Estate: Fitzgerald/Penrose Fitzgerald (Corkbeg)

Associated Families

• Fitzgerald (Corkbeg) (Baronet)
• Fitzgerald (Lisheen, Co Tipperary) (Baronet)
• Stewart (Whitegate)
• Blakeney (Mount Blakeney)
• Penrose (Woodhill)

Description

In 1667 Garrett Fitzgerald was granted the castle, town and lands of Kilcorkbegg alias Corkbeg with other lands in the barony of Imokilly, county Cork. Robert Fitzgerald of Lisquinlan and Corkbeg, county Cork, settled his Corkbeg estate by deed dated 30 April 1715 and his Lisquinlan estate by his will dated 10 June 1718 on his grandnephew, Robert Uniacke, son of Thomas Uniacke, MP. Robert assumed the name of Fitzgerald and married Frances Judkin of Greenhills, county Tipperary as his first wife. They had two sons, the younger of whom became Sir Thomas Fitzgerald Judkin of Lisheen, county Tipperary in 1801. The elder son, Robert Uniacke Fitzgerald of Lisquinlan and Corkbeg, had one son, Robert Uniacke Fitzgerald, who married Gertrude, daughter of Thomas Lyon of Watercastle, Queen's County (Laois) and of Mount Blakeney but they had no children. Mrs Fitzgerald owned an estate in the parish of Kilbreedy Minor, barony of Coshma, county Limerick at the time of Griffith's Valuation. In 1794, R.U. Fitzgerald's eldest sister, Louisa, married James Penrose of Woodhill, county Cork. Their daughter, Anne Penrose, married Thomas Stewart and came to possess the Mount Blakeney estate and their son, Robert Uniacke Penrose-Fitzgerald, held land at the time of Griffith's Valuation in the parishes of Castlemagner, barony of Duhallow and Buttevant, barony of Orrery and Kilmore but the bulk of his estate was in the barony of Imokilly where he held land in at least seven parishes. In May 1852, 1,770 acres in the baronies of Barrymore, Orrery and Kilmore, Fermoy, Duhallow and Imokilly, county Cork, the estate of Robert Uniacke Penrose Fitzgerald was advertised for sale. In the 1870s his son, Robert U.Penrose Fitzgerald of Corkbeg, Whitegate, owned 5,307 acres in county Cork and 764 acres in Queen's County (Laois). In 1896 Robert U.P. Fitzgerald was created a baronet.

Houses

House Name / Description	Townland	Civil Parish	PLU	DED	Barony	County	Map Ref
Velvetstown (H2892) Seat of the Crofts family for over three centuries, "Velvex-town" was occupied by Thomas Crofts in 1814, by T. Lucas Crofts in 1837 and by Reverend William Crofts in the early 1850s. Reverend William held the house and 708 acres from Penrose Fitzgerald and the buildings were valued at £21. Hajba writes that the original house was replaced by an elaborate Italianate mansion in the late 1870s but when this burnt down in 1895 they moved back into their old home. She also writes that Velvetstown is one of the few North Cork houses still occupied by the family that built it. The Irish Tourist Association survey noted in the 1940s that the walls of the Italianate mansion were still standing though the chimneys had been taken down.	Velvetstown	Buttevant	Mallow	Buttevant 237	Orrery and Kilmore	Cork	Lat/Lon: 52.26336 -8.66210 OSI Ref: R548 126 Discovery map #73. OS Sheet #17.
Corkbeg (H2895) The Penrose Fitzgerald Papers in the Boole Library document the building of a mansion house at Corkbeg in the 1820s. It was built to replace an earlier house mentioned by Wilson in 1786 as the seat of Robert Uniacke Fitzgerald. It was held in fee by the Fitzgeralds and valued at £65 in the early 1850s. By 1906 it was valued at £81. Bence Jones writes that the Fitzgeralds sold Corkbeg in the mid 20th century. The Irish Tourist Association survey notes that it functioned as a hotel for a few years. It was demolished in order to establish an oil refinery.	Corkbeg	Corkbeg	Middleton	Corkbeg 257	Imokilly	Cork	Lat/Lon: 51.82723 -8.24951 OSI Ref: W828 639 Discovery map #81. OS Sheet #88.
Whitegate House (H3613) In 1786 Wilson refers to Whitegate as the seat of Thomas Travers. It was the home of Mrs Gertrude Fitzgerald (nee Blakeney Lyon), wife of Robert Uniacke Fitzgerald, in 1837 and at the time of Griffith's Valutaion when it was valued at £25 and held from Robert U. P. Fitzgerald. The property passed in the mid 1850s to the niece of R.U. Fitzgerald, Anne Penrose, who was married to Thomas Stewart. Still extant and occupied.	Ballincaroonig	Aghada	Middleton	Corkbeg 257	Imokilly	Cork	Lat/Lon: 51.82457 -8.23209 OSI Ref: W840 636 Discovery map #81. OS Sheet #88.
Clonmaine (H3640) At the time of Griffith's Valuation William Abbot held this house valued at £15 from Robert U.P. Fitzgerald.	Clonmaine	Ightermurragh	Middleton	Ightermurragh 262	Imokilly	Cork	Lat/Lon: 51.89850 -7.99709 OSI Ref: X002 718 Discovery map #81. OS Sheet #77.
Lisquinlan (H3641) A Fitzgerald home, occupied by Robert A. Fitzgerald in 1814. The Reverend C. Harte was the resident in 1837 and the house was unoccupied in the early 1850s when it was valued at £33. Buildings are still extant at this location but the house is in ruins.	Lisquinlan	Ightermurragh	Middleton	Ightermurragh 262	Imokilly	Cork	Lat/Lon: 51.89490 -7.98111 OSI Ref: X013 714 Discovery map #81. OS Sheet #77.

Archival sources

• Cork City and County Archives: Penrose Fitzgerald Estate, farm stock books, account book re building of mansion & farm buildings, Freehold registration certificates & some family records, 1652-1959. U257
• Cork County Library: Irish Tourist Association files, Parish of Aghada
• National Archives of Ireland: Encumbered Estates' Court Rentals (O'Brien), Fitzgerald, 2 May 1852, Vol 15 (47), MRGS 39/007, (microfilm copy in NUIG)
• National Archives of Ireland: Bargain & sale by Edward W. Hoare & Henry W. Newenham, Cork & others to Marquess of Thomond, Rostellan, of the [cutter] Charlotte of Cork, consideration £300 to each, 10 May 1832 & resale to Penrose Fitzgeralds in 1838. 999/580/1/4 & 999/580/1/5
• National Library of Ireland: Copy of grant of arms to Robert Uniacke Penrose FitzGerald and to Rear Admiral Charles Cooper Penrose FitzGerald, sons of Robert Uniacke FitzGerald Penrose, all of Corkbeg and Lisquinlan, Co. Cork, on their assuming under Royal Licence the name and arms of Uniacke Penrose FitzGerald, July 30, 1896. Genealogical Office: Ms. 110, pp. 202-3
• Northamptonshire Record Office: Cokayne (Rushton) Collection includes 19th century pedigree of Fitzgerald of Corkbeg, Co. Cork, together with Uniake, Judkin, Bullen etc. by George Edward Cokayne & newspaper cutting re Robert U.P. Fitzgerald, 1888. C1428 & C1979
• Public Record Office, Northern Ireland: Stewart of Tyrcallen Papers: Letters and papers about the estates of Mrs Gertrude FitzGerald, née Lyon (Watercastle, Queen's County, and Mount Blakeney, Co. Limerick) 1764-1882. D3319/5
• University College Cork, Boole Library Archives: Penrose Fitzgerald Papers, 1652-1810. IE BL/EP/PF http://booleweb.ucc.ie/index.php?pageID=291

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 Orrery and Kilmore, 33 (Velvetstown)
• GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Imokilly Barony, 87 (Ballincaroonig), 131 (Corkbeg), 149 (Clonmaine), 154 (Lisquinlan)
• BATEMAN, John. The great landowners of Great Britain and Ireland. London: Harrison, 1883. : p.166
• 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] : 161
• LEET, Ambrose. A directory to the market towns, villages, gentlemen's seats, and other noted places in Ireland. Dublin: Printed by B. Smith, 1814 : 131 (Corkbeg)
• LEWIS, Samuel. A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837: I, 12 (Whitegate), 429 (Corkbeg)
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. Return of Untenanted Lands in Rural Districts, Distinguishing Demesnes on Which There is a Mansion..., HC 1906, c, 177: 244 (Corkbeg & Lisquinlan)
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. 15th Annual Report of the Commissioners of Public Records Ireland, 1825. Vol XVI, Appendix I, Grants under Acts of Settlement: 127
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. Return of owners of land of one acre and upwards, in the several counties .... in Ireland. HC 1876, LXXX: 123
• SLATER, Isaac. Royal National Directory of Ireland: List of the principal seats. (Manchester: 1894) : XXV, 181 (Corkbeg)
• TOWNSEND, Horatio. Statistical survey of the county of Cork... Dublin: Royal Dublin Society, 1810: 623 (Corkbeg)
• WILSON, William. The Post-Chaise Companion or Travellers Directory Through Ireland. The author: Dublin, 1786 : 251 (Corkabeg)

Modern printed sources

• North Munster Antiquarian Journal: NORTON, Desmond. Distress and Benevolence on Gertrude Fitzgerald's Limerick Estate in the 1840s. XLII (2002), 21-34
• BENCE-JONES, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses. Revised ed. London: Constable, 1988. : 92, 284
• BURKE, Sir Bernard. A genealogical and heraldic history of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland. London: Harrison & Sons, 1886: I, 644-645
• HAJBA, Anna-Maria. Historical Genealogical Architectural notes on some Houses of Cork. Volume I: North Cork. Whitegate: Ballinakella Press, 2002: 355
• NORTON, Desmond. Landlords, tenants, famine: the business of an Irish land agency in the 1840s. Dublin: University College Dublin Press, 2006.: 197-213
• WALFORD. County Families of the United Kingdom. London: Spottiswoode & Co. Ltd., 1910: 879