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RELATED FAMILIES
Redmond Kane, the man whose wealth
effectively enabled the Bunbury family
to build Lisnavagh 60 years after his death.
Redmond Kane of of Swords (d.1778)
Amongst the family portraits hung on the walls of Lisnavagh is one of a seemingly benign, well-fed gentleman clad in blue ermine. The note on the back indicates that he was the attorney Redmond Kane of Mantua, Swords, one of the wealthiest commoners in Ireland during the late 18th century. It was from him that much of the McClintock Bunbury landed wealth came. In 1773, his daughter and sole heiress, Katherine Kane, married William Bunbury of Lisnavagh. The 1773 marriage was arguably the finest hour of the Lisnavagh Bunburys. William’s father Thomas Bunbury of Kill rather excitedly wrote in his diary: ‘I compute her fortune to be above £40,000’ which, using the RPI standards, works out at nearly £4 million in 2008. It also brought into their possession the substantial Kane estates, which had a gross rental of £2,819 in 1840. In time, the Kane estates would pass by marriage to William and Katherine Bunbury's grandson, William McClintock Bunbury and from him to the 2nd Lord Rathdonnell.
Obscure Origins
As Art Kavanagh says, behind every great fortune lies a great crime. In 1920, J. E. M'Kenna described ‘the notorious Redmond Kane' as 'a pervert and a lawyer of extensive practice in Dublin'.[1] Redmond's origins are an unknown quantity. It would seem he descended from the O'Cahan's of Limavady, a clan stripped of its possessions for backing Red Hugh O'Neill's fight against the English settlement. One source states that he was a director of the Bank of La Touche and Kane. Peter Collins of PRONI suggests that he 'may have been a convert to the Church of Ireland'. He even suggests Redmond might have been 'a crypto-Catholic', changing his name from Cahan or Keane to Kane whilst changing religion. There is a reference to an undated deed of lease and release witnessed by Richard Den and 'Redmond Cahan', both of the City of Dublin, Gents, and this memorial [was] witnessed by the said Redmond Cahan and Alexander McClintock of the City of Dublin, Gents’.[2] The McClintock connection is too notable to be mere coincidence. The same ‘Redmond Cahan’ was a witness, with Richard Den and Alexander McCausland, to a memorial registered 7 December 1728 of marriage settlement, dated 28 & 29 November 1728, of the marriage of John McCausland, grandson of Alexander McCausland of Omagh Co. Tyrone esq. with Anne Sampson, daughter of Jane Sampson of Dublin, widow. Jane was the widow and executrix of the will of Michael Sampson of Dublin City esq. deceased. It is to be noted that Michael Sampson's sister Rebecca Sampson was married to Alexander McClintock of Drumcar, indicating a link between the McClintocks and Kanes nearly 50 years before the Bunbury marriage took place.The property settled comprised Colghfin, Drumakilly, Crachencor, Fechary, Ballengally, Racolpagh, Cullycurragh, Fearnagh and Deerpark. It also included a house and surrounding buildings in which Alexander McCausland lived, formerly called Lamberts tenement or John Baird's tenement, in Omagh town, Co. Tyrone, and a place called Hay's Park in Omagh.[3]
The Banking Connection
William Bunbury's father Thomas had an account with the Bank of Kane & La Touche which Nathaniel Kane co-founded. As Thomas Bunbury later arranged for William to marry a Kane heiress, it is assumed she was of the same branch as the banking family. There is a strong suggestion that Redmond was a partner in the bank of La Touche & Kane with David La Touche. This comes from one of the O’Connells who wrote the 1892 book, The Last Colonel of the Irish Brigade: Count O'Connell , and who claims his or her uncle married one of Redmond’s nieces and that Redmond was indeed a ‘partner’.[3a]
THE O'CAHAN'S OF LIMAVADY
The Kane family claim descent from Eoghan, Prince of Ulster, eldest son of Niall of the Nine Hostages. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Donall Ballach O'Cahan was ‘Lord of the Route, and of Limavady, in the county Derry’ and owned considerable lands in County Derry (including the castles of Limavady, Enagh and Dungiven) and Antrim (Dumseverich Castle). In 1602, Donall - husband of Hugh O'Neill's daughter Una - surrendered to the English the Castle of Oinough (or Eanagh), and all the lands between the river Foghan and Lough Foyle, as far as the Bann. In return he obtained a grant of escheated lands in the co. Waterford and was Knighted at Drogheda, in 1607, by Sir Arthur Chichester, lord deputy of Ireland. Later that same year, Sir Donall O'Cahan, was arrested and incarcerated in the Tower of London where he died, untried, in 1626. His estates were then seized and divided among the civic companies of London. If Redmond Kane was a crypto-Catholic, he may have had the blood of his ill-fated forbear coursing in his veins.
LORD MAYORS & BANKERS
Sir Donall O'Cahan’s younger brother Hugh (Aodh) O'Cahan was the ancestor of Kane of Drumreaske, co. Monaghan. He married Mary, daughter of O'Connor Faile. Hugh and Mary’s grandson, John married Catherine O’Mulloy and had a son, Mathew (or Ferdorach) Kane, who became a merchant in Dublin and died in 1699. Mathew married his first cousin, Sarah O'Cahan, by whom he hadat least two sons, Joseph and Nathaniel. His eldest son, Joseph Kane was Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1725 and died without issue.[1] Joseph's brother Alderman Nathaniel Kane was Sheriff of Dublin in 1720, Lord Mayor in 1734 and co-founded the Bank of Kane & La Touche with David Digues La Touche. He was famously accused by Dr. Charles Lucas, MP, of appropriating some of the City funds while Lord Mayor. He successfully vindicated himself but contemporary accounts suggest there was fire where the Lucas allegations smoked. Nathaniel owned land at Trough, Errigle and Drumreaske, Co. Monaghan.[2] Monaghan County Museum holds a19th century watercolour view of the demesne at Drumreaske. I have not yet looked at these papers but PRONI's Source book for Co. Monaghan indicates much involvement of the family in Monaghan.[3] Redmond Kane had major links with County Monaghan and thus may have been a brother, son or kinsman of Nathaniel. His wife's brother-in-law was Barry Maxwell, later 1st Earl of Farnham, in nearby Co Cavan. Barry Maxwell's family had been ruined by the South Sea speculation but this 'proud and difficult' man managed to restore their position (as did his brother the Bishop of Meath) and, in his old age, opposed the Act of Union. However, there is no mention of Redmond Kane in the pedigree of the Kanes of Drumreaske & Mohill Castle in Burke's Landed Gentry of Ireland (1958).
[1] Joseph was born circa 1679 according to a LDS member or 1685 according to NAof Ire M467/2.
[2] See 'Kane of Drumreaske Papers' held by PRONI at D/3406/E
[3] 'County Monaghan Sources in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland', Peter Collins., p. 175 (PRONI, 1998).
THE DESCENDENTS OF NATHANIEL KANE
Nathaniel Kane the banker married Martha Thwaites of the brewing family, who died in 1741. They had at least two sons - Nathaniel (who died unmarried in 1750) and Joseph (his heir) – and four daughters.[4] The eldest daughter, Elizabeth Kane married Mathew Weld; their daughter married the Right Rev. John Brinkley, Astronomer Royal of Ireland, and Lord Bishop of Cloyne. Nathaniel and Martha’s third daughter Mary married John Walker of Dublin. As to the other daughters, Martha died unmarried in 1778 and Esther died in 1752. Nathaniel was duly succeeded by his second son, Joseph Kane, a barrister, who lived between Ardgenny, Co Monaghan and Harold's Cross in Dublin. He married Mary Maxwell (nee Church), a widow, with whom he had three sons, dealt with below, and two daughters, Esther and Mary, of whom no more is yet known. Joseph died on 2nd March 1801.[5]
[4] There is reference to a Mathew Kane, son of Nathaniel Kane, buried 24 Dec 1715 at St Kevin and St Peters in Dublin.
[5] NAofI M467/2
THE SONS OF JOSEPH & MARY KANE
Joseph and Mary’s eldest son, Nathaniel Kane, was born in Dublin circa 1758.[6] On 18th November 1802, he married Elizabeth Margaret Nisbett.[7] He died on 24th June 1826 and is supposedly buried at St Kevin's Dublin.[8] They had six sons. The eldest Joseph Kane (born c. 1803) married Eliza Jane De Vismes in 1837 and retained strong links to Monaghan. (5b) The second, Nathaniel Kane, died in 1844. The third was the Rev. Francis Kane who married Anne Shea. The fourth was John Kane (born c. 1810) who married Matilda Nisbett. The fifth William Kane became a medical doctor and of the sixth, Mathew Kane, we know no more.
Joseph and Mary’s second son Joseph Thomas Kane was born in Dublin in 1760. In 1799, he married Elizabeth Stock who seems to have died before they had any children. On 20th November 1816, he was married secondly at St Peter's Dublin to Frances Seymour. They had a son, Joseph, and three daughters, Fanny, Catherine and Mary. Their only son, Joseph Seymour was born on 13th July 1819 and married his cousin Catherine E F Seymour in Venice in 1846. Joseph Thomas Kane died on 5th June 1837 aged 77.
Joseph and Mary’s third son John Daniel Kane was born on 20th May 1770. At the age of 25 he married Louisa Phillips (or Small). The wedding took place on 11 April 1795. John and Louisa had nine children. John died on 13th August 1847.[9]
More on this family can be found here.
[5b] William Francis deVismes Kane was an
amateur archaeologist who wrote three academic, if slightly fanciful, papers
for the Royal Irish Academy about the Black Pig's Dyke.
[6] Record M 467/3 at the Archives of Ireland puts his birth year at 1756.
[7] This info from the LDS website from a member - not an extract from originals.)
[8] M 467/3 NA of I.
[9] M 467/3 NA ofI.
A Patron of Literature
The earliest records we have for Redmond Kane dates to 1736 when he was listed as one of the subscribers to Dr Gilbert Burnett’s ‘Life of William Bedell, DD, Bishop of Kilmore in Ireland’. Such patronage clearly appealed to him. In 1745, he was listed as one of the subscribers to Charles Phipps’ page-turning epic, The Doctrine of Vulgar and Decimal Fractions Expain’d and Made Easy to the Meaneft Capacity’.
The Sub-Sheriff & the Rioters
The first major references to him concern his role as sub-Sheriff for the City of Dublin in 1741, only months after the brutal famine of 1740 which killed nearly 20% of the Irish population. This was a time when the Earl of Chesterfield was the Lord deputy of Ireland. The Mayors at this time were Sir Samuel Cooke (1740-41) and William Aldrich (1741-42). Redmond quickly established a reputation as a no-nonsense sort of guy. At the July Sessions in 1741, ‘Mr. Redmond Kane, Sub-sheriff’ was paid £20 ‘for his great care, expense and trouble in suppressing riots in different parts of the County, and for apprehending and bringing in several persons on the process, who had not accounted for the publick money, and for transmitting prisoners, and for discharging several poor prisoners without fees, who were tryed for different offences in this County’. At the October Sessions three months later, he was paid a further £30 ‘for his care in suppressing riots, discharging a great number of poor prisoners without fees, and executing the process against the high and petty constables and other persons for the publick money’. Agsin, in the January Sessions of 1741 (which I guess came after the other two before Chesterfield’s calendar kicked in) he received £20 ‘for his trouble and expenses in prosecuting, convicting and executing several murderers at the commission of Oyer and Terminer, and for exonerating several inhabitants of the County of fines payable by them on the green wax process, and for discharging a great number of prisoners without fees’.
The Transportation of Vagabonds
In 1741, Redmond Kane used his position as Under-Sheriff of Dublin to great effect, earning a neat £175 from the transportation of thirty five ‘convict felons and vagabonds’, receiving £5 for each convict felon. He earned £50 in Trinity term, for transporting William Murphy, John Hill, Edward Graham, John Gogarty, John Redmond, Bryan Mc. Atire, James Walsh, Thomas Hoey, John Dormon and Francis Neal. In Michaelmas 1741, he earned another £50 transporting Mary Maguire, Mary Lawler, John Howard, Edward Wilson, William Shortley, Catherine Delany, Owen Murphy, Thomas Ryder, Hugh Reily and Mary Cologan. In Hillary 1741, he earned £75 transporting Peter Reilly, Teresa Dignam, Elizbeth Hyland, Thomas Kearnan, Patrick Kilkelly, Patrick Johnson, Matthew Tearnan, Sarah Ryan, John Gagarty, William Cane, Walter Hughs, Rachel Everston, John Carroll, John Farrell and George Forster. These monies were paid to him ‘at his Majesty's court of King's-Bench’ in return for ‘the transportation of felons and vagabonds’ by John King, treasurer of the County of Dublin. The merchants he used to transport the prisoners were Thomas Cooke, Samuel Lyons, Mr. Bird and Joseph Weld. They were paid £3 or £4 per convict. That said, Redmond was by no means alone in profiting from such transportation.[4]
Bernard Kane
In numerous accounts of Redmond’s legal antics, there is mention of Bernard Kane, his brother. He is listed in the Kings Inn Admission papers as an attorney although it does not provide any date as to admission
Penal Wheelin' with the bishop of clogher
According to Peter Collins, Redmond's 'putative religion notwithstanding, he specialized in acquiring bishops' leases' (since these were usually let at under-value), particularly under the Archbishop of Dublin and the Bishop of Clogher.[5] It is the latter leases which are of immediate relevance, because they were of lands in Counties Tyrone, Monaghan and, to a much lesser extent, Fermanagh. In time, the Kane estates would pass by marriage to William and Katherine Bunbury's grandson, William McClintock Bunbury and from him to the 2nd Lord Rathdonnell, the representative of the McClintock family, formerly of Drumcar, Co. Louth, and the Bunbury family of Lisnavagh, Co. Carlow. The estates which the McClintock Bunbury family owned - and which the Lisnavagh archives documents - were by no means confined to Counties Louth and Carlow. The family owned or leased lands in Cos Fermanagh, Monaghan and, to a much lesser extent, Tyrone. Indeed, Peter Collins of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, believes 'it is probable that the Rathdonnell had possessions in more counties than any other Irish peerage or gentry family'.[6] By a confusing coincidence, the Kane property in Fermanagh, consisting of only two townlands, was beside the McClintocks' manor of Rathmoran, also held under the Bishop of Clogher; and the McClintocks [of Drumcar] owned or held a couple of townlands right in the middle of the Kane estate in Co. Tyrone.
marriage to elizabeth Hassard
In about 1740, Redmond Kane married Elizabeth Johnson, widow of Williams Johnston, clothier, of Dublin and Fermanagh. The Hassards of Skea was a branch of the old English stock of Hassard of Lyme.[9] Soon after the Conquest a branch became seated in Gloucestershire and afterwards removed to Dorsetshire. During the reign of Charles II, Jason Hassard (of Gardenhill and Toam, 1617–1690, formerly MP and Mayor of Lyme) and his brother George Hassard went to Ireland with the Caldwells, having previously raised troops in the South of England. They assumed the motto of ‘Fortuna viam ducit’ on landing. Eventually large tracts of land were granted them in Fermanagh and other counties. The Hassards were distinguished at the sieges of Enniskillen and Londonderry. Elizabeth's granddfather was another Jason Hassard of Skea, County Fermanagh. Her father, Captain Robert Hassard of Mount Hassard, Skea, was "bred attorney" (Betham-Phillips MS) and Sheriff of Fermanagh in 1719. In about 1709, Captain Hassard married Anne (King), eldest daughter of the Rev. Thomas King, MA, Prebendary of Swords (by Elizabeth, daughter and heir of John Bernard of Dromin, Co Louth, and widow of the Rev John Archdale, Vicar of Lusk). After Captain Hassard's death, Anne (nee King) married secondly her cousin Robert King of Drewstown, County Meath, with whom she had two daughters, Catherine King (who married Sir James Nugent, bart, of Donore, Co Westmeath) and Margaret King (who married Barry Maxwell, later 1st Earl of Farnham). As for Elizabeth, she had married Williams Johnson at St. Michan's Dublin on 18 February 1736 and had two daughters, Ann and Elizabeth (later Mrs Dempster), before William's death in 1739.
Elizabeth's older brother was the Dublin woollen merchant Jason Hassard (1706-1745) [7] On 10 March 1731, Jason married Mary Mason, second daughter of Enock Mason by Ruth Ward, younger daughter of Peter Ward, of Dublin, merchant. [10] Jason became involved in the woollen business, along with his father-in-law, and lived at The Golden Fleece on Essex Street, and then at The Golden Fleece on Skinner Row. (Hughes, Church of St John, Dublin, p.91). He asked Dean Swift for a motto in verse for The Golden Fleece, for which the Dean wrote:
'Jason, the valiant prince of Greece,
From Colchos brought the golden fleece;
We comb the wool, refine the stuff
;For modern Jason that's enough.
Oh! could we tame you watchful dragon [ie England],
Old Jason would have less to brag on'.
Jason died in Dublin on 3 June 1745. By his wife Mary (who married secondly 1749-52 Pegwell Burrowes, merchant) he had two children, Robert Hassard and Elizabeth Hassard.
Elizabeth's younger brother Thomas Hassard was also a merchant in Dublin, based in Clondalkin.[8] On 4 May 1743, he married David Chaigneau, MP for Gowran (1715-27-53), by Elizabeth, daughter of Colonel Renouard. On 21 May 1754, Thomas mortgaged Mount Hassard, Kilnemadda and Mullylust to David La Touche for £500. He died at Swords in 1776.
The Dempster - Johnson Marriage
Faulkner's Dublin Journal of 12th December 1758 records the marriage of a 'Mr. Dempster to Miss Johnston of Bolton Street, step daughter of Redmond Kane'. John Beatty of Indiana conducted considerable research into this and found a very complex marriage agreement in the Registry of Deeds, drawn up by Redmond, which spelled out all of the Hassard - Dempster - King relationships in great detail. The marriage refers to David Dempster and Elizabeth Johnson, then about 20 years old. They were married in St. Mary's, Dublin on 7th December 1758. David was the son of Samuel and Elizabeth (nee Martin) Dempster of Donaghcloney, County Down. After the wedding, David moved to Carrickduff in the parish of Barragh, County Carlow, which he leased from Lord Farnham while taking charge of Farnham's extensive mill at Newtown-Barry (aka Bunclody). [11] By 1782 he had left there and returned to Donaghcloney. The Farnhams were also the Barry family and are mentioned again below.
The Irish Society
On 9th May 1759, Redmond Kane was appointed Solicitor to the Irish Society.[12] This comprised of various London businessmen with vested interests in developing towns like Londonderry and Coleraine, and introducing tillage farming to other plantation areas in Ulster. Under their instruction, the heavily-forested free-range countryside was converted into neat arrangements of arable fields flanked by hedgerows, and mature trees. Roads were built to connect market towns and villages; stone bridges were erected over the fords.
Death of Mrs Kane
In 1763, The Gentleman's and London Magazine refers to the death at Swords on August 5th of ‘the wife of Redmond Kane’. This was presumably Elizabeth Hassard mentioned above. However, on 17 Sept 1763, the Freeman's Journal announced that the Besborough Packet had arrived from Holyhead and that its passengers included 'Mrs Cane and her daughter....Messrs Cane and Bunbury and several other passengers with the mail.' So one wonders what was going on here ... were these Canes really Kanes and what were they doing being pally with Bunbury back in those times! Thomas Bunbury makes no mention of a trip to England in his diary, but that is not to say he did not go. (Presumably they had arrived at the Pigeonhouse .. from there guests were transported to and from Dublin City in a ‘Long Coach', a half hour journey in a rickety carriage capable of ‘holding 16 inside passengers and as many outside, with all their luggage’. A passenger on this Long Coach in 1810 likened his journey to an ‘earthly purgatory’ on board Noah’s Ark, ‘the clean and the unclean’ together, everybody crammed together and smelling of sea-sick. It was, concluded the author, ‘no bed of roses’.
THE REGISTER OF THE NORTH WEST CIRCUIT 1764
Redmond Kane’s name next crops up as when the Freeman’s Journal (21 Feb 1764, pg 3 Col 4) advertised the following seating times and locations for the upcoming North West Circuit of Ulster, listing Redmond Kane of Bolton Street as a Register:
LENT ASSIZES, 1764
North West Circuit of Ulster
County of Westmeath at Mullengar [sic], Monday March 19
County of Longford at Longford Thursday 22
County of Cavan at Cavan Monday 26
County of Fermangh at Enniskilling Friday 30
County of Tyrone at Omagh Tuesday April 3
County of Donnegal at Lifford Saturday 7
County of Derry at Derry Wednesday 11
Hon Mr Justice Scott and Hon M Justice Tenison - Justices
Redmond Kane Esq Bolton Street and H Cottingham Esq Britain Street - Registers
The same 'advertisement' was captured in the paper of 14 July 1764 and 22nd Jun 1765. Both times he is listed as Redmond Kane Esq Bolton Street - Register.
SALE OF LANDS IN THE NAUL
In May 1764, Redmond was listed as one of the agents handling the sale of various lands in the Naul, as well as lands in Swords. I may be wrong but, if Thomas Bunbury was buying lands at this point in time (and he was), then presumably he would have heard of Redmond Kane. And didn't the Bunbury family go on to own those very lands sold in the Naul? The complete notice read as follows: TO be sold, an undivided half of the Towns and Lands of Naul, and of the Mill thereon, and also of Bodingtown, Roach, Caddelstown, Flemingtown, Mooresides, Kenroestown, and Clogherstown, situate in the County of Meath, the whole Estates being set for £341. 3s. 10 yearly. Proposals will be received by Mrs. and Miss Mervyn in Dawson-street, Dublin, and by Mr. Redmond Kane in Bolton-street. -- And also to be sold, a House and Garden, with Coach-house, Stable and Cow-house, and 11 Acres of Land, at Swords in the County of Dublin, formerly in the Possession of Mr. Coles, and held for a Term of Years, whereof 14 or 15 Years are unexpired, at the yearly Rent of £20. Proposals to be received by the Rev. Mr. Eustace at Swords, and by the said Redmond Kane. (The Dublin Journal, 19 - 22 May, 1764).
Death of Master Keane
Faulkner's Journal and the Belfast Newsletter both state that on the night of Friday 11th October 1765 a "Master KEANE", described as the "only Son of Redmond KEANE, Esq." was killed at Castle-Bellingham "by his Cloathes getting into the Wheels of a Post-Chaise". This unfortunate young man was Katherine Kane's brother. Moreover, in numerous books, Mantua - Redmond's villa in Swords - is described as belonging to the Keane family. The 1801 Dodds Traveling Directory, compiled 23 years after Redmond's death, mentions Mantua as having been the property of a Redmond Keene. But then there is a reference to a Redmond Kane who was married in St Paul's (Roman Catholic) Church on Arran Quay to a Margaret Curren in 1790.
Swords in Redmond Kane's Day
Redmond Kane lived between his city residence on Bolton Street and the three storey seaside villa of Mantua in Swords, Co Dublin. In the 18th century, Swords was a small town, containing a 12th century Norman castle, a few townhouses and many handsome cottages which were chiefly let in summer for sea bathing. It had a Constabulary Police and a Coast-guard Station. St. Colmcille founded a monastery there in the 6th century and a 9th century round tower survives today, along with a 13th century square Norman tower. On a clear day you can see the Mountains of Mourne from the top of the Round Tower. One wonders did Redmond Kane ever clamber up those stone steps and gaze north to where his new lands lay? John Sweetman, the United Irishman and friend of Wolfe Tone, was buried in the shadow of the two towers. The Molesworth family acquired much of the neighbouring land during their rise to power in the wake of the Boyne. The 1st Viscount Molesworth built Brackenstown House in the early 18th century; Jonathan Swift was among his regular visitors.
Swords in Redmond Kane's day was a notoriously corrupt borough. For most of Dublin City, the canvassing of individual voters was normally frowned upon. Instead, political candidates solicited the endorsement of each of the 23 guilds whose members tended to vote in a body. However, in Swords, the individual householders were determined to vote as they saw fit and were thus wide open to the concept of selling their votes to the highest bidder. I have little doubt Redmond learned his craftiness in such an environment! In 1788, ten years after Redmond Kane's death, an inspired businessman named M'Intyre secured the passing of an Act through the Irish Parliament enabling him to build a canal from Malahide to Swords and neighbouring Fieldstown. Unfortunately the scheme failed, as did the same mans' cotton manufacture which had been granted £2,000 from the Irish Parliament.
William and Katherine Bunbury's
second son, Colonel Kane Bunbury,
was born at the Kane family
residence of Mantua, Swords. He
lived to be 92 years old.
Bodington, Co. Meath
In 1752 the Kane demesne in County Meath included 100 mesuages, 600 cottages, 600 gardens, 10 orchards, 2 mills, 1000 acres of arable land, 1000 acres of meadow, 1000 acres of pasture, 50 acres of wood and underwood, 50 acres of heath and 50 acres of marsh at Bodington, just south of Flemingtown. (Is it possible that the Kane's owned Bodenstown in County Meath when Wolfe Tone was buried there?) These lands had been seized in 1731, an act contested by Bernard Kane and Redmond Kane in 1752 as an "unjust seizure". Who was Bernard?! Malcolmson suggests a scam whereby Kane, a possible Catholic, would deliberately have his lands confiscated so a friend could buy them cheap and sell them back to him even cheaper. The 1704 Act of Popery stated that if a Protestant came forward in Court and proved that a Papist had acquired anything greater than a 31 year leasehold interest in a property, those lands would be granted to the "Discoverer". In this case, the Discoverer was Mr. Charles King of Dublin. After King's death, his son and heir sold the lands back to Kane for practically nothing. Malcolmson believes this was a deliberate ploy to confirm Kane in his lease.
It is also worth probing the remarks that Redmond Kane held a special position as clerk to Justice John Scott of the King’s Bench until his death in 1778. The same author lists Kane's fellow attorneys as Charles Doyle of Bramblestown, Co Kilkenny, Mathias Reily and John Kirwan, but claims that Redmond lasted longer than any of them.[1]
[1] Catholics in a Protestant Country: The Papist Constituency in Eighteenth-Century Dublin, Patrick Fagan (Four Courts Press, 1998)
The Monaghan Estates
As regards the Monaghan estates, there are two deeds at Lisnavagh, dated 1761 and 1764, which reveal that certain Kane's estates were subject to a successful lawsuit by a "Protestant Discoverer" under the Penal Laws, Charles King of Dublin. These were subsequently sold back to Kane by King's successor for a nominal sum. The interpretation of these deeds is unclear; probably, because the sum paid was nominal, the lawsuit was collusive and designed to pre-empt a genuine attempt at "discovery" under the Penal Laws. The leases concerned those to and from Redmond Kane (1762-1876) of the lands of Drumsnaught, parish of Donaghmoyne, barony of Farney, and parish of Errigle in Barony of Trough. These were first acquired by Redmond Kane under a lease from the Bishop of Clogher in 1760. Katherine's marriage settlement of 1773 included £3000 as a portion of cash and immediate possession of some of Kane's landed property". There are also two files of correspondence, 1896, 1889, 1898 and 1925-1939, about the Monaghan property, one labelled 'Crowbane', the other 'Donaghmoyne' and 'Mulinnavannoge'.
The Irvine Estates
The Lisnavagh Archives include the will of a once prosperous lady named Eleanor Irvine dated to 1767. It seems she had got into serious debt and was unable to pay this off without selling her lands at Flemingston, Meath, Tyrone and Omagh. As the executors holding land in trust for her daughter, Olivia, Malcolmson believes Robert Nugent and Redmond Kane probably bailed her out and then took all the property as payment.
The three portraits above can be found at Lisnavagh. Any one of these women could be Katherine Kane who married William Bunbury of Lisnavagh. That said, the lady on the left is almost certainly Patience Foster, cousin of Speaker John, who married John McClintock of Drumcar. And the lady on the right looks to be Iberian or Dutch Renaissance.
The Bunbury Marriage
In his will of 30/9/1777, Redmond gave, devised and bequeathed all his messuages, lands, tenements and hereditimants "in the kingdom of Ireland" to William Bunbury of Lisnavagh in accordance with the marriage (28th September 1773) of William to his only surviving child, Katherine Kane. He made many more generous endowments to his daughter during his lifetime, settling lands on the couple and giving her a substantial £3000 fortune. The suggestion is that Kane was somewhat obliged to pay the Bunbury family for the privilege of marrying into the landed gentry!
Redmond's Will
A codicil dated 9th May 1778 appointed Sir James Nugent, the Hon. Barry Barry and Charles King trustees. Nugent and Barry were also beneficiaries. Under the wills of Redmond and Katherine Kane, these estates were to be held in trust for the use of William and Katherine's second son, Colonel Kane Bunbury and his heirs. Otherwise they were to go to their firstborn son, Thomas Bunbury and his heirs. Otherwise they were to be divided between the daughters Jane (later Jane McClintock, mother of Captain William McClintock Bunbury and the 1st Baron Rathdonnell) and Katherine (later Katherine Gardiner) as Tenants in Continuity. If none of this worked out, Redmond left it to the children of his sister Sophia Kane.
Barry Barry, 1st Earl of Farnham
Barry Barry was born Barry Maxwell and was the second son of John Maxwell, 1st Baron Farnham. His father represented Co. Cavan in the Irish Parliament from 1727 until his elevation to the peerage in 1756 as 'Baron Farnham of Farnham, Co. Cavan'. The 1st Baron had an address at Munny, Co. Carlow (now the Bielenbergs), as well as at Newtownbarry. Barry's mother was Judith Barry, daughter and heiress of James Barry of Newtown Barry (aka Bunclody), Co. Wexford. (a) The 1st Baron died on 6th August 1759 and was succeeded as 2nd Baron by his eldest son Robert. Just over two months later, on 11th October 1759, the 2nd Baron married Henrietta, Countess Dowager of Stafford, sole daughter and heir of Philip Cantillon. She bore him a son, John, Viscount Maxwell, and a daughter, Henrietta, before her premature death on 30th August 1761. (b) That same year, Robert was elevated to Viscount Farnham and, in 1863, he was created Earl of Farnham. On 1st December 1771, the Earl took a new bride, Sarah, widow of Arthur Upton, sister of Lord Sydney and the only daughter of Pole Cosby of Stradbally Hall, Queen's County (now Co. Laoise). His only son, Viscount Maxwell, died a minor in 1777 and the 1st Earl passed away on 11th November 1779. In the absence of any male children, the honours conferred upon him died and the Barony devolved upon his brother, aka Redmond Kane's friend, Barry Barry.
As 3rd Baron Farnham, Barry's principal achievement was to win back the Viscountcy (10 Jan 1781) and Earldom (22 June 1785) bestowed upon his elder brother. Barry was twice married. He married his first wife, Margaret King, on 15th January 1757. She was co-heir of Robert King of Drewstown, Co. Meath, another of Redmond's cronies. Margaret bore Barry a son, John James, 4th Baron Farnham, and two daughters, Anne and Judith. (c) Barry was married secondly in 1771 to Grace, daughter of Arthur Burdett of Ballymaney, by whom he had two daughters, Grace (wife of Sir Ralph St. George Gore, died 19th June 1866) and Elizabeth (died unmarried January 1782). Barry, 1st Earl of Farnham, died on 7th October 1800 and was succeeded by his only son, the 40-year-old James Barry. The 2nd Earl 's wife was Grace Cuffe, only daughter of Thomas Cuffe of Grange, Co. Kilkenny. He had no issue by her and so, on his death on 23rd July 1823, the Viscountcy and Earldom expired, while the barony reverted to his kinsman John Maxwell Barry, 5th Baron Farnham (1767 - 1838), son of Barry's younger brother Rev, Henry Barry, Bishop of Dromore, by his marriage to Margaret Foster, daughter of Rt Hon Anthony Foster and sister of the great Speaker John Foster, Lord Oriel.
Footnotes
(a) James Barry was son and heir of Richard Barry by Anne, his wife, daughter
of Charles Meredyth, MP.
(b) Henrietta was married in 1780 to Rt. Hon. Denis Daly of Dunsandle, Co.
Galway. Denis died on 10th October 1792 and she survived until 6th March
1852, leaving issue.
(c) Anne was married in 1787 to Richard Fox of Fox Hall, Co. Longford. Judith
died unmarried in 1818.
Katherine Bunbury's Succession
Following Redmond's death in 1778, Katherine duly entered possession and secured the rents and profit of lands as a tenant for life until her death. Her will, dated 27th June 1834, bequeathed all the Kane lands, including those at Cloghna (1) and Dublin (2) to her second son, Kane Bunbury. He retained these until his death at a great age in 1874. In his will, his great-nephew, the Hon. Jack Bunbury was appointed residuary legatee.
Thomas Bunbury of Lisnavagh
MP for Co. Carlow
Thomas Bunbury of Lisnavagh
From the death of his mother in 1834 until his own passing in 1846, Thomas Bunbury, MP for Carlow, was in possession of the Kane estates under the limitations & conditions of the settlement made on the marriage of William and Katherine. On his death, this all passed to his brother Kane. Thomas's will, dated 26th May 1846, gave, devised and bequeathed all his estates, freehold and copyhold, as well as his leasehold estates (whether held for lives or years) to trustees therein named upon trust for his brother Kane Bunbury, for life, with remainder to his nephew Captain William McClintock Bunbury and his heirs (who got 2/3) and John McClintock (1st Baron Rathdonnell) (who received 1/3). Captain McClintock Bunbury and William Elliot were executors.
Up until 1891, the Kane estates in all counties were administered separately and estate business was recorded in a separate series of rentals (for no logical reason, since they had merged with the Bunbury estates in 1846 and then merged with the McClintock estates in 1879). In 1891 a reorganization must have taken place (probably following the dismissal of the agent for the Kane estates), and 'Fermanagh, Kane and Louth' came to be administered as one unit, and the Bunbury estates as another.
Fate of Mantua
The Lisnavagh Archives contains a map of Mantua, dated October 1839, by Daniel O'Reilly of Swords. The map shows an extensive garden, a haggard, a front lawn and a yard, set up an avenue off the main road between Swords and the sea. The lands are described as belonging to Joseph St. Clair-Mayne, Esq but curiously there is no house on this map. In Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland, Mantua is described as "a three story, bow ended mid 18th century house with single storey 20th century porch, similar to nearby Lissen Hall. In 1783 the seat of Mr. Keane." (p. 60). Mark Bence-Jones adds that the bow-ends were curved, "the silhouette of their roofs exactly prolonging that of the main roof, five bay front; Venetian window above rusticated and pedimented tripartite doorway" (p. 200). He further states that by 1814 the house had become the residence of a Dr. Daly whose widow or daughter, Mrs. Daly, was living there in 1837. It later belonged to Patrick and Hannah Cuffe. The villa - where Colonel Kane Bunbury was born - was built in the mid 18th century but demolished in the 20th century. The exact date of its demolition is presently unknown. A housing estate by name of Mantua exists in Swords today.
With thanks to Anthony Malcolmson, Mark Bence Jones, John D. Beatty, Grace Moloney, Kate Wingrove, Aidan Walsh & the Clogher Historical Society.
FOOTNOTES
[1] J. E. M'Kenna, ‘Diocese of Clogher: Parochial Records, Monaghan’ (1920)
[2] The McCauslands of Donaghanie and Allied Families, Merze Marvin (s.n., 1911, p. viii).
[3] PRONI T808 - Register of Deeds Office Dublin. Vol 58 p 246 No 39337. Memorial. The trustees were the Rev. Wm. Hamilton of Caledon Co. Tyrone, Archdeacon of Armagh and Oliver McCausland of Rash Co. Tyrone esq.
[3a] The Last Colonel of the Irish Brigade: Count O'Connell, and Old Irish Life at Home and Abroad, 1745-1833, by Mary Anne Bianconi O'Connell, Morgan John O'Connell, Mary Anne O'Connell (K. Paul, Trench, Trübner & co., ltd., 1892)
[4] ‘An account of what money was received by Redmond Kane for transporting felons and vagabonds, with a list of such felons and vagabonds for seven years last past, and the names of the merchants by whom they were transported’ in ‘A List of Deported Convicts and Vagabonds, 1737-1743’, Journals of the Irish House of Commons. See also ‘Proceedings and Debates of the British Parliaments Respecting North America’ by Leo Francis Stock (1924, Carnegie Intuition of Washington), p. 607:
[5] The see of Clogher, having been suppressed, was vested in the Ecclesiastical Commissions (in accordance with the laws of 1851) to at once and forever fix the time and manner of renewal, thereby converting into a lease for limited terms only during the lifetime of Kane Bunbury and without being moved thereto by him. The see of Dublin was not vested as it was not suppressed. The Irish Church Act seems to have contradicted Redmond Kane's will as regards the chattel interests contained in the sees of Dublin and Clogha. Questions were posed as to who now was entitled to the title of these lands. Could John McClintock, by execution of any deed or act on his part, acquire a valid title? Could he purchase the sees from the Commissioners? Or could he recover from Kane Bunbury's residuary legatee, Jack Bunbury?
[6] The Rathdonnell Papers (D/4132 AND MIC/632), PRONI, A.P.W. Malcomson (1997). The provenance of these bits and pieces is actually immaterial, because what has been deposited in PRONI is the 'Northern' (including Co. Monaghan) material of whatever provenance.
[7] It is surely relevant to note that the Hassards and La Touche families were also related. Further links to a La Touche-Kane-Hassard connection can be ascertained through EXTRACTS FROM THE OLD VESTRY BOOKS OF CLONDALKIN which show that James Digges LATOUCHE and Elizabeth CHAIGNEAU were married by his Grace ye Archbishop of Dublin on the 7th day of April, 1735. Furthermore, ‘Thomas HASSARD and Henrietta CHAIGNEAU were married by his Excellency the Lord Primate on ye fourth day of May, 1743 by virtue of a licence from ye Consistorial Court of Dublin directed to me. Francis WILSON, Vicar of Clondalkin’.
[8] Rev. Henry Swanzy, "The Families of French of Belturbet and Nixon of Fermanagh and their Descendants" (Dublin: Alex. Thomas & Co., Ltd., 1908). Josi/Hazard Nexus, by James Hazard, Ruth Josi Hazard (1997, Googlebooks).
[9] see Hassard of Gardenhill
[10] Jason Hassard, Esq, of Skea, Co. Fermanagh, married Anne, daughter of Colonel Johnston. He had at least one son, Robert Hassard, Esq of Skea who was married in1762 to Jane, daughter of George Nixon Esq of Nixon Hall, Co Fermanagh. Robert died in 1800 leaving issue viz:
1. JASON m a dau of Dr Murray, late of Dungannon and niece of the Provost of Trinity College Dublin, and is deceased
2. GEORGE, of whom presently
3. Catherine m to Capt Gerrard Irvine (note the Irvine connection below to The Naul and 1752 deeds)
4. Anne
5. Letitia
6. Rose m to Mr. Adkins Esq.
The 2nd son GEORGE HASSARD Esq of Skea was born in May 1775 and died on 10 August 1847. He was a JP and served as high sheriff of co Fermanagh in 1818 and 1828. He m 1799 Miss Jane Maguire and by her (who d. March 1846) had issue:
1. THE REV EDWARD HASSARD, present head of the Skea family, Rector of Rathkeale and Chancellor of the diocese of Limerick. He succceeded to the representation of the family of Hassard of Skea at the death of his father on 10 Aug 1847. On 15 Sept 1855, he married Miss Mary Anne Gibb of Norfolk Square Brighton.
2. Henry barrister at law dunm.
3. William of Mountjoy Square
4. George of Mountjoy Square Dublin barrister, b 10 Sept 1811
5. Richard dunm
6. John who went to Australia
7. Charles
8. Francis, in holy orders, Rector of Fuerty co Roscommon
9. Mary m 1823 to George Campbell Williams Esq
10. Anne m to Samuel Gale Esq barrister of Battledown near Cheltenham
11. Elizabeth
12. Jane d young
13. Charlotte d young
From: A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland By Bernard Burke.
[11] John D Beatty believes Dempster or his wife were somehow related to his 4th great grandfather, James Beaty, of Ballycanew, County Wexford, who was also a miller and named one of his sons Dempster Beatty.
[12] A Concise View of the Origin, Constitution and Proceedings of the Honorable Society of the Governor and Assistants of London of the New Plantation in Ulster, within the realm of Ireland, commonly called the Irish Society (Gye and Balne, 1822), p. 120.
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