Estate: Puxley

Associated Families

• Puxley
• Lavallin

Description

Henry L. Puxley of Dunboy Castle was the owner of over 9000 acres in county Cork in the 1870s. John L. Puxley was among the principal lessors in the parishes of Templebreedy, barony of Kerrycurrihy and Kilcatherine, Killaconenagh and Kilnamanagh, barony of Bear, at the time of Griffith's Valuation. Frances Puxley held some land in the parish of Whitechurch, barony of Cork. The lands in Kerrycurrihy would originally have been Coppinger estates and had come by inheritence to the Puxleys, though a marriage in the eighteenth century between Sara Lavallin of Carrigaline and Henry Puxley of Dunboy. The lands at Dunboy would originally have belonged to the O'Sullivan Beara family and were granted to the Puxleys in the seventeenth century. They had extensive mining interests in the area. The writer Daphne du Maurier based her novel ''Hungry Hill'' on the story of the Puxley family.

Houses

House Name / Description	Townland	Civil Parish	PLU	DED	Barony	County	Map Ref
Point House (Crosshaven) (H3160) Edward Sisk was leasing this house from the Puxley estate at the time of Griffith's Valuation, when it was valued at £10 10s.The house at the site is known as Point House and the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage suggests it was built in the mid-eighteenth century.	Crosshaven	Templebreedy	Kinsale	Templebreedy 202	Kerrycurrihy	Cork	Lat/Lon: 51.80286 -8.29432 OSI Ref: W797612 Discovery map #87. OS Sheet #99.
Myrtleville Cottage (H3163) Ó Murchadha states that Myrtleville Cottage was built by Sir Nicholas Trant in the early nineteenth century and was later sold by him to Joseph Cummins. At the time of Griffith's Valuation, this property was unoccupied but owned by several parties including Cummins as well as the Daunt and Puxley estates. It was then valued at £11. It is still extant and has sometimes operated as a bar and restaurant.	Kilmichael East	Templebreedy	Kinsale	Templebreedy 202	Kerrycurrihy	Cork	Lat/Lon: 51.77949 -8.29417 OSI Ref: W797586 Discovery map #87. OS Sheet #99.
Myrtleville House (H3164) Lewis refers to Myrtleville House as the seat of Dr. Shea. This was Dr William Augustine Shea or O'Shea, brother of Luke Shea of Gortigrenane. By 1850 it was being leased by James Fegan from the Puxley estate among others and was valued at £25. Ó Murchadha notes that it had earlier been owned by the Trant family and had a suceession of owners since including several periods of occupation by members of the Daunt family. It is still extant.	Myrtleville	Templebreedy	Kinsale	Templebreedy 202	Kerrycurrihy	Cork	Lat/Lon: 51.78306 -8.30434 OSI Ref: W790590 Discovery map #87. OS Sheet #99.
Lancet Lodge (H3746) The Puxley estate owned two houses in this townland at the time of Griffith's Valuation, in 1852. One, valued at £14 10s, was leased by John Greenway. It is labelled Dispensary on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey map and as Lancet Lodge on the 25-inch edition of the 1890s. The house is still extant and occupied. The second property, valued at £10, was leased by Phillip Armstrong. It is not labelled on the 1st Edition Ordnance Map. [Grid Reference approximate]	Derreenataggart Middle	Killaconenagh	Castletown	Killaconenagh 40	Bear	Cork	Lat/Lon: 51.64732 -9.91889 OSI Ref: V672456 Discovery map #84. OS Sheet #115.
Dunboy Castle (H3747) Noted by Lewis as the residence of J.L. Puxley in 1837 and held in fee by him in 1852, when the property was valued at £50. In 1894 Slater refers to it as the residence of R. O'Brien Studdert who had married, as his second wife, Maria Puxley. In 1906 the mansion was the property of Henry L. Puxley and valued at £85. The original house was built in several stages, the most recent in the 1860s, close to the ruins of the old O'Sullivan castle, the site of the siege of Dunboy in 1602. The Puxley mansion was burnt in June 1921 during the War of Independence and remained a ruin until the early years of this century. Restoration work has taken place with the intention of converting the house to a hotel but this has not yet reached completion.	Dunboy	Killaconenagh	Castletown	Killaconenagh 40	Bear	Cork	Lat/Lon: 51.63276 -9.92983 OSI Ref: V664440 Discovery map #84. OS Sheet #128.
Oak Lodge (Bear) (H3748) Leased by Robert Puxley from John L. Puxley at the time of Griffith's Valuation, when it was valued at £6. In 1906 it was the property of Henry L. Puxley and valued at almost £9. There is still an occupied house at the site.	Fanahy	Killaconenagh	Castletown	Killaconenagh 40	Bear	Cork	Lat/Lon: 51.72602 -9.94393 OSI Ref: V657544 Discovery map #84. OS Sheet #115.
Bayview House (Bere) (H3749) William Reid was leasing a property from the Puxley estate at the time of Griffith's Valuation, when it was valued at almost £10. This may be the house noted on the later edition Ordnance Survey Map as Bayview House. It is still extant and occupied.	Cahermeeleboe	Kilnamanagh	Castletown	Coulagh 41	Bear	Galway	Lat/Lon: 51.63091 -10.03954 OSI Ref: V588440 Discovery map #84. OS Sheet #127.

Archival sources

• Cork County Library: Irish Tourist Association Survey files, Parish of Castletownbere
• National Library of Ireland: Copy of grant of arms to John Lavallin Puxley and to his grandson, Henry Lavallin Puxley, eldest surviving son of John Lavallin Puxley, all of Dunboy Castle, Co. Cork, Feb. 16, 1869. Genealogical Office: Ms. 109, pp. 187-8
• University College Cork, Boole Library Archives: Bantry Estate Collection 1671-1980s, includes documents re the Puxley estate. IE BL/EP/B

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. : Kerrycurrihy Barony, 70 (Crosshaven), 73 (Kilmichael East), 75 (Myrtleville)
• GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Barony of Bear: 82 (Cametringane), 88 (Derreenataggart Middle), 95 (Dunboy), 96 (Fanahy), 126 (Cahermeeleboe)
• 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] : 377
• LEWIS, Samuel. A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837: Vol.II, 48, Killaconenagh Parish.
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. Return of Untenanted Lands in Rural Districts, Distinguishing Demesnes on Which There is a Mansion..., HC 1906, c, 177: 229
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. Return of owners of land of one acre and upwards, in the several counties .... in Ireland. HC 1876, LXXX: 132

Modern printed sources

• Jnl of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland: Featherstonhaugh, A.J. The true story of the two chiefs of Dunboy: an episode in Irish history, bearing, mainly on smuggling in the 18th. century. Ser. 5, Vol. IV, (1894) pp. 35-43, pp. 139-149,
• Jnl. of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society.: Lavallen-Puxley, H. (Rev). Lavallen-Puxley pedigree. Ser. 2, Vol. XXI,(1915) p. 163,
• Jnl. of the Irish Family History Society: Puxleys of Dunboy. V (1989), 7-16
• 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.
• DURELL, Penelope. Discover Dursey. Allihies: Ballinacarriga Books, 1996: 50-54
• MARSDEN, Simon & McLAREN, Duncan. . In ruins: the once great houses of Ireland. Boston: Little Brown & Co, 1997. : 38-41 (Dunboy)
• MULLIGAN, Kevin. Vain transitory splendours: the Irish country house and the art of John Nankivell. Dublin: Irish Georgian Society, 2018. : Dunboy Castle, pp.78-79.
• WILLIAMS, R.A. The Berehaven Copper Mines. Skipton: Northern Mine Research Society, 1991: All
• Ó MURCHADHA, Diarmuid. History of Crosshaven and the parish of Templebreedy. Cork: Cork Historical Guides Committee, 1967): 31-33