|
Bourke (Carrowkeel)
|
The Bourkes were established at Carrowkeel in the parish of Addergoole, barony of Tirawley, Co Mayo, from at least the 17th century. At the time of Griffith's Valuation Walter Bourke held ten townlands in the parish of Addergoole and three townlands in the parish of Crossmolina. He died in 1871 leaving one daughter who was married to Francis Comyn of Woodstock, county Galway and his estate passed to the Comyns. His younger brother was Isidore Bourke of Curraghleagh.
|
|
Comyn (Woodstock)
|
From the mid 17th century the Comyn family were established at Kilcorney in county Clare. In 1796 Laurence Comyn married Jane Lynch of Barna and bought land in the Spiddal area from his in-laws and from the Frenches. Beggan states that he bought more land from the Blakes of Drum in 1814. By the time of Griffith's Valuation, Francis and Peter Sarsfield Comyn, sons of Laurence Comyn of Woodstock, county Galway, held land in the parishes of Killannin and Moycullen, barony of Moycullen and in the parish of Rahoon, barony of Galway. Francis Comyn also had an estate in county Clare in the parishes of Drumcreehy, Kilcorney and Rathborney, barony of Burren. Part of the estate of Peter Sarsfield Comyn at Spiddal was sold in the early 1860s to the Morris family. P.S. Comyn bought the Browne estate at Gortatleva in 1860 and resold it to Michael Hennessy of Galway, except for Brownville, in November 1869. Through a marriage in 1871 with the only daughter and heir of Walter Bourke of Carrowkeel, county Mayo, the Comyns inherited the Carrowkeel estate in the parish of Addergoole, barony of Tirawley. In 1878 Francis Lorenzo Comyn was recorded as owning 3,654 acres in county Mayo, over 7,000 acres in county Galway and 1,961 acres in county Clare. Holywell, the Comyn home, and 161 acres in the barony of Corcomroe, county Clare, was advertised for sale by Thomas Gibson, assignee of Thomas Francis Comyn, in June 1859. This property was held on a lease dated 1803 from Edward O'Brien of Ennistymon to George Comyn of Hollywell.
The Freeman's Journal reported that it was purchased in trust by Mr. Redington for £1900. Most of the Comyn estate of Woodstock and the Brownville property, with a portion of the Comyn estate in county Mayo, were sold to the Congested Districts' Board in 1902. 757 acres in county Clare were vested in the Board in November 1912.
|
|
Lynch (Barna)
|
According to Burke's ''Landed Gentry of Ireland'' the Barna estate came into the possession of the Lynches through marriage with an O'Halloran heiress in the 17th century and through purchase from the Whaley family. Further additions to their estate were made through marriages with a Blake of Renvyle heiress and a French of Cloghballymore. In the late 18th century a son of Mark Lynch of Barna lived at Cloghballymore and had a daughter Anne who married Maurice Blake of Ballinafad, county Mayo. The Lynches resided at Barna, just west of Galway city. James Hardiman referred to the 'highly improved and elegant seat of Marcus Blake Lynch which for situation and beauty of prospect stands unrivelled'. Before the Famine their estate appears to have been in the Courts. Some of it in the barony of Ballynahinch was sold to the Grahams of county Fermanagh in the early 1840s and some may have transferred into the ownership of the Comyn family through marriage. What was known as the West Barna Estate was sold to Andrew Henry Lynch in 1834. However at the time of Griffith's Valuation the Lynches still retained a large estate in the parishes of Rahoon, barony of Galway and Moyrus, barony of Ballynahinch. By June 1869 their estate of 9,565 acres in the parish of Moyrus was being advertised for sale, 5 of the 8 lots were sold that year. In the early 1870s they owned 4,100 acres in the county and 1,711 in the county of the town of Galway.
|
|
Blake (Drum, Tully & Gortnamona)
|
In his genealogy of the Blakes of Drum, Tully and Gortnamona, Martin J. Blake refers to a grant dated 22 Aug 1677 of the lands of Drum and others in the barony of Moycullen, county Galway, to Walter Blake. A descendant, Patrick Blake of Drum, was Mayor of Galway in 1771 and his eldest son, Valentine, married Anne Burke of Gortnamona, near Ballinasloe. About 500 acres belonging to the Blakes, devisees of Nicholas A. Burke, in the baronies of Leitrim, Longford and Clonmacnowen, were advertised for sale in July 1853. This family of Blakes owned a large estate in the parishes of Killannin, Kilcummin and Moycullen, barony of Moycullen, county Galway, at the time of Griffith's Valuation. In the 1870s Valentine [Fitzpatrick] Blake of Gortnamona is recorded as the owner of 17,335 acres in county Galway though Walford notes that he had died in 1870 and his son, Valentine Blake, born in 1868, was a Ward in Chancery.
|
|
Morris (Spiddle)
|
In 1684, George Morris who had served in the army of King James II married Catherine Fitzpatrick and through this marriage the Morris family gained land in the parish of Killannin, barony of Moycullen, county Galway. Beggan writes that the Morris family purchased land at Spiddle from the sale of part of the estate of Patrick Sarsfield Comyn in the early 1860s. In the second half of the 19th century Michael Morris was a prominent lawyer and judge and was made a Baronet in 1885 and 1st Lord Killanin in 1900. He owned 1274 acres in county Galway in the 1870s and his brother George Morris of Wellpark owned 748 acres. Lord Killanin sold an estate of 2,557 acres to the Congested Districts' Board on 31 Mar 1914. Michael Morris, 3rd Lord Killanin, was President of the International Olympic Committee 1972-1980.
|
