Estate: Oliver (Castle Oliver)

Associated Families

• Oliver (Cos Galway & Leitrim)
• Oliver (Castle Oliver)
• Gascoigne/Trench
• Gascoigne (Parlington)
• Oliver (Inchera & Dunkettle)
• Silver

Description

By the late 17th century the Olivers were settled at Clonodfoy (later known as Castle Oliver), barony of Coshlea, county Limerick. Captain Robert Oliver was granted lands in the barony of Coshlea and in the barony of Clanmorris, county Kerry in 1666. In 1734 Robert Oliver, Member of Parliament for Kilmallock, married Jane Katherine, daughter and co-heiress of John Silver. In 1667 Owen Silver had been granted lands in the barony of Muskerry, county Cork and Ileagh, county Tipperary. Robert and Jane's son, Silver Oliver, also married an heiress, Isabella Sarah Newman of Newbury (Newberry Manor), county Cork, as did their grandson, Richard Philip Oliver. He married Mary Turner through whom the family inherited the Gascoigne estates in Yorkshire. Richard and Mary Oliver Gascoigne had two daughters, Mary Isabella and Elizabeth who succeeded to the Oliver and Gascoigne estates in 1843. Both married members of the Trench family of Woodlawn, county Galway. The Oliver estate was in the barony of Coshlea, mainly in the parishes of Kilfinnane, Kilflyn and Particles. The Deane Oliver estate including part of Castletownroche was offered for sale in November 1867. It amounted to over 800 acres.

Houses

House Name / Description	Townland	Civil Parish	PLU	DED	Barony	County	Map Ref
Mount Shannon (H2234) An 18th century house, bought from the White family by John FitzGibbon before 1780. Mount Shannon appears to be named Ballingown on the Taylor and Skinner map of the late 1770s. Wilson, however, refers to Mount Shannon, "where taste and elegance are united" as the residence of the Hon. Silver Oliver in 1786. Bence Jones writes that it was enlarged by the 1st Earl of Clare and remodelled by the 2nd Earl. In the early 1850s the house was valued at £179 and was held by the Earl in fee. The contents of the house were sold in 1888 and the house itself to the Nevin family circa 1893 (Bence Jones). Burnt in the early 1920s Mount Shannon is now a ruin.	Mountshannon	Stradbally	Limerick	Ballyvarra 46	Clanwilliam	Limerick	Lat/Lon: 52.68291 -8.51463 OSI Ref: R652 592 Discovery map #65. OS Sheet #6.
Castle Oliver (H2581) The original Castle Oliver or Clonodfoy was the home of the Oliver family in the 18th and early 19th centuries. It was replaced by the present building in the mid 19th century. In 1814 Castle Oliver was occupied by George Fosbery who may have been employed by the Olivers. In 1837 Lewis described the castle as being in a very dilapidated state. It then belonged to R. O. Gascoigne of the county of York whose bailiff resided in it. The new building was designed by George Fowler Jones and built in the Scottish baronial style for the Oliver Gascoignes. At the time of Griffith's Valuation the castle was valued at £75 and the house at £48 and both were in the possession of Elizabeth O. Gascoigne and her brother-in-law, Frederick Charles Trench. The house was eventually inherited by Elizabeth's step-grandson, William Cosby Trench. He was the occupier in 1906 when it was valued at £125. Restored in the early 21st century it now provides self catering accommodation and is a venue for functions such as weddings.	Castleoliver	Particles	Kilmallock	Particles 39	Coshlea	Limerick	Lat/Lon: 52.32529 -8.49434 OSI Ref: R663 194 Discovery map #73. OS Sheet #56.
Spa Hill (H2609) A home of the Oliver family, occupied by Charles Deane Oliver in 1814 and by William Oliver in 1837 and at the time of Griffith's Valuation. The buildings were valued at £23+ and William held them from the Trench/Gascoigne estate, with a corn mill.	Kilfinnane	Kilfinnane	Kilmallock	Kilfinnane 37	Coshlea	Limerick	Lat/Lon: 52.35689 -8.45946 OSI Ref: R687 229 Discovery map #73. OS Sheet #56.
Rockmills Lodge [Rockmills House] (H3313) The lodge was the residence of Colonel Richard Aldworth in 1814. Hajba writes that it was built as a shooting and fishing lodge by Colonel Richard Aldworth in 1776 and that he left the property including the mills to his wife's nephew, Charles Deane Oliver (grandson of Robert Oliver of Cloghanodfoy). Occupied by Mrs Sarah Oliver in 1837 and at the time of Griffith's Valuation and held by her from the representatives of Bond Lowe. The buildings were valued at £25 and she was leasing a flour mill and other buildings valued at £170 to P.L. Lyster. This property was advertised for sale in June 1856. The house was burnt in May 1921 during the War of Independence when it was the residence of Charles Deane Oliver. In 1942 the Irish Tourist Association Survey noted that it had been rebuilt by the Walsh family and was then (1942) occupied by the Casey family. It is still extant. The mills are now in ruins.	Ballynahalisk	St Nathlash	Mitchelstown	Derryvillane 290	Fermoy	Cork	Lat/Lon: 52.22317 -8.40685 OSI Ref: R722 080 Discovery map #73. OS Sheet #18.

Archival sources

• Limerick Studies Department, Dooradoyle: Irish Tourist Association Survey file for parish of Glenroe/Ballyorgan, barony of Coshlea, 1943. Limerick North East 18
• National Archives of Ireland: S. Gordon & Son, solicitors collection, includes documents re Oliver family property in Cos Limerick & Cork, 1750-1890. Small Accs Index 103, D.17,449-17,453
• National Archives of Ireland: C. Deane Oliver Collection, deeds, testamentary & legal documents re estates of families of Cripps of Calmony, Cahirnary & city of Limerick; Oliver of Clonodfoy, Co Limerick & Aldworth of Newmarket, Co Cork. Small Accs Index 1/634, T.3880-1, D.12012-28 & Co 2473-5
• National Archives of Ireland: Encumbered Estates' Court Rentals (O'Brien), Oliver, Gibbings, Aldworth, 10 June 1856, Vol 40 (32), MRGS 39/019, (microfilm copy in NUIG)
• National Archives of Ireland: Landed Estates’ Court Rentals (O’Brien), Deane Oliver, 12 Nov 1867, Vol 87 (26), MRGS 39/042, (microfilm copy in NUIG)
• National Library of Ireland: Castle Oliver Papers, records relating to the Oliver & Silver families of Castle Oliver & to properties in Cos Limerick, Kerry, Cork, Waterford, Leitrim & Kilkenny, including records of the Corporation of Kilmallock, 17th-19th centuries. D 18,854-19,056, MS 8482, MSS 9089-9091, MSS 9449-9451, MSS 10,930-10,944
• National Library of Ireland: Pedigree of Oliver of Cloughanadfoy & Castle Oliver, c 1650-1810. GO MS 168:104-105
• National Library of Ireland: Typed extract from the schedule of the muniments covering the estates of Oliver of Castle Oliver in Ireland, deposited in Leeds Central Library in 1957 & transferred to the National Library of Ireland. Microfilm P 4694
• National Library of Ireland: Copy of confirmation of arms to descendants of Robert Oliver of Clonodfoy & to Richard Oliver of Castle Oliver, being one of them, 31 Mar 1810. GO MS 105:114
• Public Record Office, Northern Ireland: Coote & Oliver Family & Estate Papers, records relating to the Coote family of Mount Coote, Co Limerick & the Oliver family [of Co Limerick?]. Oliver family material 1698-1815. D3168/2
• Representative Church Body Library: Katherine Deane Oliver's Commonplace Book of photographs, postcards, memorial cards, prayers etc. circa early 20th century. Ms 705

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 Coshlea, 116 (Kilfinnane)
• GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Fermoy Barony, 175 (Ballynahalisk)
• FITZGERALD, Rev P. & MCGREGOR, J.J. The history, topography and antiquities of the county and city of Limerick. Dublin: 1826, republished Limerick: O'Brien Book Publications,1999: 388-389
• LEET, Ambrose. A directory to the market towns, villages, gentlemen's seats, and other noted places in Ireland. Dublin: Printed by B. Smith, 1814 : 358 (Spa-hill)
• LEWIS, Samuel. A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837: II, 93-94 (Spa Hill), 420 (Rockmills Lodge), 457 (Castle Oliver)
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. 15th Annual Report of the Commissioners of Public Records Ireland, 1825. Vol XVI, Appendix I, Grants under Acts of Settlement: 77
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. 15th Annual Report of the Commissioners of Public Records Ireland, 1825. Vol XVI, Appendix I, Grants under Acts of Settlement: 101 (Silver)
• WILSON, William. The Post-Chaise Companion or Travellers Directory Through Ireland. The author: Dublin, 1786 : 160 (Mount Shannon)

Modern printed sources

• Jnl. of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society.: Historical and Topographical Notes, etc on Buttevant, Doneraile, Mallow and Places in their vicinity. Collected by James Grove White (c 1906). XXIV, 2nd Series (1918), 177-180 (Rockmills)
• 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. : 73-74
• FLEMING, John. Ardpatrick, co. Limerick. [By the author], 1978: All
• HAJBA, Anna-Maria. Historical Genealogical Architectural notes on some Houses of Cork. Volume I: North Cork. Whitegate: Ballinakella Press, 2002: 316
• LARSEN, Ruth M. (ed.) Maids and Mistresses: Celebrating 300 Years of Women and the Yorkshire Country House. York: 2004: 64-76
• MONTGOMERY-MASSINGBERD, Hugh (ed). Burke's Irish Family Records. London: Burke's Peerage, 1976: 921-924
• NATIONAL LIBRARY OF IRELAND. Reports on Private Collections: Ainsworth, J.F. Report on the Oliver Papers relating to the Oliver and Silver families of Castle Oliver, county Limerick. . Report No. 395