Hassard
Description
Parkmore, Ballymena, county Antrim and Allan Rock, Dungannon, county Tyrone.
Estate(s)
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Hassard | Robert Hassard of Parkmore, Ballymena, county Antrim, owned 1146 acres in county Mayo and had other property holdings in counties Antrim, Tyrone and Fermanagh. It is apparent from the Hassard Papers in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland that he purchased some of the Bingham estate advertised for sale in April 1854 and some of the Ruttledge estate for sale in 1861. |
| Bingham (Bingham's Castle) | The Bingham family of Newbrook, parish of Robeen, county Mayo, later Barons Clanmorris, inherited half the estate of Sir Arthur Shaen in the barony of Erris through a marriage in 1738. Denis Bingham, a younger son, settled in the Belmullet peninsular in the late 1790s and built Bingham's Castle. The Binghams of Erris are descended from him and from his brother, Henry of Annagh. Theresa Bingham Daly lists the undivided moiety of the Binghams in the barony of Erris in a quote from the will of Henry Bingham of Newbrook, dated 22 Dec 1789 (see page 78). The Binghams also held land in the parish of Kilfian, barony of Tirawley, which was advertised for sale in the Encumbered Estates' Court in 1855. In the previous year almost 13,000 acres were offered for sale in the barony of Erris by the Bingham family. In 1876 Denis Bingham owned 4827 acres in county Mayo, Arthur Shaen Bingham of Doolough owned 1662 acres and female members of the family, mainly residing in Kingstown and Dalkey, county Dublin, owned another 17,000 acres, see the family trees in McCalmont's book. Much of Denis Bingham's estate in the barony of Erris was sold in the Landed Estates' Court in 1878. Property owned by Elizabeth Eleanor and Gerald Henry Bingham, in the barony of Erris, was advertised for sale in the Land Judges' Court in November 1889. |
| Ruttledge (Bloomfield) | In May 1749, Peter Ruttledge of Cornfield and Carrowkillen, parish of Robeen, barony of Kilmaine, county Mayo, purchased from the Binghams of Newbrook the freehold of Cornfield and other lands, which he was already leasing. He acquired other lands in the vicinity and left all his property to his eldest son, Thomas, by his will dated 3 December 1766. Thomas Ruttledge added to the family property and built Bloomfield, which became the principal family residence. Thomas Ormsby Ruttledge, who made a detailed study of the Ruttledge family in the 1970s, estimated that the Ruttledge estates amounted to approximately 30,000 acres at the time of Thomas' death in 1805. Years of litigation between family members about the interpretation of the 1766 will of Peter Ruttledge followed the death of Thomas and the estates were eventually split up among three branches of the family, who had, as their principal homes, Bloomfield, Togher and Barbersfort. Robert Ruttledge, son of Thomas, succeeded to his father’s estates in county Mayo. As he had no children he settled some of his estates on his nephew, Reverend Francis Lambert, at the time of Francis' marriage in 1819. Francis changed his surname to Ruttledge. At the time of Griffith's Valuation his estates were mainly in the parishes of Robeen and Ballinrobe, barony of Kilmaine; Aghamore, barony of Costello; Kilconduff and Meelick in barony of Gallen and Kilcommon, barony of Erris. The Erris lands were held under a lease from Bingham to Thomas Ruttledge dated 1764 and the Ruttledge lands in the parishes of Ballinrobe and Kilgeever were all leased from the Archbishop of Tuam. The whole estate amounting to 15,482 acres, including 310 acres in the parish of Abbeygormacan, county Galway, was advertised for sale in the Landed Estates' Court in 1861. The Ruttledges retained some of their estate as they still owned 3949 acres in county Mayo in 1876. By March 1916 they had accepted a final offer from the Congested Districts' Board for their estate of 6400 acres in county Mayo and over 2000 acres in county Galway. They repurchased 825 acres around Bloomfield House and almost 400 acres in county Galway. The descendants of Reverend Francis Ruttledge lived at Bloomfield until 1924 when it was sold to the Land Commission by Robin Ruttledge, the well known ornithologist, who married Rose Burke of Cloonee. |