Eastwell House, County Galway
See here for other stories relating to County Galway.
This branch of the Usshers lived at Eastwell, Killallaghtan, County Galway. The house is pictured here, but only the farmyard, stables and outbuildings survive, as per here. It is not yet clear what happened. The Land Commission? I don’t think it was burned, but it’s vanished in any case.
John Ussher, the son of Christopher Ussher and Ellis Browne, married his cousin Mary Ussher, daughter of John Ussher and Mary Street, in 1831. John died on 24 April 1851. Their children were:
- Edward Augustus Ussher
- William Augustus Edmund Ussher
- Mary Ussher
- Ellis Belinda Ussher d. Mar 1885
- Christopher Ussher (1832- 21 Feb 1884)
- John Xeverius Ussher (c 1833 – 23 Mar 1878)
Christopher Ussher, the fifth child, married Olivia Ruttledge and were parents to:
- Agnes Mary Eleanor Ussher d. 8 Aug 1939
- Olivia Ellis Ussher d. 9 Dec 1958
- William Arland Ussher (1876- Aug 1927)
- Christopher Ussher1 b. 10 Feb 1879, d. 10 Sep 1880
- Alison Ussher b. 28 Dec 1879, d. 23 Sep 1935
- Henry Ingham Ussher b. 31 Mar 1882
Ussher Divorce, Dublin Evening Telegraph, 17 January 1912
Mary Ussher, née Caulfield.
William Arland Ussher (1878-1928)
William Arland Ussher (1878-1928) was a son of Christopher Ussher and his wife Olivia, née Ruttledge. He ran Eastwell as a stud. The estate employed 12 families and was fully self reliant. The National Library holds a letter he wrote to Hugh Lane, saying he is “sending the pictures up tomorrow” and asking him to fill in a form. (See here)
On 24 April 1910, William was married by a priest in a bedroom at Eastwell to his ‘domestic servant’ Mary Caulfield (1891-1921) of Cappataggle, County Galway, who was, I think, her mother’s carer. (See her picture here). This was a famous ‘midnight marriage’ after which William, a Catholic later sought to break it up with bizarre divorce (here) and here. William also had a residence in Castleknock, County Dublin.
William gained the rank of Lieutenant in the 3rd Battalion, Cameronians. The contents of Eastwell were advertised for sale in many local newspapers in March 1926. He died on 20 August 1928, in Ratoath, County Meath, at the age of 50.
Dame Alison Freake (sister of W. A. Ussher)
‘RECENT WILLS. ~ Dame Alison Freake, Halford Manor, Shipston-on Stour, Worcs., wife of Sir Frederick Freake and daughter of the late Christopher Ussher, Eastwell, Co. Galway, left £1,629 with net personalty nil.’
Galway Observer – Saturday 04 April 1936, p. 2.
Kathleen Mary Ussher (1911-1990)
William and Mary were the parents of Kathleen Mary Ussher:
IRISH RACEHORSE OWNERS MARRIED: MR. G. FITZGERALD AND MISS K. USSHER.
The wedding of two well-known owners in Irish racing took place the other day in Dublin when Mr. Joseph Gerald Fitzgerald, son of the late Mr. Michael E. Fitzgerald and Mrs. Fitzgerald, of Lansdowne Road, Dublin, was married at St. Mary’s Parish Church, Haddington Road, to Miss Kathleen Ussher, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Arland Ussher, of Eastwell, Loughrea. President and Mrs. Cosgrave were present at the ceremony, as also was Captain Boyd-Rochfort, V.C. The bride, whose Gallant Prince has won several races this year, was given away by her uncle, Mr. Harry Ussher, the owner and trainer.
Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News – Saturday 28 November 1931, p. 40.
Kathleen married, secondly, Hon. Geoffrey Charles Myles Browne, son of Geoffrey Henry Browne, 1st Baron Mereworth and Lady Olwen Verena Ponsonby, on 3 June 1946. She and Hon. Geoffrey Charles Myles Browne were divorced in 1958.
Ussher-Fitzgerald Wedding – Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, 28 November 1931.
NB: My family intermarried with Usshers back in the day. One was an archbishop who dated the creation of the world to around 6 pm on 22 October 4004 BC, which everyone believed to be true for ages (and some still do). The Archbishop fainted when he saw Charles I being executed.
Acknowledgments
With thanks to Ed Capel-Cure, Jimmy Laffey (Skehana and District Heritage Group), Dr Patrick Melvin and Dr Terence Dooley.