Estate: Roberts (Kilmoney)

Associated Families

• Roberts (Britfieldstown) (Baronet)
• Roberts (Kilmoney)
• Watkins

Description

This family are a junior branch of the Roberts family of Brightfieldstown, county Cork, baronets. In 1718 Hodder Roberts of Bridgetown, county Cork, married Jane Watkins, of Oldcourt, barony of Fermoy. From their sons Watkins and Michael descend the Roberts of Shanballymore and Kilmoney Abbey. Burke's "Landed Gentry of Ireland" (1904) states that Michael inherited part of the lands of Glanworth and other estates in county Cork from his uncle Michael. At the time of Griffith's Valuation his descendant Michael Roberts held extensive property in the parishes of Carrigaline and Glanworth while John Roberts held land in the parish of Templeroan. . Premises in Cork city and mills at Knockanemore, barony of East Muskerry and at Carrigaline, barony of Kerricurrihy and other lands were advertised for sale in October 1858, part of the estate of Michael Roberts. In June 1863 the estate of Michael Roberts and William Poulter Roberts in and near the city of Cork was advertised for sale. This sale included Mount Rivers. Many of the lots in this sale were purchased by Mr. Davis. In June 1867 the estate of John Roberts in the barony of Fermoy, amounting to over 1,100 acres was advertised for sale. Mr. Michael Maguire was the main purchaser. In the 1870s, various members of this family owned between 800 and 1000 acres in county Cork. Shanballymore Lower including the house and demesne, the estate of John Roberts was advertised for sale again in May 1884.

Houses

House Name / Description	Townland	Civil Parish	PLU	DED	Barony	County	Map Ref
Mount Rivers (Carrigaline) (H3106) Michael Roberts was leasing Mount Rivers from the representatives of Daniel Morrison at the time of Griffith's Valuation, when it was valued at £45+. The sale rental of 1863 records Michael Hodder and Joseph Roberts as the tenant of Mount Rivers. The house continues to be the home of the Roberts family.	Kilnaglery	Carrigaline	Cork	Carrigaline	Kerrycurrihy	Cork	Lat/Lon: 51.80977 -8.39007 OSI Ref: W731620 Discovery map #87. OS Sheet #87.
Ravenswood or Monroe House (H3107) Michael Roberts was leasing this property to Ralph Westropp at the time of Griffith's Valuation, when it was valued at £38. On the 1st edition Ordnance Survey map it is labelled Monroe House but later came to be known as Ravenswood House. Monroe House appears at a different location (W715627) on the 25-inch Ordnance Survey Map of the 1890s. Ravenswood was occupied by the Westropp family until the twentieth century.	Carrigaline West	Carrigaline	Cork	Carrigaline	Kerrycurrihy	Cork	Lat/Lon: 51.81867 -8.41625 OSI Ref: W713630 Discovery map #87. OS Sheet #86 + 87.
Beaver Lodge & Carrigaline Mill (H3108) Michael Roberts was leasing this property from Michael O'Brien at the time of Griffith's Valuation. It included a mill and was valued at £100. Buildings at this site appear to have been demolished in the first decade of this century.	Carrigaline West	Carrigaline	Cork	Carrigaline	Kerrycurrihy	Cork	Lat/Lon: 51.81425 -8.39446 OSI Ref: W728625 Discovery map #87. OS Sheet #86, 87.
Carrigaline West (H3109) At the time of Griffith's Valuation, Rev. Charles McCormack was leasing this property from Michael Roberts when it was valued at £10. This may be the property which afterwards became known as Monroe House. Later in the century, Carrigaline Rectory was located in the townland of Carrigaline Middle (W730630)	Carrigaline West	Carrigaline	Cork	Carrigaline	Kerrycurrihy	Cork	Lat/Lon: 51.81598 -8.41333 OSI Ref: W715627 Discovery map #87. OS Sheet #86.
Kilmoney Abbey (H3115) At the time of Griffith's Valuation, Michael Roberts was leasing this property from Thomas R. Sarsfield, when it was valued at £50. Lewis referred to it as the "handsome residence" of Michael Roberts in 1837. It is stil extant and well maintained. Thomas Sarsfield was leasing a smaller propertyin the same townland, valued at £9, to Eugene McCarthy. There are two properties shown on the 25-inch Ordnance Survey map of the 1890s, Kilmoney House and Kilmoney Cottage. Buildings are still extant at these sites though extensive urban development has occurred in the area.	Kilmoney	Kilmoney	Kinsale	Liscleary 201	Kerrycurrihy	Cork	Lat/Lon: 51.81150 -8.40894 OSI Ref: W718622 Discovery map #87. OS Sheet #86,87,98,99.
Ardmore House (H3125) Richard Roberts held this property in fee at the time of Griffith's Valuation, when it was valued at £55. Lewis refers to is as the seat of J. Roberts in 1837. In 1943 the Irish Tourist Association Survey mentions it as the birthplace of Lieutenant Richard Roberts, Master of the ship, Sirius, the first steamship to cross the Atlantic. Ardmore is still extant and occupied.	Ardmore	Marmullane	Cork	Monkstown 76	Kerrycurrihy	Cork	Lat/Lon: 51.87639 -8.35434 OSI Ref: W756694 Discovery map #87. OS Sheet #75, 87.
Sandville (H3266) This house valued at £13 was occupied by Mary Sullivan and held from - Roberts at the time of Griffith's Valuation. Hajba writes that it was occupied by Mrs Ellen Punch in 1910. It was bought by the racing trio of Sangster, Pigott and O'Brien in the late 1960s. The house was demolished and the property became a stud farm.	Sandville	Glanworth	Fermoy	Glanworth West 144	Fermoy	Cork	Lat/Lon: 52.18549 -8.38458 OSI Ref: R737 038 Discovery map #73. OS Sheet #27.
Renny (H3272) This house, overlooking the River Blackwater, may have been part of the Widenham estate which passed to the Smyths. The site had earlier associations with the poet Edmund Spenser. Wilson, writing in 1786, refers to "Rinny, the seat of Mr. Nagle, which was formerly part of the estate of the immortal Spenser". In 1814 the Reverend C.P. Wallis was the occupant. At the time of Griffith's Valuation the house was occupied by Henry Smith who held the property in fee, the buildings were valued at £23. Henry Smyth advertised the house and 541 acres for sale in May 1851, all it required at that time was a "small outlay in paint and paper to make it at once fit for occupation". In 1885 Walford noted Renny as the seat of John Blackburne. Hajba writes that the last occupant was Captain [Pepper] Roberts. The Earl of Listowel demolished the house following the Captain's death in 1900 though many of the buildings shown on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey map had already disappeared by then.	Renny Lower	Kilcummer	Fermoy	Kilcummer 131	Fermoy	Cork	Lat/Lon: 52.14667 -8.43392 OSI Ref: W703 995 Discovery map #80. OS Sheet #34.
Shanballymore (H3316) The seat of a branch of the Roberts family, Hodder Roberts was resident in 1814 and Watkins Roberts in 1837. The residence of John Roberts in the early 1850s, held from William W.M. Hodder and valued at £23. The property remained in Roberts possession until 1884 when it was sold to the O'Keeffe family who still reside there.	Shanballymore Lower	Templeroan	Mallow	Shanballymore 243	Fermoy	Cork	Lat/Lon: 52.21212 -8.47552 OSI Ref: R675 068 Discovery map #73. OS Sheet #26.
Mota (H4476) This house dates from about 1800. Edward Cambie was resident at Mota in 1814 and T. Pepper Roberts in 1837 and afterwards. The Ornance Survvey Name Books mention that it was his residence in 1840 and that Thomas Sadlier was the proprietor. Mota and 478 acres, the estate of Theobald Pepper Roberts, was advertised for sale in May 1850. George Taylor occupied the house valued at £15.10 shillings in the mid 19th century. He held it from Peter Byrne. Marcus Tuthill lived here later. This house is still occupied.	Mota	Kilbarron	Borrisokane	Kilbarron 10	Lower Ormond	Tipperary	Lat/Lon: 53.00815 -8.26669 OSI Ref: R821 953 Discovery map #53. OS Sheet #6.

Archival sources

• Cork County Library: Irish Tourist Association Survey files, Parish of Passage West
• National Archives of Ireland: W.B. Scott, solicitor's collection, contains many records re land transactions in Cos Clare, Limerick & Cork, 18th-19th centuries, including marriage settlement of George F. Hodder & Elizabeth Townsend Roberts of Kilmoney Abbey, 1843. Small Accs Index 76, D.10,902
• National Archives of Ireland: Land Judges’ Estates’ Court Rentals (O’Brien), Roberts (Shanballymore), 2 May 1884, Vol 146 (50), MRGS 39/064, (microfilm copy in NUIG)
• National Archives of Ireland: Encumbered Estates’ Court Rentals (O’Brien), Roberts, (Bridgetown), 21 Aug 1851, Vol 10 (48), MRGS 39/004, (microfilm copy in NUIG)
• National Archives of Ireland: Landed Estates’ Court Rentals (O’Brien), Roberts, 2 June 1863, Vol 68 (29), MRGS 39/034, (microfilm copy in NUIG)
• National Archives of Ireland: Landed Estates’ Court Rentals (O’Brien), Roberts, 7 June 1867, Vol 85 (63), MRGS 39/041, (microfilm copy in NUIG)
• National Archives of Ireland: Encumbered Estates’ Court Rentals (O’Brien), Roberts, 12 Oct 1858, Vol 53 (25), MRGS 39/027, (microfilm copy in NUIG)
• National Archives of Ireland: Encumbered Estates’ Court Rentals (O’Brien), Roberts, (Mota), 28 May 1850, Vol 1 (36) & 15 Apr 1851, Vol 6 (33), MRGS 39/001 & 39/002, (microfilm copy in NUIG)

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, 18 (Carrigaline Middle), 19 (Carrigaline West), 35 (Kilmoney), 47 (Ardmore)
• GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Fermoy Barony, 92 (Sandville), 182 (Shanballymore)
• 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] : 339
• LEET, Ambrose. A directory to the market towns, villages, gentlemen's seats, and other noted places in Ireland. Dublin: Printed by B. Smith, 1814 : 351 (Shanbally-more)
• LEWIS, Samuel. A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837: Vol.II, 182, Parish of Carrigaline, Vol.II, 182, Kilmoney Parish , II, 614 (Shanbally), II, 49 (Mota)
• ORDNANCE SURVEY NAME BOOKS, County Tipperary: Vol.IV, parish of Kilbarron, p.190
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. Return of owners of land of one acre and upwards, in the several counties .... in Ireland. HC 1876, LXXX: 133

Modern printed sources

• Irish Times: Landed Estates Court Sale, 3 June 1863
• Irish Times: Landed Estates Court Sales reports, 8 June 1867, p.4
• 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). XXV, 2nd Series (1919), 199-201 (Shanballymore)
• Jnl. of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society.: Some Account of the Roberts Family of Kilmoney. XXXIV, 2nd Series (1929), p.107-110.
• BENCE-JONES, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses. Revised ed. London: Constable, 1988. : 10 (Ardmore)
• BROWNE, McGOUGH & ROBERTS (eds). Tracton: where the abbey lies low. ( Tracton, county Cork, 2007): All
• BURKE, Sir Bernard. A genealogical and heraldic history of the Landed Gentry of Ireland. London: Harrison & Sons, 1904: 514-515
• HAJBA, Anna-Maria. Historical Genealogical Architectural notes on some Houses of Cork. Volume I: North Cork. Whitegate: Ballinakella Press, 2002: 313 (Renny), 330 (Shanballymore)