Estate: Coote (Ash Hill & Bearforest)

Associated Families

• Coote (Mountrath Earl of)
• Coote (Mount Coote)
• Coote (Ash Hill & Bearforest)

Description

The Cootes of Ash Hill and Mount Coote, county Limerick, were descended from a younger brother of Sir Charles Coote, Earl of Mountrath. In 1666 Chidley Coote was granted almost 3,000 acres in counties Limerick and Kerry. The Cootes of Ash Hill married members of the Evans (Lord Carbery), Purdon and Carr families and eventually Charles Henry Coote of the Ash Hill family succeeded the last Earl of Mountrath as 9th Baronet in 1802. Charles Purdon Coote, a grandson of the 9th Baronet's younger brother Robert Carr Coote, owned 4,510 acres in county Cork and had seats at Ballyclough Castle and Bearforest, Mallow in the late 19th century. In the early 1850s the estate of his father, Charles P. Coote, was located in the parishes of Tullylease, Ballyclogh and Kilmaclenine, baronies of Duhallow and Orrery and Kilmore.

Houses

House Name / Description	Townland	Civil Parish	PLU	DED	Barony	County	Map Ref
Ash Hill Towers (H2585) The residence of a branch of the Coote family in the 18th century, possibly held from the Barons Carbery. Ash Hill is referred to by Wilson as the seat of Chudleigh Coote in 1786. Bought by Eyre Evans from Chidley Coote in 1794 (see sale rental 6 July 1878). Eyre Evans held the property in fee throughout the first half of the 19th century. The Ordnance Survey Field Name Book describes this house as having "a most superb new front with towers at each end". At the time of Griffith's Valuation the buildings were valued at £50. Bence Jones writes that Ash Hill Towers became the residence of John Henry Weldon in the later 19th century. The Irish Tourist Association surveyor wrote in 1943 that the property was owned by Captain P.M. Lindsay, nephew of John H. Weldon, who bought the house from the Evans family in 1880. Still extant, this house is the centre of a stud.	Ash Hill	St Peters and St Pauls	Kilmallock	Kilmallock 43f	Coshlea	Limerick	Lat/Lon: 52.39499 -8.58474 OSI Ref: R602 272 Discovery map #73. OS Sheet #47.
Longueville House (H2743) Longueville House was the seat of the Longfield family, built in 1720. Wilson, writing in 1786, refers to it as the seat of John Longfield. In the 1850s it was valued at £56 and held by Richard Longfield from the representatives of Charles P. Coote with a demesne of 312 acres. The Longfields sold Longueville to Senator William O'Callaghan in 1938. The Irish Tourist Association survey of the 1940s claims that the original lands were taken from the O'Callaghans after the 1641 rebellion and granted to Sir Nicholas Purdon. Longueville is now a country house hotel.	Longueville	Ballyclogh	Mallow	Ballyclogh 234	Duhallow	Cork	Lat/Lon: 52.13798 -8.73620 OSI Ref: W496 987 Discovery map #80. OS Sheet #32.
Summerville (H2817) Originally a Purdon house situated on the Coote estate and described by Smith as a "neat lodge" in 1750. It was home to members of the Chapman and Nason families. Occupied by John Nicholas Wrixon in 1837. Valued at £14 in the early 1850s when it was occupied by Kenny Herbert. Still occupied and surrounded by mature woodland.	Gortnagross	Ballyclogh	Mallow	Ballyclogh 234	Duhallow	Cork	Lat/Lon: 52.13453 -8.71277 OSI Ref: W512 983 Discovery map #80. OS Sheet #32.
Ballyclogh Castle (H2864) At the time of Griffith's Valuation Thomas Haines and Son owned a house, corn and flour mill and offices in the townland of Ballyclogh valued at £82. This property was held with 4 acres from the representatives of C.P. Coote and John Wrixon. In 1906 Ballyclogh was occupied by the representatives of Charles P. Coote. The house was located adjacent to a medieval tower house. Both the house and mill are now in ruins.	Ballyclogh	Ballyclogh	Mallow	Kilmaclenine 235	Orrery and Kilmore	Cork	Lat/Lon: 52.16761 -8.74108 OSI Ref: R493 020 Discovery map #73. OS Sheet #24.
Bearforest (H3291) Named after Richard Beare who held this land in the early 18th century, the house was built in 1807-1808 by Robert Delacour, a partner in the Delacour bank of Mallow. Townsend writes that it was designed by Richard Morrison. Delacour was living in the house in 1814 but had vacated it by 1837. At the time of Griffith's Valuation it was occupied by John Hugh Bainbridge who held it from James Murphy. The buildings were valued at £70. Bence Jones records the Purdon Coote family as later owners. The house was burnt in June 1921 during the War of Independence when it was the residence of Maj. Charles Purdon Coote but was rebuilt.	Bearforest Lower	Mallow	Mallow	Mallow North Urban 251	Fermoy	Cork	Lat/Lon: 52.12778 -8.63527 OSI Ref: W565 975 Discovery map #80. OS Sheet #33.

Archival sources

• Isle of Wight Record Office: Heytesbury Papers, including title deeds, leases, maps & surveys re the Irish estates of the Holmes family in Limerick, Waterford & Wicklow, with references to Coote of Ash Hill & Mount Coote, 17th-20th centuries. JER/HBY/
• National Archives of Ireland: Copy engraving of Coote Castle [Co Limerick], published by S. Hooper, 24 Jan 1792. 999/589
• National Archives of Ireland: E.E. West Deposit, contains lease of lands of Clonan, Chidley Coote to James Casey of Gurtboy, farmer, 1776. Small Accs Index 82, D.12600
• National Library of Ireland: Book of maps of estate of Earl of Mountrath in Cos Leix, Roscommon, Offaly, Limerick, Leitrim & Kildare, 1730. Microfilm P.3618
• National Library of Ireland: Book of maps of estate of Earl of Mountrath in Cos Leix, Roscommon, Offaly, Limerick, & Kildare, 1740. Microfilm P.3427
• Public Record Office, Northern Ireland: Shannon Papers, include papers relating to Mrs Anne Coot's estate at Ballyclogh, Co. Cork, 1750-1753. D2707/B/10

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 Duhallow, 3 (Gortnagross), 5 (Longueville); Barony of Orrery & Kilmore, 5 (Ballyclogh)
• BATEMAN, John. The great landowners of Great Britain and Ireland. London: Harrison, 1883. : p.104
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. Return of Untenanted Lands in Rural Districts, Distinguishing Demesnes on Which There is a Mansion..., HC 1906, c, 177: 241 (Ballyclogh)
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. 15th Annual Report of the Commissioners of Public Records Ireland, 1825. Vol XVI, Appendix I, Grants under Acts of Settlement: 83
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. Return of owners of land of one acre and upwards, in the several counties .... in Ireland. HC 1876, LXXX: 120
• 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: 184 (Ash Hill)
• WILSON, William. The Post-Chaise Companion or Travellers Directory Through Ireland. The author: Dublin, 1786 : 203 (Ash-Hill)

Modern printed sources

• The Irish Genealogist: THE O’DONEVAN, Lieut. Colonel. Two Irish Personalities at War. III (1956-1965), 389-391
• The Irish Independent: Keenan, Mark. Phoenix from the flames. Friday 1 March 2019, Property, pp.1-2.
• Éire-Ireland: DONNELLY, James S. Jnr. Big House burning in county Cork during the Irish revolution, 1920-21. XLVIII, 3 & 4, Fall-Winter (2012), pp.141-197.
• BENCE-JONES, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses. Revised ed. London: Constable, 1988. : 13, 34
• BURKE, Sir Bernard. A genealogical and heraldic history of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland. London: Harrison & Sons, 1886: I, 403
• BURKE, Sir Bernard. A genealogical and heraldic history of the Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage. London: Harrison & Sons, 1886: 321-322
• HAJBA, Anna-Maria. Historical Genealogical Architectural notes on some Houses of Cork. Volume I: North Cork. Whitegate: Ballinakella Press, 2002: 157, 250, 342