Estate: Knox (Castlereagh)

Associated Families

• Knox (Castlereagh)
• Knox (Moyne Abbey)

Description

The Knoxes came from county Donegal and settled at Castlereagh in the 17th century. By the early 19th century they held an extensive estate of more than 10,000 acres in the barony of Gallen, county Mayo, situated mainly in the parishes of Templemore, Kilconduff and Killedan. They also owned most of the parish of Doonfeeny, in the barony of Tirawley and land in the parish of Kilmeena, barony of Burrishoole. In 1835 Arthur Edward Knox married Jane, daughter of the 2nd Earl of Rosse of Birr Castle. In 1853 Arthur E. Knox sold his estates in the Encumbered Estates' Court. The first sale amounted to 16,178 acres in three county Mayo baronies Gallen, Burrishoole and Costello and in the barony of Coolavin, county Sligo and the second sale comprised 25,004 acres in the barony of Tirawley and 1059 acres in the barony of Gallen. He and his wife went to live at Trotton House in Sussex. Their eldest son Laurence E. Knox founded the ''Irish Times'' newspaper in 1859. In the 1870s the representatives of Laurence E. Knox, Dublin, owned 902 acres in county Tipperary.

Houses

House Name / Description	Townland	Civil Parish	PLU	DED	Barony	County	Map Ref
Castlereagh (H227) Described by Wilson in 1786 as "the fine seat of Mr. Knox" this house was badly damaged in 1798 and a new one subsequently built. There is a lithograph of the house included in the Encumbered Estates' Court sale rental. It was bought by Arthur E. Knox's brother Ernest Knox. In 1894 it was the residence of John V. Knox. The house has been demolished but portions of the walled garden remain.	Castlereagh	Killala	Killala	Killala 100	Tirawley	Mayo	Lat/Lon: 54.22297 -9.26501 OSI Ref: G175 312 Discovery map #24. OS Sheet #14.
Doomore (H289) At the time of Griffith's Valuation the house at Doomore, barony of Leyny, valued at £5, together with over 200 acres was leased by Walter Henry from John F. Knox. In 1837 Lewis lists Doomore as the residence of Hugh Gray. McTernan notes that it was held by the Gray family from the mid-eighteenth to almost the mid-nineteenth century.	Doomore	Achonry	Tobercurry	Tobercurry 84	Leyny	Sligo	Lat/Lon: 54.08983 -8.74586 OSI Ref: G512159 Discovery map #25. OS Sheet #31.
Glencalry Lodge (H297) Described as a neat shooting lodge at the time of the first Ordnance Survey. It was in the possession of George Bartlett by the time of Griffith's Valuation. By the 1870s Glencalry belonged to Colonel William F. Smyth of St Heliers, Jersey.	Glencalry Upper	Doonfeeny	Killala	Beldergmore 95	Erris	Mayo	Lat/Lon: 54.24616 -9.58333 OSI Ref: F968 342 Discovery map #23. OS Sheet #12.
The Lodge (H4826) A house with foundations dating from the 17th century, visited by Mary Delaney in the 1730s and occupied by the French in 1798. By 1837 it was the home of T. Kirkwood and, in the mid 19th century, of the Very Reverend J. Collins who held the property valued at £20 from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. In the late 19th century this house was the home of Captain Alfred Charles Knox, a younger son of John Knox of Castlerea, Killala. Bence Jones writes that the house was enlarged circa 1820 by the addition of a bow shaped wing and that for a time it was the home of the Pery Knox Gore family. In the later 20th century owned by Lord Rathcaven and now the Irish home of Noeleen Farrell.	Townplots East	Killala	Killala	Killala 100	Tirawley	Mayo	Lat/Lon: 54.21087 -9.21865 OSI Ref: G205 298 Discovery map #24. OS Sheet #22.
Rathfranpark (H4883) In 1894 Slater refers to Rathfranpark as the residence of Edmund Knox. At the time of Griffith's Valuation this townland was part of the Palmer estate and leased by Thomas Scott. The house on the property at that time was valued at almost £2. There is still a house at this site.	Rathfranpark	Templemurray	Killala	Lacken South	Tirawley	Mayo	Lat/Lon: 54.23388 -9.25307 OSI Ref: G183324 Discovery map #24. OS Sheet #15.
Ballycastle House (H4891) A house which appears to have been built after the publication of the 1st Ordnance Survey. It is labelled Ballycastle House on the 25-inch map of the 1890s. In 1894 Slater records it as the residence of Edmund Alexander Mullins. A house is still extant at the site.	Carrownisky	Doonfeeny	Killala	Ballycastle	Tirawley	Mayo	Lat/Lon: 54.27935 -9.36808 OSI Ref: G109376 Discovery map #. OS Sheet #7.

Archival sources

• Irish Architectural Archive: Castlerea House photos & cuttings. 011/045 & 132/045
• National Archives of Ireland: Encumbered Estates' Court Rentals (O'Brien), Knox, 10 Mar 1853, Vol 20, MRGS 39/009 (microfilm copy in NUIG)
• National Archives of Ireland: Encumbered Estates' Court Rentals (O'Brien), Knox, 24 Nov 1853, Vol 25, MRGS 39/011, (microfilm copy in NUIG)
• National Archives of Ireland: Encumbered Estates' Court Rentals (O'Brien), Knox, 15 June 1854, Vol 26, MRGS 39/011, (microfilm copy in NUIG)
• National Archives of Ireland: S.R. & C. Walker, solicitors' collection (1962), contains deeds re Knox family co Mayo & recovery by Arthur Knox of his lands in co Mayo, 28 Nov 1780. M.6105
• National Library of Ireland: Pedigree of Knox of Lifford, Co Donegal, of Castlereagh, Moyne, Rappa Castle, Broadlands, Netley Park, Bushfield, Greenwood Park, Lissodrone, Co Mayo and of Woodstock, Co Wicklow and Dublin city, c 1600-1824. GO MS 169, 280-289
• National Library of Ireland: Pedigree of Knox of Castlerea and Moyne, co Mayo and Woodstock, Co Wicklow, 1630-1835. GO MS 175, 6-8

Contemporary printed sources

• GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND, 1850-1858. : Killala Union, 46
• HUSSEY DE BURGH, U. H. The Landowners of Ireland. An alphabetical list of the owners of estates of 500 acres or £500 valuation and upwards in Ireland. Dublin: Hodges, Foster and Figgis, 1878: 255
• LEET, Ambrose. A directory to the market towns, villages, gentlemen's seats, and other noted places in Ireland. Dublin: Printed by B. Smith, 1814 : 101
• LEWIS, Samuel. A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837: Vol II, 121
• M'PARLAN, James. Statistical survey of the county of Mayo. Dublin: Royal Dublin Society, 1802: 100
• ORDNANCE SURVEY NAME BOOKS, County Mayo: Vol III, 124 & 151 (Glencalry) & Vol V, 4 & 23 (Castlereagh)
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. Return of Untenanted Lands in Rural Districts, Distinguishing Demesnes on Which There is a Mansion..., HC 1906, c, 177: 366 (Castlereagh)
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. Return of owners of land of one acre and upwards, in the several counties .... in Ireland. HC 1876, LXXX: 165
• SLATER, Isaac. Royal National Directory of Ireland: List of the principal seats. (Manchester: 1894) : xxii, 26 (Ballycastle House [Mullins]), xxiv, 64 (Castlereagh), xxxii, 93 (Rathfranpark)
• TAYLOR, George & SKINNER, Andrew. Maps of the Roads of Ireland, surveyed in 1777 and corrected down to 1783. Facsimile of 2nd edition. Shannon: Irish University Press, 1969: 219
• WILSON, William. The Post-Chaise Companion or Travellers Directory Through Ireland. The author: Dublin, 1786 : 110 (Castlerea)

Modern printed sources

• BENCE-JONES, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses. Revised ed. London: Constable, 1988. : 74, 169
• GLIN, Knight of, GRIFFIN, D. J. & ROBINSON, N.K (eds). Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland. Dublin: Irish Architectural Archive/Irish Georgian Society, 1989. : 110 (Castlerea)
• LYONS, Mary C. Illustrated Incumbered Estates, Ireland, 1850-1905. Whitegate, county Clare: Ballinakella Press, 1993. : 80-81
• MONTGOMERY-MASSINGBERD, Hugh (ed). Burke's Irish Family Records. London: Burke's Peerage, 1976: 675-681
• McTERNAN, John C. Sligo: the light of bygone days, Vol.I Houses of Sligo and associated families. Sligo: Avena Publications, 2009. : 313-314 (Doomore)
• QUINN, J. F. History of Mayo. Ballina: Brendan Quinn, 2000: IV, 194-195

• Disclaimer
• Privacy
• Accessibility