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Bell (Purrauns)
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In 1667 Robert Bell, an orphan, was granted over 1,800 acres in the baronies of Kilmaine and Clanmorris, county Mayo, including Parran. A deed of 1716 gives genealogical details of the Purrauns branch of the Bell family of county Mayo at that time. Arthur Bell was resident at Purrans in 1814. He appears to have mortgaged Purrauns to the Marquess of Sligo which resulted in litigation involving the Bodkins and Clendinings. He married Ann Bodkin of Kilcloony, county Galway, and they were the grandparents of John Birmingham, the astrologer. The Purranes estate in the parish of Kilcommon, barony of Kilmaine, was let to James Lynch in the 1830s and at the time of Griffith's Valuation.
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Gonne
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In 1714 Reverend George Gonne succeeded his father as rector of Crossboyne, barony of Clanmorris, county Mayo, and held lands in that vicinity from the Archbishop of Tuam, the Veseys, the Prendergasts and Bells. He lived at Brookhill. His son George married a widow, Margaret O'Malley nee Coghlan, and they had an only daughter, Mary, who married Edward Bell of Streamstown in 1768. The Gonne Bells descend from this couple.
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Bell/Gonne Bell
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In the mid 17th century the Bells were granted the lands of Streamstown, parish of Kilcolman, barony of Clanmorris, county Mayo, for their support of the Royalist cause. A deed of 1716 records three branches of the family located at Streamstown and at Purrauns and Garreens, both in the parish of Kilcommon, barony of Kilmaine. Some of the Bell estate in the barony of Clanmorris was purchased from Lyndon Bell by the Marquess of Sligo in 1766 to provide for his younger sons. In 1768 Edward Bell married Mary Gonne and inherited the Gonne property in county Mayo. Henry Gonne had been given a lease of Brookhill and other lands by the Archbishop of Tuam, dated 30 June 1703. The Gonne Bells were living in Farmhill in the 1830s and Griffith's Valuation records them holding 13 townlands in the parish of Kilcolman and three townlands in the parish of Crossboyne. In 1847 Colonel Arthur Gonne Bell married Mary Martin, heiress to the vast Martin estates in county Galway. In 1876 the estate amounted to 1636 acres in county Mayo.
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Lambert (Brookhill)
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The Lamberts of county Mayo were descended from the county Galway family located at Cregclare and Aggard. From the early 18th century the county Mayo branch were leasing land in the barony of Kilmaine from such families as the Veseys, Ruttledges and Bowens. They lived at Togher and Rusheen or Thomastown but moved in the late 18th century to reside at Brookhill, parish of Crossboyne, barony of Clanmorris, leased from the Gonne Bells. They were closely linked to the Ruttledge family, Joseph Lambert of Brookhill having married in 1784 Barbara Ruttledge sister and heiress of Robert Ruttledge of Bloomfield. Their second son the Reverend Francis Lambert changed his name to Ruttledge and continued the family of that name at Bloomfield. Joseph Lambert married secondly Mary Clendining and their sons Joseph and Alexander C. were agents to many of the landowners in the locality. Alexander Clendining Lambert bought almost 1000 acres of the O'Donel of Newport estate in the Cong area in 1852 and sold it to Benjamin Lee Guinness in 1858. In 1854 he bought much of the land he was already leasing from the Brownes of Castlemagarret in the Encumbered Estates' Court and other property in 1860 from the sale of the Brownes of Claremount estate. In 1876 Alexander C. Lambert owned 1409 acres in county Mayo and 1121 acres in county Galway. His property in the barony of Ballynahinch was purchased from the Thomson family of Salruck. The Brookhill estate was gradually sold in the 1920s and 1930s and the house and about 100 acres in 1946 to Gerald Maguire, a solicitor in Claremorris. In the mid 20th century Alexander Fane Lambert, wrote a detailed account of the history of his family and its land holding, based on family papers still in the possession of a family member in London.
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Martin (Ballynahinch)
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A branch of the Anglo Norman family of Martin, one of the Tribes of Galway, was granted the O'Flaherty lands in the Connemara region in the mid 17th century. This family were a junior branch of the Martins of Ross and under the Acts of Settlement were granted vast estates in counties Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, Clare and Sligo. By a patent dated 1698 they were confirmed in the possession of their Connemara estate known as the Manor of Claremount by King William. The Westport Estate Papers document the sale of over 27,000 acres in the baronies of Moycullen and Ballynahinch by the trustees for the sale of Colonel John Browne's estate to John Edwards for Richard Martin in 1699. The early generations of Martins lived at Birch Hall and Dangan, in the townland of Oranhill, parish of Rahoon, near Galway city. Richard Martin, better known as 'Humanity Dick', was the first member of the family to be reared as a Protestant. He was a famous duellist and founded the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Ballynahinch Castle was built in the centre of his estate. His son Thomas Martin died in 1847 during the Famine and Thomas's only daughter and heir, Mary Laetita, inherited a heavily encumbered estate. She married her cousin, Arthur Gonne Bell, and died in New York in 1850. The Martin estates were offered for sale in two sections in 1849. Their property close to Galway town included Dangan, Corcullen, Bushypark and Killeen. Their Connemara estate was acquired by the Law Life Assurance Society in 1852, to whom it was heavily mortgaged. In 1853 the estate of almost 200,000 acres was surveyed by Thomas Colville Scott for a prospective buyer. Richard Martin, second son of Richard 'Humanity Dick' Martin of Ballynahinch, is recorded as holding five townlands in the parish of Killannin, barony of Moycullen, county Galway, at the time of Griffith's Valuation although he emigrated to Canada in 1833. He was also recorded as the occupier of Clareville, a Martin home in the village of Oughterard. Many of his descendants still reside in Canada. http://www.martinhistory.net/
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Wallplate (Elm Hill & Castleconnell)
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In May 1860 the estate of female members of the Wallplate family was advertised for sale in the Landed Estate's Court. The sale included premises in Castleconnell, county Limerick, adjoining the Spa, Grange House (residence of Edward Gonne Bell), Lock Mills in the city of Limerick and Elm Hill on about 57 acres in the barony of Tulla, county Clare. The Wallplate property was held from the Dillon Massys. The ''Limerick Herald and Advertiser'' of 26 October 1789 records the marriage of Mr Joseph Wallplate and Miss Henrietta Bridgeman daughter of Henry Bridgeman of Doonass and at the time of Griffith's Valuation another Joseph Walplate held land in the parish of Stradbally, barony of Clanwilliam, county Limerick and in the parish of Castletownarra, barony of Owney and Arra, county Tipperary from George Westropp.
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