Estate: Lyons (Croom)

Associated Families

• Lyons (Croom)

Description

The Lyne or Lyons family were established in Croom, county Limerick, by the beginning of the 18th century. In 1779 Denis Lyons married Christian daughter of Thomas Casey, Member of Parliament and they had 9 children. Two of their sons, James Denis and John, had children. In the 1870s their successors Henry Lyons of Croom House and John Edward Lyons owned 1,665 and 1,329 acres in county Limerick while William Henry Lyons of Cork (and later of Croom Castle) owned 388 acres in county Cork and 1,313 acres in county Limerick. Cussen writes that Henry Lyons married Olivia Montagu, a granddaughter of the 6th Duke of Manchester. His descendants were still resident in Croom until the mid 20th century. At the time of Griffith's Valuation the estate of the Lyons family was in the parishes of Shanagolden, barony of Shanid, Corcomohide, barony of Connello Upper and Croom and Dromin, barony of Coshma. In July 1853 the estate of Christopher Antisell, 198 acres of Kilbreedy otherwise Knocknacree, barony of Smallcounty, was advertised for sale, James Lyons was the tenant.

Houses

House Name / Description	Townland	Civil Parish	PLU	DED	Barony	County	Map Ref
Croom House (H2562) Croom House was the home of the Lyons family in the 18th and 19th centuries. The house of James D. Lyons was valued at £48 in the early 1850s and he had a flour mill valued at £75 closeby. He held the property from John Croker. Described in 1943 by the Irish Tourist Association surveyor as a beautiful mansion on the left bank of the Maigue river, it was then in use as a military post. The house is still extant and occupied.	Croom	Croom	Croom	Croom 16	Coshma	Limerick	Lat/Lon: 52.51916 -8.72046 OSI Ref: R511 411 Discovery map #65. OS Sheet #30.
Islandmore (H2563) Tooreen, located just south of the town of Croom, was the residence of James D. Lyons in 1814 and 1837. By the early 1850s this house, then known as Islandmore, was occupied by Robert Maxwell, valued at £60 and held from Miss Catherine Giles. It later became the home of the Kelly family and Slater refers to it as the seat of John Roche-Kelly in 1894. Colonel Basil Roche Kelly was resident at the time of the Irish Tourist Association survey of 1943. The surveyor wrote that the house was originally Georgian but had suffered many alterations.	Tooreen	Croom	Croom	Croom 16	Coshma	Limerick	Lat/Lon: 52.51024 -8.71000 OSI Ref: R518 401 Discovery map #65. OS Sheet #30.
Croom Castle (H2564) Originally a Fitzgerald Castle, subsequently granted to the Duke of Richmond who sold it to John Croker in 1721. Reverend Fitzgerald writes that Croker was agent to the Duke. A residence was built with some of the stone from the old castle. Situated on the outskirts of the town of Croom this house was occupied by Samuel A. Dickson in the mid 19th century who held it from the Crokers. The buildings were valued at £30. Sold in the late 1880s to the Lyons family and bought by Michael Corry in 1936. Now functions as self catering accommodation. see http://www.croomcastle.com/history.html	Croom	Croom	Croom	Croom 16	Coshma	Limerick	Lat/Lon: 52.51648 -8.71894 OSI Ref: R512 408 Discovery map #65. OS Sheet #30.
Dunnaman (H2576) Matthew O'Flaherty held buildings valued at £13+ and 219 acres from James D. Lyons at the time of Griffith's Valuation. Grid Reference is approximate.	Dunnaman	Croom	Croom	Dunnaman 4	Coshma	Limerick	Lat/Lon: 52.52870 -8.77661 OSI Ref: R473 422 Discovery map #65. OS Sheet #30.

Archival sources

• Limerick City Museum: William B. Fitt & Co, auctioneers, 46 O'Connell St., Limerick, inventories & valuations of Co Limerick properties, including Croom House, 1920. Ref. 1993.0169
• Limerick Studies Department, Dooradoyle: Irish Tourist Association Survey file for parish of Croom, barony of Coshma, 1943. Limerick North East 11
• National Archives of Ireland: Baker, Ringwood & Gordon, solicitors' collection, includes plain copy will of Christina Lyons of Croom, 22 Jan 1823. Also Scully testamentary papers. Small Accs. Index 105, T.12,022, T.12,023-7
• National Library of Ireland: 16 deeds re Fitzgibbon, Monsell, Lyons, Cudmore & Massy families, including will of R. Chappell Whaley, 1768, 1742-1854. D 6597-6612
• National Library of Ireland: Copy of confirmation of arms to descendants of James Denis Lyons & to his grandson Capt James Denis Lyons, son of Henry Lyons, all of Croom House, Co Limerick, 28 July 1908. GO MS 111:221-222
• National Library of Ireland: Encumbered Estates’ Court Rentals (Burke), Antisell, 15 July 1853, Vol 35
• National Library of Ireland: Rental of the lands of Croom, barony of Coshma, held in fee with Landed Estate Court Title. The rental states that the estate which included Croom House & mill & Croom Castle & demesne was sold in 1867 for £28,500, post 1875. D 8257-8344 (folder of undated items)
• University of Limerick: Special Collections and Information Services, Glucksman Library : Papers of Barry family of Springvale, Ballyneety, Co Limerick & Leamlara, Co Cork, mainly relating to the Sandville branch of the Barry family & the activities of James Grene Barry, includes reference to purchase of land from Henry Lyons of Croom Castle, mainly 19th century. P20

Contemporary printed sources

Many of these resources are now available online. For a list with Web links please see the Online Printed Sources Links

• GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Barony of Coshma, 39 (Croom), 48 (Dunnaman)
• 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. [available online at www.askaboutireland.ie] : 284
• LEET, Ambrose. A directory to the market towns, villages, gentlemen's seats, and other noted places in Ireland. Dublin: Printed by B. Smith, 1814 : 375 (Toureen)
• LEWIS, Samuel. A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837: I, 436 (Toureen & Croom House)
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. Return of owners of land of one acre and upwards, in the several counties .... in Ireland. HC 1876, LXXX: 150-151
• SLATER, Isaac. Royal National Directory of Ireland: List of the principal seats. (Manchester: 1894) : xxv, 182 (Croom Castle and House)

Modern printed sources

• BENCE-JONES, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses. Revised ed. London: Constable, 1988. : 159 (Islandmore)
• BURKE, Sir Bernard. A genealogical and heraldic history of the Landed Gentry of Ireland. London: Harrison & Sons, 1904: 356
• CUSSEN, Robert. Caleb Powell, High Sheriff of County Limerick, 1858, sums up his Grand Jury. In RYNNE, Etienne (ed). North Munster Studies: Essays in commemoration of Monsignor Michael Moloney. Limerick: The Thomond Archaeological Society, 1967. : 417