Browne
Family title
Oranmore and Browne
Description
Created Baron Oranmore and Browne of Carrabrowne Castle in 1836.
Estate(s)
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Browne (Castlemagarret) | The Brownes of Carrowbrowne, parish of Oranmore, county Galway, had estates in the counties Galway, Mayo and Roscommon (parish of Oran, barony of Ballymoe). By Royal grants dated 2 June 1670 and 23 July 1678 Dominick Browne received over 8,000 acres in the town of Galway and in the baronies of Clare, Moycullen, Athenry, Dunmore and Ross (the Ashford estate), county Galway and in the baronies of Clanmorris and Costello, county Mayo. Mid nineteenth century copy rentals of their county Galway estates are included in MS 40,966 of the Westport Papers. The Galway County Library holds a [pre 1849] summary of the Browne estates for sale in counties Galway and Roscommon. In July 1853 the fee simple of over a thousand acres in the barony of Clare, county Galway, was advertised for sale in the Encumbered Estates' Court. The Brownes county Mayo estate, mainly in the barony of Clanmorris, was established in the mid 17th century and the Brownes were resident in county Mayo by the end of that century. At the time of Griffith's Valuation this estate was comprised of more than 40 townlands in the parishes of Crossboyne and Kilcolman. Heavily encumbered by the mid ineteenthth century, Lord Oranmore and Browne's estates were put up for sale in the Encumbered Estates' Court between 1852 and 1854. Family members were able to buy back some of the property and the Brownes still held 4,243 acres in county Mayo in 1876 and a smaller property in county Westmeath. The Westmeath property, amounting to 1,818 acres, five townlands in the parish of St Feighin’s, appears to have come into the family’s possession through the marriage of the 1st Lord Oranmore and Browne and his wife Catherine Anne Isabella, eldest daughter and co-heir of Henry Monck, as she is recorded as the proprietor in Griffith’s Valuation (publ. 1854). She died in 1865. The Westport Estate Papers MS 40,966 documents much of the estate management of the Oranmore and Browne estates in counties Galway and Mayo in the 1840s and 1850s. Lord Oranmore and Browne sold 2228 acres in county Mayo to the Congested Districts' Board on 5 Feb 1914 and repurchased 655 acres. The fire of 1811 destroyed many of the family papers. |
| Ruttledge (Ballyhowly) | Peter Ruttledge, eldest son of William Ruttledge of Hollymount, county Mayo, leased a number of farms in the 1780s and 1790s in the baronies of Costello and Kilmaine, including Ballyhowly, parish of Knock, which was situated in the barony of Costello at that time but is now in the barony of Clanmorris. He went to live on the Ballyhowly farm in 1801 and possibly built the house. His son married Jane, daughter of Christopher Ormsby of the Ballinamore family, and his grandson, William, married Elizabeth Gray of Claremorris. Ballyhowly was bought by William Ruttledge in the mid-1850s and remained the family residence until it was sold in 1914. Ballyhowly was part of the estate of Lord Oranmore and Browne and was advertised for sale in 1854 along with many other parts of the Browne estate. |
| Meldon | James Dillon Meldon, a Dublin lawyer, bought part of the Glencorrib estate of Arthur Dillon Browne, parish of Shrule, barony of Kilmaine, county Mayo in 1851 and the townland of Garryduff Middle from the sale of Lord Oranmore and Browne's estate in the parish of Crossboyne, barony of Clanmorris. He also bought the Belmont estate, parish of Liskeevy, barony of Dunmore from the Blakes in 1852 and other properties near Tuam, county Galway, including some of the remaining estate of the Brownes of Coolarne in the parishes of Athenry and Lackagh, barony of Clare and the Blake estate at Oranmore, barony of Dunkellin. He planted many trees on this property. In 1876 he owned 886 acres in county Mayo, 4,867 acres in county Galway and small acreages in counties Dublin and Kildare. |
| Coghlan | Under the Acts of Settlement a Francis and Mary Coghlan were granted over 800 acres in the parish of Killasser, barony of Gallen, county Mayo. In the 19th century the Lynch Blosses leased Brees to the Coghlan family, many of whom were involved in the legal profession. Archdeacon Coghlan held one townland in the parish of Kilmovee, barony of Costello, at the time of Griffith’s Valuation. William F.Coghlan was a tenant and the occupier of Prospect House, Gortanierin, parish of Crossboyne, on the estate of Lord Oranmore and Browne in 1854. By the mid 1860s the Trestons were selling an interest in Barnagreggaun and the sales rental shows that Martin Kirwan leased Brees to Alexander Coghlan in 1819 for three lives and 31 years. |
| Glynn | Members of the Glynn family held lands in the parish of Crossboyne, barony of Clanmorris, county Mayo, from Lord Oranmore and Browne at the time of Griffith's Valuation. Millbrook was held on a lease dated 23 May 1829 from Dominick Browne to Lawrence Glynn for the life of Patrick Glynn and 21 years and was valued at £10 in the 1850s. In 1866 Michael Glynn advertised for sale Carrowmarley in the parish of Crossboyne and premises in Ballindine and lands of Conagher, parish and barony of Dunmore, county Galway, the latter held under a 21 year lease. |
| Lambert (Brookhill) | 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. |
| Guinness | Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness of the famous brewing family began to purchase Connacht estates for sale in the Encumbered Estates' Court from 1852. He bought the Ashford estate from Lord Oranmore and Browne, the Doon estate from Sir Richard O'Donel, the Cong estate from Alexander Lambert, part of the Rosshill estate from Lords Charlemont and Leitrim, parts of Connemara from Christopher St George and Kylemore from a banking consortium in 1859. Guinness acquired lands in county Kerry in the 1850s and was a principal lessor in the parish of Kilcrohane, barony of Dunkerron South at the time of Griffith's Valuation. He bought the Elwood estate of Strandhill, just across the river from Ashford, Cong, in 1871 and Lord Kilmaine sold him Inishdoorus, islands on Lough Corrib and lands in the barony of Ross, part of Nymphsfield in 1875. William Burke of Lisloughry was his agent. Arthur Guinness (1840-1915) was granted the title Baron Ardilaun in 1880. In the 1870s Arthur Guinnes owned 19,944 acres in county Galway, 3,747 acres in county Mayo and smaller acreages in counties Wicklow and Dublin. In 1906 Lord Ardilaun's estate held over 1700 acres of untenanted demesne land at Moyode, Loughrea as well as the mansion house at Moyode. By March 1916 final offers had been accepted from the Congested Districts' Board for over 2000 acres of the Guinness estate in county Mayo and for almost 28,000 acres in county Galway. The Board paid £50,000 for the Galway acreage. An offer had also been accepted for the purchase of the Aran Islands by the Board. The Guinness and St Lawrence families had inherited the Aran Islands from the Digbys through the Barfoots. The Guinness family retained Ashford Castle and the surrounding woods until 1939 when the property was sold to the Irish Government. |
| Rush | Cuillaun, parish of Kilvine, barony of Clanmorris, county Mayo, was in the possession of Edward Rush from the 1850s. He appears to have held the property from Lord Oranmore and Browne. 719 acres belonging to the Rush family were purchased by the Congested Districts' Board on 26 Mar 1903. |
| Alliance Insurance Society | In 1855 the trustees of the Alliance Insurance Society held an estate of 9 townlands in the parishes of Rahoon and Oranmore, barony of Galway and in the parish of Claregalway, barony of Clare, county Galway, all formerly belonging to Lord Oranmore and Browne. In the 1870s the Society owned 282 acres in county Galway and 573 acres in the county of the town of Galway. |
| O'Conor (Dundermot) | A branch of the O'Conor Don family who resided at Dundermot for 2 generations in the 19th century. In 1683 Hugh O'Connor was granted over 1,800 acres in county Roscommon, including the castle of Ballyntobber and lands at Laraha and Ross. At the time of Griffith's Valuation, Patrick O'Conor held land in the parishes of Kilcroan and Kilbegnet, barony of Ballymoe, county Galway, and in the parishes of Oran and Drumatemple, barony of Ballymoe, Lissonuffy, barony of Roscommon, county Roscommon. Some of this land was held from the Blakeneys and some of the land in the parish of Oran was offered for sale by the Brownes of Castlemagarrett, county Mayo in May 1852. His brother Roderic also held land in the parishes of Oran and Drumatemple. In 1851 some of Roderick O'Connor's land in the parish of Drumatemple was advertised for sale in the Encumbered Estates' Court by his assignee Christopher Hume Lawder. From 1853 Patrick O'Conor held Laragh and Ross, which adjoined the demesne of Dundermot, from Arthur Irwin Mahon. Mahon advertised these lands for sale in May 1856. Patrick O'Connor and Charles O'Connor also held extensive lands at Rathconor and Tonlegee, parish of Kilbride, barony of Ballintober South at the time of Griffith's Valuation, previously part of the Croghan estate. In the 1870s Hussey records that the late Patrick Hugh O'Conor of Dundermot owned 2,435 acres in county Roscommon and his brother Nicholas O'Conor owned 810 acres. Nicholas O'Conor, a prominent British diplomat, sold Dundermot. The estate of his daughter Fearga O'Conor was vested in the Congested Districts' Board in March 1915. |
| Clendining | A family employed as agents and receivers on many county Mayo estates in the first half of the 19th century, including those of the Marquess of Sligo, Lord Oranmore and Browne and the FitzGeralds of Turlough. They were also involved in banking. In 1854 they sold 1372 acres in the parish of Kilcolman, barony of Clanmorris in the Encumbered Estates' Court, with their interest in the lease of Thomastown in the barony of Carra. In 1857 Alexander Clendining advertised for sale the rental of the lands [158 acres] of Ballyglass North, parish of Kilcroan, barony of Ballymoe, county Galway, which he held in fee simple. |
| French (Cuillaun) | A Francis French held an estate at Cuillaun, parish of Kilvine, barony of Clanmorris, county Mayo in the early 19th century, possibly from the Blakes of Doonmacreena. The Honourable Geoffrey Browne was the immediate lessor in the 1850s and Cuillaun was part of the Oranmore and Browne estates advertised for sale in the Encumbered Estates' Court in 1854. By the 1870s Cuillane belonged to Edward Rush. |
| Kelly (Castlegar) | The Kellys held just under 600 acres from the Brownes of Castlemagarret at Castlegar, near Claremorris, county Mayo, throughout the 19th century. |