. In 1828 Robert King was a member of the Grand Panel of county Roscommon. In the mid 19th century the county Limerick estate of the the Earl of Kingston was in the barony of Coshlea, mainly in the parishes of Ballylanders (thirteen townlands) and Kilbeheny (21 townlands) but he also held land in the parishes of Ballingarry and Effin. Almost 21,000 acres in the parishes of Ballylanders and Kilbeheny, county Limerick, 18,180 acres in county Tipperary and 3,951 acres of the Araglin estate in county Cork, belonging to Lord Kingston, were advertised for sale in June and July 1851. The Freeman's Journal gives details of the purchasers in both 1851 and 1852. Griffith's Valuation records the Earl of Kingston holding land in various parishes in the baronies of Fermoy and Condons and Clangibbon, county Cork. The vast bulk of his estate around Mitchelstown was in the parishes of Brigown, Kildorrery, Kilgullane, Marshalstown, Macroney and Templemolaga, barony of Condons and Clangibbon. The county Tipperary estate was comprised of the parish of Templetenny, barony of Iffa and Offa West. It was advertised for sale in July 1851 and mainly purchased by the Irish Land Company and Edward Sandiford Power. Part of the settled estates of Lord Kingston, over 26,000 acres in county Cork and 250 acres in county Limerick were advertised for sale in February 1855. The settled estates were advertised in 3 divisions, the first was comprised of lots north west of Mitchestown, the second division was located south east of Mitchelstown and the third was a tract of 9,000 acres of land in the barony of Duhallow on which Lord Lismore paid the head rent. Over 7,000 acres of the settled estates in the baronies of Condons and Clangibbon and Fermoy were to be auctioned on 5 June 1855. In the 1870s the Kingston estates in counties Limerick and Tipperary were only 250 and 211 acres while the county Cork estate amounted to 24,421 acres.
Knox Gore	James Knox of Broadlands Park (1774-1818) was the third son of Francis Knox of Rappa Castle. Both his mother and his wife were members of the Gore family, Earls of Arran. Part of his estate was inherited from his grandfather, Paul Annesley Gore of Belleek, and he took the additional surname of Gore in compliance with his grandfather's will. A daughter of Paul Annesley Gore married Right Honourable Henry King, brother of the Earl of Kingston, and the Kings held Belleek at the beginning of the 19th century. Francis Annesley Knox Gore was created a baronet in 1868 and when the male line died out in 1891 the family became Saunders Knox Gore. The Knox Gore estate was centred around the town of Ballina. It included lands in the parishes of Doonfeeny, Kilmoremoy and Ballysakerry, barony of Tirawley, in the parishes of Bohola, Killasser and Kilgarvan, barony of Gallen, in the parish and barony of Burrishoole, county Mayo and in the barony of Tireragh, county Sligo. In 1876 the estate amounted to 22,023 acres in county Mayo and 8569 acres in county Sligo. In 1906 Matilda and Sarah Knox Gore held over 1500 acres of untenanted land in the barony of Tireragh, county Sligo. Offers from the Congested Districts' Board to various members of the Knox Gore family had been accepted for the purchase of most of the county Mayo and Sligo estates by March 1916.
Gardiner (Tirerrill)	Richard Gardiner was leasing lands from Lord Lorton's estate at Carrowkeel, barony of Tirerrill at the time of Griffith's Valuation. In the 1870s John Gardiner owned over 80 acres in county Sligo.
Buckley	By the mid 1870s Nathaniel Buckley, a Lancashire cotton millionaire, had bought much of the Earl of Kingston's estate in the Mitchelstown area on the borders of counties Tipperary and Cork, including the Galtee Mountains and Galtee Castle, which he purchased from the Irish Land Company. He was Liberal Member of Parliament for Stalybridge in the 1870s. His agent, Patten Bridge, lived in the Castle and was very unpopular with the tenants of the estate (''New York Times'', 25 Dec 1877). Hussey de Burgh records Nathaniel Buckley of Manchester and Galtee Castle as owning 13,260 acres in county Tipperary and 7,563 acres in county Limerick. Nathaniel Buckley died in 1891 and left his Irish estate to his nephew/son, Abel Buckley of Roycroft Hall, Lancashire. Abel Buckley held a large amount of untenanted land in county Limerick in 1906. He was succeeded by his son, also Abel Buckley, in 1908. The Land Commission took over the Buckley estates in the 1920s.
O'Callaghan	Cornelius O'Callaghan, a lawyer in the early 18th century, married Marie Jolley. Their grandson, also named Cornelius, of Shanbally, county Tipperary, was created Baron Lismore of Shanbally in 1785. His son became a Viscount in 1806. By the mid 19th century the county Cork estate of Viscount Lismore was mainly in the parishes of Clonmeen and Kilshannig, barony of Duhallow, county Cork. He held this property from the Earl of Kingston. He also held land in the parish of Castlemagner. The county Tipperary estate of Viscount Lismore was principally in the parish of Shanrahan (23 townlands) but he also had land in the parishes of Ballybacon, Tubbrid, Tullaghorton and Whitechurch, barony of Iffa and Offa West, Lisronagh and Temple-etney, barony of Iffa and Offa East, Kiltinan, barony of Middlethird, Killardry, barony of Clanwilliam, Doon and Toem, barony of Kilnamanagh Upper and Terryglass, barony of Lower Ormond. In the 1870s Viscount Lismore owned 34,945 acres in county Tipperary, 6,067 acres in county Cork and 1,194 acres in county Limerick. Griffith's Valuation records the Viscount holding the townland of Feohanagh, 1,196 acres in the parish of Mahoonagh, barony of Glenquin, county Limerick.
Power (Springfield)	In May 1860 the estate of Edward Sandiford Power comprised of 1,072 acres in the barony of Condons and Clangibbon, county Cork, held in fee simple, 529 acres in county Waterford held in fee farm and 2,276 acres in county Tipperary held in fee simple was advertised for sale. The county Tipperary estate would appear to have been purchased from the Earl of Kingston in 1851 and the county Cork estate from the Earl in 1855. At the time of Griffith's Valuation Edward Sandiford Power held 8 townlands in the parish of Templetenny, barony of Iffa and Offa West, county Tipperary.
Fraser	John Fraser held some land in the parish of Brigown, barony of Condons and Clangibbon, county Cork at the time of Griffith's Valuation and premises in the town of Mitchelstown from the Earl of Kingston. In the 1870s he owned 1,276 acres in the locality. It is apparent from the House of Commons Papers (Report from the select committee on general valuation 1869, page 170) that he owned the townland of Killakane, 821 acres in the parish of Brigown, in 1869. Killakane was formerly part of the Kingston estate.
Mahony (Kildorrery)	In the 1870s John Mahony of Quit Rent, Kildorrery, barony of Condons and Clangibbon, county Cork, was the owner of 1,194 acres in county Cork. The townland of Quitrent mountain is comprised of 1,195 acres and was offered for sale in 1855 and 1856 as part of the estate of the Earls of Kingston.
Harman/King-Harman (Newcastle)	The King-Harman family were the owners of a large estate at Newcastle in the 19th century. The King family, Viscounts Lorton and Earls of Kingston, acquired an interest in the estate through the marriage of Lady Jane King, daughter of the earl of Kingston with Laurence Parsons-Harman in 1772. At the time of Griffiths Valuation in the early 1850s, they were among the principal lessors in the civil parishes of Agharra, Cashel, Columbkille, Kilcommock, Kilglass, Killashee, Killoe, Noughaval, Shrule, Taghshinny and Taghsheenod in the baronies of Abbeyshrule, Granard, Longford, Rathcline and Shrule in County Longford. The Longford estate of Laurence King-Harman, with an address at Rockingham, near Boyle, County Roscommon, was recorded as almost 29,000 acres in the 1870s. The Westmeath estate consisted of lands in the parish of Ballymore, barony of Rathconrath, and amounted to over 1200 acres in the 1870s. In 1862 property adjacent to Ballymahon, County Longford was offered for sale in the Landed Estates Court by Travers Robert Blackley, a trustee of the marriage settlement of Saumarez du Bourdieu. This property had been the subject of a fee-farm grant from Laurence King-Harman in 1857. Purdon indicates that a member of the du Bourdieu family settled in Longford, having married a Miss Brown. In 1879 lands in the parish of Noughaval, barony of Shrule, County Longford, the property of James E. Wright, were offered for sale in the Land Judges Court. These were held on a 1748 lease from Frances Harman to James Wright and Thomas Jessop.