Clements & Caulfield
Family title
Earls of Leitrim & Charlemont
Description
Rosshill estate
Estate(s)
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| 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. |
| Bermingham/Birmingham (Rosshill) | Colonel John Browne owned a substantial estate in the barony of Ross, county Galway, at the end of the 17th century, which the trustees for the sale of his estates sold to James Naper and Thomas Smith in June 1700. The estate was immediately leased back to Peter Browne, son and heir of the Colonel. During the 18th century Peter Browne's lease (renewable for ever) of the estate became vested in the descendants of his sister Elizabeth who had married John Bermingham, a cousin of Baron Athenry. In the 19th century the estate became the joint property of the Earls of Leitrim and Charlemont through their marriages with the daughters and heiresses of William Bermingham of Ross, who died in 1799. |
| Clements | The Clements family in Ireland were descended from Daniel Clements, a Cromwellian officer, originally granted lands in county Cavan. The three branches of the Clements family are descended from Robert Clements who died in 1722. One branch became Earls of Leitrim and held extensive estates in many parts of Connacht. McParlan records Lord Clements and Mr. Clements as the owners of large estates in Leitrim but not having a residence there in 1802. In the 1870s the 3rd Earl of Leitrim owned 22,038 acres in county Leitrim, 18,145 acres in county Galway, 54,352 acres in county Donegal and 471 acres in county Kildare. Henry Theophilus Clements, of Ashfield House, Cootehill, county Cavan, owned over 700 acres in Leitrim in the 1870s and his uncle John Marcus Clements of Monkstown, county Dublin, owned 6,773 acres in county Leitrim. In the mid 19th century John Marcus Clements also held land in the baronies of Coshlea and Smallcounty, county Limerick. These lands were advertised for sale in May 1858. Henry T. Clements inherited the Lough Rynn estate following the assassination of the 3rd Earl of Leitrim in 1878. The Clements family continued to own Lough Rynn until the 1970s although the bulk of the land had been sold off to former tenants by the Land Commission. |
| Joyce (Leenaun) | The Joyces of Leenaun, barony of Ross, county Galway, leased large tracts of land in Joyce Country and surrounding locality, from such landowners as the Earls of Leitrim, the Martins of Ballynahinch and the Provost and Fellows of Trinity College, Dublin. The men of the family are described in many contemporary accounts as very tall. The Leenaun Hotel is marked on the first Ordnance Survey map. In the 1870s three members of the Joyce family of Cullaghmore, Leenaun owned 1,179 acres. In June 1927 the ''Tuam Herald'' reported that the Land Commission had taken over the estates of Thomas Walter James B. Joyce and Theobald Paul Joyce amounting to approximately 2,700 acres in the barony of Ross. |
| Gildea | The Gildeas were established at Port Royal in county Mayo from early in the 18th century, where they held an estate of church lands in the parish of Ballyovey, barony of Carra. Thomas Fair of Roundfort was agent to James Gildea in the 1830s. From early in the 18th century the Gildeas also leased Cloonnagashel in the parish of Ballinrobe from the Bingham family, Earls of Lucan. In 1865 James Knox Gildea was advertising for sale over 10,000 acres in the barony of Ross, county Galway and in the baronies of Carra, Clanmorris and Kilmaine, county Mayo. Most of the county Galway part of the estate was sold to the Earl of Leitrim. Part of the Portroyal estate was sold to Thomas K. Sullivan of Bandon while the Caher estate was sold to Francis Browne. The following year the Port Royal estate of 5,480 acres was purchased by the National Land and Building Investment Company for £9,000. In the early 19th century the Gildeas moved their main residence from Port Royal to Clooncormick in the parish of Kilcommon, barony of Kilmaine. In the 1870s Anthony Knox Gildea of Clooncormick owned 1,635 acres in county Mayo. |
| Clements & Caulfield | The Rosshill estate in the parishes of Ross, Cong and Ballinchalla, barony of Ross, county Galway, was inherited by the Earls of Leitrim and Charlemont through their marriages with the two heiresses of William Bermingham who died in 1799. The Fair family of Clonbur were for many years agents for the Rosshill estate. Apparently the estate was put up for sale in June 1860 to buy out the Charlemont interest and part of it was sold, mainly to the Guinness family. The remainder stayed in the possession of the Clements' family until the early 20th century. It appears to have been augmented by some purchases from the Landed Estates' Court including the Gildea estate in the parish of Ross in 1865 and in the 1870s the estate amounted to over 18,000 acres. The 3rd Earl of Leitrim left his estate in the barony of Ross to his cousin Colonel Henry Theophilus Clements of Ashfield Lodge, county Cavan and not to his nephew and successor the 4th Earl of Leitrim. By March 1916 Henry J.B. Clements had accepted an offer from the Congested Districts' Board for the purchase of his estate in counties Mayo and Galway. http://www.nli.ie/pdfs/mss%20lists/leitrim.pdf |
| Clements (Ashfield) | The manor of Ashfield was granted to Sir Thomas Ashe in 1611. [Malsomson, The Clements Archive, p 58]. In 1714, it was leased by Robert Clements of Rathkenny (1664-1722) from Thomas Ashe of the city of Dublin. The estate was bought by Nathaniel Clements in 1764 from the Ashe family. The Clements family of Ashfield, county Cavan, descend from a younger son of the Right Honourable Nathaniel Clements, father of the 1st Earl of Leitrim. In the 1850s the estate of Colonel Henry Theophilus Clements of Ashfield was in the parish of Kildrumsherdan. In the mid-1870s he owned 3,908 acres in county Cavan, 752 acres in county Leitrim and 174 acres in county Waterford. In 1878, following the murder of the 3rd Earl of Leitrim, Colonel Clements inherited the estates of the Earl at Lough Rynn in county Leitrim and at Rosshill in county Galway. |