Dawson
Family title
Baron Cremorne, Earl of Dartrey
Estate(s)
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Dawson (Cremorne) | The Dartrey Papers in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland document the estates of the Dawson family of Dawson Grove, Lords Dartrey and Cremorne and Earls of Dartrey in counties Monaghan, Armagh, Louth, Waterford, Tipperary and Fermanagh. The Dawsons were a Yorkshire family who settled in Armagh in the reign of Elizabeth I. In 1672 a descendant Walter Dawson married Frances daughter of Richard Dawson, a Cromwellian soldier, and through this marriage obtained the estate Dawson’s Grove in county Monaghan. In 1667, Richard Dawson was granted an estate in the baronies of Cremorne and Dartree of over 4,150 acres. Richard Dawson, son of Walter and Frances, was a Member of Parliament, an alderman of Dublin city and a senior partner in Dawson’s Bank, Dublin, which failed in 1765. Collins writes that the extent of Dawson land holding expanding greatly under the alderman as he had access to capital. In 1723, he married Elizabeth, daughter of Archbishop John Vesey of Tuam. Their eldest son Thomas was given the title Baron Dartrey in 1770, Viscount Cremorne in 1785 and Baron Cremorne in 1797. Thomas’ second wife was a granddaughter of William Penn but none of his children survived to be adults. He died in 1813 and was succeeded by his grand-nephew Richard Thomas Dawson, 2nd Baron Cremorne, whose eldest son was created Earl of Dartrey in 1866. At this time the county Monaghan estate of Lord Cremorne was located in at least eleven parishes, principally the parishes of Donagh, Errigal Trough, Monaghan, Currin, Drummully and Killevan. Lord Cremorne also held three townlands in the parish of Lorrha, barony of Lower Ormond, county Tipperary and was among the principal lessors in the parishes of Colligan, Dungarvan and Fews, barony of Decies without Drum, county Waterford. In 1876 the Earl of Dartrey owned 17,345 acres in county Monaghan, 1,565 acres in county Armagh, 1,578 acres in county Louth and 7,985 acres in county Waterford. |
| Plunket (Baron Plunket) | During the 19th century the Plunkets, many of whom were prominent clerics in the Church of Ireland, held a sporting estate in the parish of Ballyovey, barony of Carra, county Mayo, from the Lynch Blosses. Thomas Plunket, Bishop of Tuam, Killala and Achonry and 2nd Baron Plunket purchased a large part of the Lynch Blosse estate in the barony of Carra in 1859. He also bought the Ballybanaun estate of the Moores of Moorehall sold in the Encumbered Estates' Court in 1854, so that by the end of the 1850s he owned approximately 14,200 acres in the county. At this time he was involved in a very public dispute with Father Lavelle, the local parish priest, concerning proselytising activities on his estate. Following the bishop's death in 1866 his daughters sold the Tourmakeady Lodge estate to William Horsfall, a worsted manufacturer from Bradford. In 1875, Horsfall sold the estate to the Mitchell brothers, also from Bradford, Yorkshire. The Bishop's sister Catherine Plunket also owned land in the parish at Cappaghduff where she built Drimbawn House. She left her property to a McCausland cousin from county Donegal. In the 1970s Drimbawn was the home of the actor Robert Shaw. At the time of Griffith's Valuation Lord Plunkett held an estate in the parish of Shandrum, barony of Orrery and Kilmore, county Cork. The Plunket family’s county Monaghan estates were bought by Dr Patrick Plunket, older brother of William Conyngham Plunket, 1st Baron. In 1795, Dr Plunket purchased the interest of William Giles of Rakane, county Cavan, in the Raw estate in the parish of Aghnamullen and in 1802 he bought the interest of the de Clifford family in the Milltown estate in the parish of Ematris held in perpetuity from Baron Cremorne. By the time of Griffith’s Valuation these estates were in the possession of Bishop Thomas Plunket and included four townlands in the parish of Tedavnet, north of Monaghan town, part of the See estate of the Bishop of Clogher held in perpetuity by James Rose of Monaghan. In the late 1870s the 4th Baron Plunket owned 1,057 acres in county Cork, 2,592 acres in county Monaghan and 185 acres in county Dublin. |