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Maxwell (Faulkland)
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This family were a branch of the Maxwell family of Farnham, county Cavan and descend from William fourth son of Robert Maxwell, Bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh. The Bishop was chaplain to the 1st Viscount Falkland hence the name of the house and townland. William’s great grandson, the Reverend William Maxwell of Falkland, county Monaghan and of Bath, was a friend of Samuel Johnson’s. He was the last family member to reside at Falkland Castle, leaving it in 1780 to live in Bath. He died in 1818. As his eldest son was described as a ‘lunatic’, his county Monaghan property was administered by trustees on his behalf. He died in 1861 and the property passed to the family of his sister Anne Lyte. The Maxwell estate was located in the parishes of Donagh, barony of Trough and Tehallan, barony of Monaghan. In July 1868, the estate of Edward Maxwell Lyte (Anne's grandson) was advertised for sale. It amounted to 1,943 acres but did not include the townland of Faulkland containing the ruined Faulkland Castle. It did include Bessmount Park, Liscarney House and Sallymount. Shirley states that the Maxwells held their estate under a fee farm grant from the Leslies, who repurchased it in 1871. By 1876, the representatives of the Reverend Dr Maxwell owned 30 acres in the county.
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