Anglo-Irish Families

Source: F.R. Montgomery Hitchcock The Midland Septs and the Pale (1908)

Parnells of Queen's County
Digby
Parsons
Moore / Bury
Lyons
Armstrong
Saunders
Baldwin
Warburton
L'Estrange
Vaughan
Nesbitt
Minchin
Atkinson
Bernard
Drought

No ascendancy family was more consistently identified with the public, literary and religious life in this county than the Parnell Family, the only member of which, Charles Stewart, the uncrowned king of Ireland, appears to be regarded as meriting any mention today.

Initially they were not interested in the injustices perpetrated on the downtrodden masses in Ireland, but progressively and ultimately they became so interested. The Family is of particular interest to Laois people as will be apparent from the following outline of their history.

Thomas Parnell, member of a wealthy business family in Congleton Cheshire was an ardent supporter of Cromwell during the Civil War in England. Accordingly fearing repercussions following the restoration of the monarchy he moved to Ireland. On arrival he purchased lands in the Queen's County (Laois) and settled in Rathleague, Maryboro (now Portlaoise) where he became a prosperous landowner. He had two sons, Thomas, born in 1679 and John born a couple of years later.

Thomas, educated in Trinity College, was ordained an Anglican clergyman in 1703 and was appointed Archdeacon of Clogher at the age of 26. Like many Irish clergymen of the period he absented himself from his religious duties in rural Ulster for lengthy periods. During such periods he frequented a literary club in London of which he, Pope Arbuthnot, Swift, Gay and Jarvas were also members. His closest friend there was Pope, who he assisted with his translation of Homer. In return Pope published an edition of Parnell's works after his death. The principal work from his pen was the Life of Zoilas but he also shared in a number of other works. In addition he contributed articles to The Spectator and The Guardian and a number of his poems were published. Just as he was reaching the apex of his career tragedy struck - his two young sons died and his wife soon followed them to the grave in 1712. Shattered by these misfortunes a melancholia, the. curse of the family, descended on him and plagued him for his few remaining years.

Dean Swift, secured a preband or income from Cathedral funds for him in 1713 and in 1716 a vicarage in Finglas but he died in the following year at Chester on his way to Ireland. Amongst admirers of his writings were Oliver Goldsmith, Dr. Johnson and of course Dean Swift to name but a One of his most noted poems is The Hermit which it is believed was inspired by the story of St. Aongus (Ceile De) who had his cell in the Dysart Hills which overlooks Rathleague the townland of his youth. The first verse of this poem is as follows:

Far in wild unknown to public view, From youth to age a revered hermit grew, The moss his bed, the cave his humbele cell, His food the fruits, his drink the crystal well, Remote from man with god he passed his days, Prayer all his business all his pleasure praise.

Following the death of Thomas Parnell his property in Laois passed into the possession of his brother John who by this time had become a judge and occupied a seat in the Irish House of Commons. On his death in 1727 his property passed on to his son John who also held a seat in the Irish House of Commons and was created a baronet in 1766. He married a Miss Ward of Castle Ward Co. Down. Their son, the second Sir John was born on Christmas Day 1744 and was the first of the family to reach front ranks in politics. He was appointed Chancelor of the Exchequer in 1785 and a Privy Councillor in 1786. He continued to hold the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer up to 1799 during which period he reformed Irish governmental Finance on the English model. Prior to this Si John commanded a corps of the Irish Volunteers which force was largely responsible for wresting the constitution of 1782 from the British. A further development during Sir John's period in office was the grant of the vote to Irish Catholics in 1793 but the right to sit in Parliament had not been ceded to Catholics when the Irish Parliament was abolished in 1800. Sir John was distinctly conservative in his views and was an opponent of Catholic emancipation declaring it was dangerous to do away at once with the principle of a century.

As a result of intrigues, bribes and inducements of various kinds the Irish Parliament was influenced into voting itself out of existence in 1800. However, Sir John Parnell together with his son Henry (about whom more anon) who was a newly elected member of Parliament came out strongly against the Union. As a result Sir John was dismissed from office but in compensation received a payment of £7,500 that softened the blow for him to some extent. He was in failing health at this time and he died in 1801. Sir John was married to Letitia C. Brooke of Fermanagh and had six children by the marriage. His eldest son John, was a deaf mute and was exercised for his own safety in a garden surrounded by a wall ten feet high which was specially built and indeed is still extant to this day. The second son Henry inherited the estates in the Queen's County (Laois). Following his education in Eton and Cambridge he entered the Irish Parliament in 1797. He was elected to the British House of Commons for a short period in 1 802 and was subsequently returned for the Queen's County to that Parliament in 1806 where he served until the 1830's. From the outset he advocated Catholic emancipation that had been contained in the proposals for the Union measure. However Pitt did not implement this measure in the face of the veto of King George III. Henry interested himself in many topics and wrote authoritively on current affairs. In 1808 he published a History of the Penal Laws and he wrote extensively on such matters as the Corn Laws, Banking, Taxation and Financial Reform. His views on the latter subject resulted in many fiscal innovations implemented subsequently by Peel and Gladstone.

He attained the office of Secretary for War in 1830 but because of disagreement with his cabinet colleagues on several issues he was dismissed in 1832. He was appointed Paymaster-General of the Forces in 1835 and was raised to the peerage as Baron Congleton in 1841. Soon afterwards his health failed and a melancholia set in (the family weakness once again manifesting itself) and he died in the following year.

William born in 1777, was the third son of Sir John Parnell and Charles (known as the uncrowned king of Ireland) was his grandson.

He was the first member of the family to reside at Avon-dale, which was bequeathed to Sir John (his father) by Samuel Hayes K.C. However, because of poor health he never took up residence there and bestowed the property on his son William. The latter represented Wicklow in the British House of Commons but did not make the same impact there as his brother Henry. He, however, published two pamphlets dealing with the causes of discontent generally in Ireland and the problems of Irish Catholics. These pamphlets could be regarded as forming the basis of the policy of his grandson, Charles Stewart, in the l880s. While resident in Avondale he became most friendly with the poet Thomas Moore, who while staying there wrote the immortal words of The Vale of Avoca and The Meeting of the Waters.

William maintained very good relations with his tenants and was held in the highest esteem in the area. He was connected with the Earls of Wicklow by marriage and had most friendly relations with the then Lord Powerscourt and the Carysfort family. He was the father of two children Catherine and John Henry, the father, of Charles Stewart. William died in 1821 at the early age of 44 years.

The fourth son Thomas was a religious eccentric who spent many years, and his fortune (sic) in the promotion of his own "brand" of Protestantism from an office in Sackville Street (now O'Connell St.) Dublin.

Arthur the fifth son does not appear to have figured in public life and little is known of him.

Henry was the last member of the family to live in Rathleague and he appears to have pulled up his roots from there in the 1830s.

For a landlord family who were members of the reformed church it was most extraordinary that their interests and sympathies should have swung over to champion the causes of the downtrodden peasants in the country.

Source: Laois Association Yearbook 1981

In the eighteenth century, as at present, the largest estate in the King's County was in the possession of the Digby family. This great property, comprising the entire barony of Geashill, belonged to the FitzGeralds, from whom it came to Sir Robert Digby, of Coleshill, Warwick, on his marriage in 1600 with Lettice, only child of Gerald FitzGerald, Lord Offaly, and granddaughter of Gerald, eleventh Earl of Kildare. This lady, who had been created by James I. Baroness Offaly for life, gallantly held Geashill Castle against the insurgents in 1641. Her son, Robert Digby, was elevated to the peerage of Ireland in 1620 as Baron Digby, of Geashill, with remainder to his brothers. He was the ancestor of the present peer. In 1765 an earldom was conferred on the seventh baron, but this title was since become extinct. The Lords Digby, having much finer seats in England, have seldom resided at Geashill Castle, which during the great part of the eighteenth century, was occupied by the agent of the estate. The right Rev. Essex Digby, Bishop of Dromore, a younger brother of the first Lord, was father of the right Rev. Simon Digby, Bishop of Elphin, from whom the Digbys of Landenstown, Ballincurra, and other Irish branches are derived.

Source: F.R. Montgomery Hitchcock The Midland Septs and the Pale (1908)

Unlike the owners of Geashill, who have usually resided on their English estates, the Parsons family have always made Parsonstown their home. It was Sir Laurence Parsons, younger brother of Sir William Parsons, Bart., Lord Justice of Ireland, who first settled at Birr. The two brothers came to Ireland about 1590, but the male descendants of Sir William, who was of Bellamount, Co. Dublin, came to an end on the death of Richard, second Earl of Rosse, in 1764. In 1677 Sir Laurence Parsons, of Birr Castle, grandson of the first settler, was created a baronet. His son, Sir William Parsons, many years M.P, for the King's County, died in 1740, and was succeeded by his grandson, Sir Laurence Parsons, third Baronet, who augmented the family fortunes, by his marriage with Mary, elder daughter and Co-heiress of William Sprigge, of Cloonive, King's Co. (by Catherine, daughter of Edward Denny, of Tralee, Co. Kerry, M.P.). Sir William Parsons, fourth baronet, M.P. for the Kings County, who succeeded his father, Sir Laurence, in 1749, was High Sheriff, 1779, and long foreman of the Grand Jury. He took a prominent part in the Volunteer movement, and held a great review at Woodfield, near Birr, besides raising a corps called the Parnstown loyal Independents. In 1792 Laurence Parsons-Harman, M.P. for Longford, Sir William's half-brother, who had inherited Newcastle, Co. Longford, from his mother's family, the Harmans, was raised to the peerage of Ireland as Baron Oxmanstown. Being advanced in 1806 to the Earldom of Rosse, with remainder in default of male issue to his nephew, Sir Laurence Parsons, fifth baronet, of Birr castle. Lord Rosse died in 1807, when the earldom devolved on his nephew accoriing to the limitations, while the Newcastle estates were inherited by his only child Frances, wife of Robert King, first Viscount Lorton, grandfather of Colonel Wentworth King- Harman, now of Newcastle. Laurence second Earl of Rosse, who represented King's County and the University in Parliament, was father of William, third Earl, the celebrated astronomer, and great-grandfather of the present peer.

Source: F.R. Montgomery Hitchcock The Midland Septs and the Pale (1908)

Charleville Forest, now the seat of the lady Emily Bury, was at the beginning of the eighteenth century the residence of the Forth Family. It was then called Redwood, and James Forth, who had succeeded the estate at the decease of his father, john Forth, in 1860, was High Sheriff in 1711, and represented the county in Parliament, 1713-14. James Forth left no male issue, and soon after his death, Charles Moore, second lord Moore, and the proprietor of the town of Tullamore, removed from Croghan in this county to Redwood, which he named after himself, Charleville. He was Muster Master-General in Ireland, and was elevated to the Earldom of Charleville in 1758, but dying without issue in February, 1764, his titles became extinct. His estates devolved on his widow for life, and at her death in 1779 came to his grand Nephew, Charles William Bury, then a minor, the only child of John Bury, of Shannon Grove, Co Limerick, whose mother had been the earl's only sister.

Charles William Bury, of Charleville, sometime in the peerage of Ireland, and subsequently advanced to the dignities of Viscount and Earl of Charleville. These titles became extinct on the death of the fifth earl in 1875, when the estates devolved on the present owner, the lady Emily Howard Bury, a daughter of the third earl.

After the death of Charles Moore, Earl of Charleville, in 1764, his widow removed to Dublin, while Charleville was occupied by Capt Thomas Johnston, whose name is found on the Grand Jury for several years subsequently. It was while on a visit to the Johnstons at Charleville that Dr Pocock, Bishop of Meath, who attained some eminence as an author and traveller, died of apoplexy in September 1765. Johnston sister, Eliza, married in 1745 George Stoney, of Greyfort, Co Tipperary, and though this marriage of Emell Castle, which had been purchased by the Johnstons from Richard Carroll in 1782, has at length devolved on its present possessor, Johnston Thomas Stoney, now of Emell Castle.

Source: F.R. Montgomery Hitchcock The Midland Septs and the Pale (1908)

Though the name is now unknown the family of Lyons held for over 150 years a prominent position in the county. Captain William Lyons was one of the settlers of James I's. time, and his possessions comprised Killeen and part of the great Wood of Fercall The estate of Clonarrow, afterwards called River Lyons, had been the seat of Geoffrey Philips, who died in 1601, leaving with other issue, two sons, Henry and Colley. As the names Colley, Geoffrey, Philip and Henry are found in the Pedigree of the Lyons family, we may presume that the acquired that estate by marriage with a Philips.

Charles Lyons, of Killeen, High Sheriff, 1663, married Margaret, daughter of Thomas Moore, of Croghan, M.P and died, 1694 John Lyons, who purchased Ledeston, Co. Westmeath, in 1715, and was ancestor of the family seated there, was apparently, his younger son; Geoffrey, the elder, born 1654, succeeded to Killeen, was High Sheriff, 1693 and 1702, and married his cousin, Jane Moore, of Croghan. This Geoffrey had issue, three sons and four daughters, viz, Colley, Thomas, Philips, Anne, Mary, Elizabeth, and Susan, who married Thomas Nesbitt in 1701.

Colley Lyons, of River Lyons, the eldest son, was some time M.P. for King's County and High Sheriff, 1715. He married, 1706, Susanna, daughter of Elnathan Lumm, and died 1741, leaving a daughter, Anne, wife of Richard Cane, of Larabrian, Co Kildare (by whom she had a son, Lyons Cane), and an only son, Henry, who succeeded his father.

Henry Lyons, of River Lyons, many years M.P for King's County and foreman of the Grand Jury, was High Sheriff in 1744. In the previous year he had married Anne, daughter of the Right Hon, George Rochfort, M.P., and sister of Robert, first Earl of Belvedere, by whom he had issue three daughters and co-heiresses; Elizabeth married in 1762 Robert Barry, M.P for Charleville; Anne married John Nixon; and Henrietta, who married in 1780 Robert Garden. Henry Lyons died at Bath in 1782, his wife surviving to the following year. After his death the house at Rivers Lyons, which is near Philipstown, remained unoccupied, and has since become a ruin. Through his youngest daughter the property came to the Gardens, from whom it passed by marriage to Arthur Champagne, Esq.

Source: F.R. Montgomery Hitchcock The Midland Septs and the Pale (1908)

With ramifications endless and residences innumerable, the Armstrong family, though and represented in the country, cannot be followed in detail. Their original ancestor came from the Scottish border, and settled in Fermanagh. Several of his sons established themselves in the King's County, Edmund at Stonestown; Thomas, the third son, at Ballycumber, and Archibald, the eight, at Ballylin. Edmund's heir male and representative, Andrew Armstrong, of Gallan Priory, many years M.P for the county, and twice High Sheriff, was created a baronet; in 1841, and the title is now enjoyed by his grandson, Sir Andrew Armstrong, third baronet; while Archibald was ancestor of Sir George Armstrong, Bart., the well known proprietor of the"Globe" newspaper, who obtained a similar honour in 1892. General Armstrong, who founded Woolwich Arsenal, was also a member of this family.

At the Summer Assizes, 1779, no less than four Armstrongs were on the Grand Jury, three of them being named Andrew.

Besides these branches of the one family, there were also the Armstrongs of Mount Heaton, who came of a different stock. Mount Heaton, near Roscrea, now Mount St. Joseph's Monastery, received it's name from the Heatons, who were of Yorkshire ancestry. The Rev. Richard Heaton, of Mount Heaton, otherwise Balliskannagh, died in 1666, leaving three sons and three daughters. Edward, the eldest son, succeeded, but on his death in 1703, the estate came to his next surviving brother, Francis, who was High Sheriff of the King's County in 1705. Francis Heaton, of Mount Heaton, married 1704, Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Curtis, of Inane, Co. Tipperary, M.P., and had four daughters, of whom Mary, married, 1731, William Armstrong, of Farney Castle, Co. Tipperary. Through this marriage Mount Heaton came to the Armstrongs, who were not, however, related to the other families of that name in King's County, being derived from a Captain William Armstrong, who had settled in County Tipperary about 1660. The Rt. Hon. John Armstrong, of Mount Heaton, M.P. died in 1791, leaving a son, William Henry Armstrong, of Mount Heaton, M.P., who sold that estate to the Hutchinsons in 1817.

Source: F.R. Montgomery Hitchcock The Midland Septs and the Pale (1908)

Corolanty, now the seat of Edward Francis Saunders, Esq., who represents the male line of that ancient family, formerly of Saunder's Court, Co. Wexford, and Newtown Saunders, Co. Wicklow, was built about 1698 by John Baldwin. His father, Captain John Baldwin, who belonged to a Warwickshire family, got a grant of lands at Shinrone, and was High Sheriff of King's County in 1672. John Baldwin, jnr., High Sheriff, 1697, survived his father less than a year and died in 1699, leaving, with other children, Thomas, his heir; Mary, married,1700, Edward Crow, of Spruce Hall, Co. Galway; and Catherine married, 1704, Thomas Meredyth, of Newtown, Co. Meath, M.P.

Source: F.R. Montgomery Hitchcock The Midland Septs and the Pale (1908)

Thomas Baldwin, who succeeded to Corolanty, was born, 1679, and died 1732 leaving by his wife, Mary Eyre, of Eyrecourt, two sons and two daughters, viz., John; Thomas, who became Attorney-General of Jamacia; Margery, married, 1718, Charles Sadleir, of Castletown, Co. Tipperary; and Lucy who died in in 1768. John Baldwin, the elder son, was of Corolanty, but, being extravagant, dissipated the estates, and died without issue in 1754. His widow soon afterwards married Hervey, Lord Mountmorres.

Part of the Corolanty property came into the possession of Dr. Richard Baldwin, Provost of Trinity College, who died in 1758, leaving the whole of his large fortune to the University. Though his parentage has been the subject of some dispute, he was not in any way related either to the Corolanty family, the Queen's County Baldwins, or to the Baldwins of Dublin, who subsequently settled at Boveen, near Shinrone. Sir Brydges Baldwin, of Dublin, Knight, who died in 1765, was nephew of Richard Baldwin of Dublin (died 1768), from whom the Baldwin-Hamiltons derive. This Richard Baldwin had an only son, Richard, of the Four Crosses, Co Wicklow, High Sheriff, 1756, who was father of Colonel Charles Baldwin, of Boveen, High Sheriff of King's County, 1802. By his wife, Miss Barry (whose taste for acting Sir Jonah Barrington has so severely criticised), the only daughter of Sir Nathaniel Barry, Bart, the celebrated Dublin doctor, Charles Barry Baldwin, of Boveen, M.P. granddaughter of the present representative.

Source: F.R. Montgomery Hitchcock The Midland Septs and the Pale (1908)

The Warburtons of Garryhinch have held that estate since the reign of Charles II, when their ancestor, the original grantee, was Clerk-Assistant to the Irish House of Commons. His eldest son, Richard Warburton, of Garryhinch, was M.P. for Portarlington, 1692-1713. George Warburton, third son of Richard, eventually succeeded to the estates, and was ancestor of the present possessor; while the fifth son, 'William, married Barbara, daughter of Lytton Lytton, of Knebworth, Herts, by whom he had a son, Richard Warburton-Lytton, of Knebworth, grandfather of Edward George, first Lord Lytton, the distinguished novelist and statesman.

Source: F.R. Montgomery Hitchcock The Midland Septs and the Pale (1908)

Moystown, near Banagher, now the seat of Bolton Waller, Esq., was for nearly two hundred years the home of the L'Estrange family. Thomas L'Estrange, first of Moystown, who was included in the Act of Attainder, 1692-93, represented Banagher 1692-93, 1695-99 and 1703-13. He married Miss Peisley, and had a son Henry, of Moystown, M.P., ancestor of Colonel Henry Peisley L'Estrange, of Moystown, D.L., fourth of his name in lineal succession, who sold the estate about the middle of the last century. Through the marriage of Henry L'Estrange, eldest son of Thomas, of Moystown, with Frances Malone, of Litter, King's County, the Malone property came to the 'and eventually descended Estranges, to the late Revd. Savile L'Estrange-Malone. Henry Malone, of Litter, High Sheriff, 1720, belonged to the same family as Richard Malone, Lord Sunderlin, whose brother Edmond was the celebrated commentator on Shakespeare. Another branch -resided at Pallas Park, in this county, once the seat of James Tilson, who married, in 1750, Gertrude, Dowager Countess of Kerry.

Source: F.R. Montgomery Hitchcock The Midland Septs and the Pale (1908)

The Vaughans of Golden Grove descend from Hector Vaughan, who hailed from Pembrokeshire. By pate 30th December, 1668, he obtained a grant of part of estate in King's County of Terence Coghlan, Attaint and acquired, by marriage with Mary, only daughter heiress of Captain William Peisley, the estate of Gol Grove, otherwise Knocknamese, which has ever since mained in the possession of his descendants. Wiliam

Peisley Vaughan who lived to a very advanced age, was High Sheriff, 1738; he was succeeded by his grandson William Peisley Vaughan, who served the same office in 1766. The male line of Vaughan became extinct in 1842 when the property devolved on Mary, wife of Samue Dawson Hutchinson, of Mount Heaton, she being the only child and heiress of John Lloyd (a younger son of the Gloster family, by his wife, Martha Vaughan, of Golden Grove, and the property is now enjoyed by her son William Peisley Hutchinson-Lloyd-Vaughan. Through his mother, Mr. Vaughan also represents the family of Lloyd, of Gloster, settled there for over two hundred years. For three generations, ending with the late Colonel Hardress Lloyd, members of the family represented the county in parliament. John Lloyd, of Gloster, Barrister-at-Law, was also returned in two parliaments as member for Innistiogue. He was Colonel of the Shinrone Volunteers, and through his mother, Henrietta Wailer, of Castletown, county Limerick, descended from the Parliamentarian General, Sir Hardress Wailer.

Source: F.R. Montgomery Hitchcock The Midland Septs and the Pale (1908)

The family of Nesbitt is of long standing in the county, descending from Albert Nesbitt, of Tubberdaly, High Sheriff, 1710, who was a scion of the family of Woodhill, county Donegal. Gifford Nesbitt, of Tubberdaly, died in 1773, having devised the estates to his nephew, John Downing, who assumed the name of Nesbitt, and died in 1847. On the death of the latter's daughter in 1886, they passed to her cousin, Edward John Beaumont, now Beaumont Nesbitt, the present possessor.

Source: F.R. Montgomery Hitchcock The Midland Septs and the Pale (1908)

Humphrey Minchin, of Ballynakill, county Tipperary, M.P. for that county, succeeded in 1686, on the death of his elder brother Thomas, to the estate of Busherstown, formerly Butcherstown, where his descendants have since resided. On Friday, 23rd March, 1764, as recorded in the "London Magazine" for that year :-" The house of Humphrey Minchin, of Bushestown, King's County, Esq., was broke open and robbed of cash, with several Bank Notes, and was afterwards set on fire, by which his Library and Books of account were consumed, with several papers of Value, and with them some Examinations of Felony, which were next day to have been forwarded to Clonmel Assizes; and suspecting this mischief was purposely contrived to destroy the said Examinations, has offered a reward of £50 for the discovery for the discovery of the first Person, and £10 for each of the others." George John Minchin, D.L., with whom the male line terminated, died in 1897, when the estates came to his nephew Captain Richard Welch, now of Busherstown, who has assumed the surname and arms of Minchin.

Source: F.R. Montgomery Hitchcock The Midland Septs and the Pale (1908)

Cangort, originally Camgart, i.e., the marshy field, has been the seat of the Atkinsons since the time of James I. Anthony Atkinson, of Cangort, married, 1709, Mary, daughter of Admiral John Guy, who is said to have been instrumental in breaking the boom at the siege of Derry; he was M.P. for St. Johnstown, 1711-13, and for Belfast, 1713-14, and died in 1743, leaving numerous issue. His eldest son having died in his lifetime, he was succeeded by Guy, the second, but he , being a beneficed clergyman in the North of Ireland,Cangort was long occupied by Charles, a younger son, who acted as agent for his brother. This Charles was ancestor of the branch now settled at Ashley Park, Co. Tipperary, while the present owner of Cangort if descended from the Rev. Guy. One of their sisters married Francis Sanderson, ancestor of the late Colonel Edward James Sanderson, of Castle Saunderson, M.P.

Source: F.R. Montgomery Hitchcock The Midland Septs and the Pale (1908)

The Bernard's were a Carlow Family, and the Castle Bernard Branch descended from a Thomas Bernard, who settled in Birr about the middle of the eighteenth century. His name first appears on the Grand Jury in 1766, and his son, Thomas Bernard, of Castletown, now Castle Bernard, High Sheriff, 1785, took a prominent part in the Volunteer movement, raising and maintaining a corps known as the "Mountain Rangers". Thomas Bernard, junior., Colonel of the King's County Militia, who succeeded his father in 1815, was High Sheriff in the year of the Irish Rebellion, and long M.P. for the County. Mrs Caulfield French, his granddaughter, at present owns the property, and the male line of Bernard is extinct.

Source: F.R. Montgomery Hitchcock The Midland Septs and the Pale (1908)

Like the Bernards, the Drought family came from Carlow, settling in the King's County towards the close of the seventeenth century. The resided first at Cappagowlan, otherwise Songstown, near Ballyboy. John Drought, of Cappagowlan, married Mary, daughter of Eusebius Beasley, of Ricketstown, Co Carlow ( who was nearly allied to the Earls of Aldborough), and had, with other issue, two sons, Thomas, of the Heath, otherwise Droughtville, ancestor of the Lettybrook family; and John, Who settled at Whigsborough, which had previously belonged to Captain James Sterling, now represented by Whigsborough, was High Sheriff in 1780, and Thomas Drought, of Droughtville, Colonel of Volunteers, in 1789.

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