Estate: Davis (Dromdihy)

Associated Families

• Butler (Waterville)
• Brooke (Aghadoe) (Baronet)
• Davis (Dromdihy)
• Green (Youghal)

Description

William Davis was agent to the Brooke estate in county Cork in the early 19th century. His son, Roger Green Davis, succeeded his father in this role. In the mid 19th century Roger Green Davis held an estate in the parishes of Ardagh, Clonpriest, Ightermurragh, Killeagh, Kilmacdonogh and Youghal, barony of Imokilly, county Cork, much of it was leased from the Brooke estate. Roger G. Davis was the petitioner for the sale of the estate of John Kidney, a minor, at Pike Park, Youghal, in September 1860 and he was the petitioner for the sale of John Joyce's estate at Ballinlough/Ballynalahagh, barony of Imokilly in 1864. The 493 acre estate of Roger Green Davis at Drumdiah, barony of Imokilly, county Cork and Railstown, barony of Middlethird, county Tipperary, was advertised for sale in July 1863. Railstown and over 1,400 acres in the baronies of Imokilly and Fermoy were advertised for sale in November 1872 by the trustees and executors of Roger Green Davis, deceased. Roger Green Davis had a son, John, a barrister, and a daughter, Anne Margaret, who, in 1847, married James Butler of Waterville, county Kerry. The Butler genealogy in Burkes (1904) states that Roger Green Davis was a son of William Davis and his wife Margaret, daughter of Roger Green of Youghal. Margaret Butler of Dublin owned 527 acres in county Cork in the 1870s. At the same time the representatives of Roger Greene Davis owned 2,253 acres in county Cork. In the mid 19th century Roger G. Davis' son, John G. Davis, held five townlands in the parish of Rahan, barony of Fermoy, county Cork. [In the 1870s John Davis of Rathpeacon, Cork, owned 3,167 acres in county Cork. ]

Houses

House Name / Description	Townland	Civil Parish	PLU	DED	Barony	County	Map Ref
Breeda House (H3525) Roger G. Davis held a house in fee, valued at £17, in this townland at the time of Griffith's Valuation. Breeda House is labelled on the 25-inch Ordnance Survey map of the 1890s. A house is still extant at the site.	Breeda	Ardagh	Youghal	Ardagh 334	Imokilly	Cork	Lat/Lon: 52.01804 -7.98106 OSI Ref: X013851 Discovery map #81. OS Sheet #55.
Ballyglassin House (H3526) James Butler held this house valued at £17 from his father-in-law, Roger Green Davis, at the time of Griffith's Valuation. There is still an extant house at the site.	Ballyglassin	Killeagh	Youghal	Killeagh 337	Imokilly	Cork	Lat/Lon: 51.94613 -7.95637 OSI Ref: X030 771 Discovery map #81. OS Sheet #67.
Dromdihy (H3527) The building of this house was completed in 1833 for Roger Green Davis. He is recorded as the occupier in the early 1850s holding the house valued at £45 from Sir Arthur De Capell Brooke. The sale rental of 1863 gives a detailed description of this house - "Drumdiah House consists of a centre and two wings, ornamented with Doric columns and with a portico at the eastern end, by the hall is entered, and off which are hot, cold, vapour and shower baths. The first floor comprises five sitting-rooms; on the second floor are four best bedrooms, with dressing-rooms and water-closet......". In the 1940s the Irish Tourist Association Survey reported that the house had been "destroyed in the Troubles". It is now a ruin.	Dromdihy	Killeagh	Youghal	Killeagh 337	Imokilly	Cork	Lat/Lon: 51.94794 -7.98982 OSI Ref: X007 773 Discovery map #81. OS Sheet #66.
Gortnagappul (H3528) This area is marked as the farmyard of Aghadoe House on the first Ordnance Survey map. At the time of Griffith's Valuation a house and offices valued at £28 were held by Roger G. Davis from Richard Uniacke Bailey. A large farm complex exists at the site now.	Gortnagappul	Killeagh	Youghal	Killeagh 337	Imokilly	Cork	Lat/Lon: 51.95513 -7.99127 OSI Ref: X006 781 Discovery map #81. OS Sheet #66.

Archival sources

• Cork County Library: Irish Tourist Association survey files, Parish of Killeagh
• National Archives of Ireland: Pedigree of the Davies family of Co Cork, 20th century. M. 6045
• National Archives of Ireland: Landed Estates’ Court Rentals (O’Brien), Davis, 7 July 1863, Vol 69 (31a), MRGS 39/034, (microfilm copy in NUIG)
• National Archives of Ireland: Landed Estates’ Court Rentals (O’Brien), Butler, Kift, Green, 5 Nov 1872, Vol 108 (5), MRGS 39/050, (microfilm copy in NUIG)
• National Archives of Ireland: Landed Estates’ Court Rentals (O’Brien), Kidney, (Pike Park, Youghal), 20 Sept 1860, Vol 60 (5), MRGS 39/030, (microfilm copy in NUIG)
• National Archives of Ireland: Landed Estates’ Court Rentals (O’Brien), Joyce, (Ballinlough), 17 May 1867, Vol 85 (41), MRGS 39/041, (microfilm copy in NUIG)
• National Archives of Ireland: Pedigree of the Davies family of Co. Cork, 20th c. M.6045
• National Archives of Ireland: Landed Estates’ Court Rentals (O’Brien), John, Bowles, Hopkins, Davis (Youghal premises), 8 Jan 1859, Vol 55 (1), MRGS 39/028, (microfilm copy in NUIG)
• National Library of Ireland: Lismore Castle Papers, Collection List 129
• Public Record Office, Northern Ireland: Brooke of Killeagh Papers, comprising letters, correspondence, tenants memorials, rentals & valuations re successive generations of the Supple/Brooke family including Richard Supple; Sir Richard Brooke, 1st Bt; Sir Arthur Brooke, 2nd Bt; Sir William Brooke, 3rd Bt; & Sir Richard Brooke, 4th Bt; & the administration of their estate in Co. Cork centred around the small town of Killeagh, between Castlemartyr and Youghal. Also includes material relating to the Hull family, previous owners of the Killeagh estate, 1700-1854. T2975

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. : Imokilly Barony, 5 (Breeda), 21 (Ballyglassin), 24 (Dromdihy), 25 (Gortnagappul)
• 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] : 65 (Butler), 118 (Davis)
• LEWIS, Samuel. A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837: II, 134, (Drumdihey House)
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. Return of owners of land of one acre and upwards, in the several counties .... in Ireland. HC 1876, LXXX: 119 (Butler), 121 (Davis)

Modern printed sources

• BURKE, Sir Bernard. A genealogical and heraldic history of the Landed Gentry of Ireland. London: Harrison & Sons, 1904: 80 (Butler)
• KEANE, Edward, PHAIR, P. Beryl & SADLIER, Thomas U. (eds). King's Inns Admission Papers, 1607-1867. Dublin: Irish Manuscripts Commission, 1982: 124
• O'BYRNE, ROBERT. The Irish aesthete: ruins of Ireland. London: Cico Books, 2019. : pp.70-73. (Dromdiah)