Lighton

Description

The Reverend Sir Charles Lighton succeeded his brother as 6th Baronet in 1844.

---

Estate(s)

Name	Description
Lighton	At the time of Griffith's Valuation Reverend Sir Christopher Lighton held four townlands in the parish of Omey, barony of Ballynahinch, county Galway, which he bought from the sale of the D'Arcy estate in 1850. He owned 945 acres in county Galway in the 1870s as well as 88 acres in County Tyrone. A final offer for the purchase of the Galway lands by the Congested Districts' Board had been accepted by March 1916. This family is also associated with Donaghmore House, Castlefinn, County Donegal, where Christopher's father, Sir John Lighton, was Rector in the mid nineteenth century. The family surname sometimes appears as "Leighton" in the records.
D'Arcy (Kiltullagh & Clifden Castle)	The D'Arcy family of Kiltullagh, parish and barony of Athenry, county Galway, was founded by Patrick D'Arcy, a younger son of James Riveagh D'Arcy in the early 17th century. The D'Arcy's Connemara estate was granted to them under the Acts of Settlement. It had been confiscated from the O'Flaherty clan and by the 19th century amounted to over 12,000 acres mainly in the parish of Omey, barony of Ballynahinch. The head of the family at the turn of the 19th century was John D'Arcy (1785-1839) who founded the town of Clifden. Shortly before his death he mortgaged his estates to 2 English brothers Thomas and Charles Eyre of Bath and London. Following the Famine his son Hyacinth D'Arcy was in severe financial difficulty and his estates were one of the first to be sold in the Encumbered Estates' Court. The sales included 697 acres at Kiltullagh and part of the D'Arcy of New Forest estate in the barony of Tiaquin, county Galway, the two D'Arcy families had intermarried. Much of Hyacinth D'Arcy's Connemara property was purchased by the Eyre brothers and Thomas Eyre subsequently bought out his brother's interest. A consortium, which included James Sadlier, appears to have bought the townland of Kylemore which they advertised for sale in the Landed Estates' Court in May 1859 and was purchased by Benjamin Lee Guinness. At the time of Griffith's Valuation Thomas Eyre was the occupier of the part of the New Forest estate that had belonged to the D'Arcys of Clifden.