Thank you for such an informative and well-written article.
My maternal Grandmother, Rose Teresa Nolan, nee Finnerty’s people were from Ahascragh in Co. Galway, and worked as landscapers and groundskeepers for the Baron and Baroness Clonbrock, the Dillon family, a fine family. They were known to be very kind wealthy Anglo-Irish Ascendancy landowners, who had the deer in their park culled during An Gorta Mor to help feed the tenant farmers and their families, and paid for beds in Galway City’s hospital to ensure that their workers and tenants had the best care if ill or injured. Grandma Rose always had good things to say for them.
One of her brothers joined an Irish regiment in 1900 to go and fight in the Boer War, and her Mam went to Baroness Clonbrock, Augusta Caroline Crofton, and asked her to help prevent him from joining the British Army. Baroness Clonbrock told her that she should be proud of her son for wanting to serve his Queen-Empress and to fight for the Empire as a good and loyal British subject as her son was also in South Africa fighting the Boers as a Lieutenant with the Rifle Brigade. Baroness Clonbrock’s son, Charles Allen Dillon, would die from wounds received in action against the Boers in South Africa on 8 June 1901. My Grandma’s brother came back after the Boer War and was not welcomed in Ahascragh. He ended up going to England and working in a bank as a clerk and never returned to Ireland and married an English Catholic woman and raised their family in London.
The Clonbrock Estate at its peak was 28,000 acres, and encompassed a good part of East Galway. The Dillons originally lived in Clonbrock Castle, an old 15th century four-story tower house built in 1475 by Tadgh O’Kelly (that has been recently purchase in 2006 and was fully restored in a major six-year restoration project and turned into a private residence in 2012). The castle was accidently burned down in 1807 as a result of a fireworks display to celebrate the birth of the second Baron Clonbrock’s son and heir.
The family were well-liked and respected but were completely broke and unable to support the old heap of a place. The last member of the Dillon family to live at Clonbrock manor, Ms. Ethel Louisa Dillon, never married, and moved out in 1976. Ms. Dillon passed away at the fine old age of 99 years on 24 November 1978, and her funeral service and burial was held at St. Catherine's Church (C of I).
The contents of the manor house were auctioned off in a six-day auction by Luke Dillon Mahon. He said it was impossible for one person to care for the place, with its cold rooms and leaky roof.The National Library of Ireland acquired much of their library and papers, which gave a very good accounting of the operations and management of a large Irish country house and the estate.
Sadly, in 1984, a fire burned down the Clonbrook manor, and destroyed the very intricate and ornate interior. It is currently a shell now, with the grounds and the remaining structure overgrown by ivy and a great deal of trees and bushes.
Someone bought it a few years back in 2016 for 67,500 euros, but I cannot find out if work has been performed on it. Sad end to a fine old house and a fine old family.
Thank you again for your research and very interesting article. It is an important part of both Galway's and Ireland's history.
Very best regards,
Denis Patrick McGowan, New York City
