Estate: D'Arcy (Kiltullagh & Clifden Castle)

Associated Families

• Guinness
• D'Arcy (Kiltullagh & Clifden Castle)
• Eyre (Clifden)
• Lighton

Description

The D'Arcy family of Kiltullagh, parish and barony of Athenry, county Galway, was founded by Patrick D'Arcy, a younger son of James Riveagh D'Arcy in the early 17th century. The D'Arcy's Connemara estate was granted to them under the Acts of Settlement. It had been confiscated from the O'Flaherty clan and by the 19th century amounted to over 12,000 acres mainly in the parish of Omey, barony of Ballynahinch. The head of the family at the turn of the 19th century was John D'Arcy (1785-1839) who founded the town of Clifden. Shortly before his death he mortgaged his estates to 2 English brothers Thomas and Charles Eyre of Bath and London. Following the Famine his son Hyacinth D'Arcy was in severe financial difficulty and his estates were one of the first to be sold in the Encumbered Estates' Court. The sales included 697 acres at Kiltullagh and part of the D'Arcy of New Forest estate in the barony of Tiaquin, county Galway, the two D'Arcy families had intermarried. Much of Hyacinth D'Arcy's Connemara property was purchased by the Eyre brothers and Thomas Eyre subsequently bought out his brother's interest. A consortium, which included James Sadlier, appears to have bought the townland of Kylemore which they advertised for sale in the Landed Estates' Court in May 1859 and was purchased by Benjamin Lee Guinness. At the time of Griffith's Valuation Thomas Eyre was the occupier of the part of the New Forest estate that had belonged to the D'Arcys of Clifden.

Houses

House Name / Description	Townland	Civil Parish	PLU	DED	Barony	County	Map Ref
Clifden Castle (H563) Built circa 1818 by John D'Arcy and home to his family until 1850 when it was sold to Thomas Eyre. Left by him to his nephew John Joseph Eyre and sold by his representatives to a local butcher in 1917. It is now a ruin. A lithograph of the house is part of the sales rental 1850.	Clifden Demesne	Omey	Clifden	Clifden 22	Ballynahinch	Galway	Lat/Lon: 53.49039 -10.05686 OSI Ref: L635 509 Discovery map #37. OS Sheet #35.
Kiltullagh House (H1098) In 1786 Wilson mentions "Kiltolla" as the seat of Patrick D'Arcy. Lewis records Kiltullagh House as the seat of J. D'Arcy in 1837. At the time of Griffith's Valuation, Pierce Joyce held a herd's house here valued at almost £4. It is described as "in ruins" on the 25-inch Ordnance Survey map of the 1890s and these ruins are still extant.	Kiltullagh North	Kiltullagh	Loughrea	Kiltullagh	Athenry	Galway	Lat/Lon: 53.27719 -8.64618 OSI Ref: M569254 Discovery map #46. OS Sheet #97.

Archival sources

• Galway County Library: BURKE, D'Arcy. The genealogy of the Darcies in county Clare and Kiltolla, county Galway. Dublin: [s.i], 1796.
• Irish Architectural Archive: Clifden Castle, mounted photo. 022/031
• National Archives of Ireland: Encumbered Estates’ Court Rentals (O’Brien), D'Arcy, 20 Apr 1850, Vol 1, MRGS 39/001, (microfilm copy in NUIG)
• National Archives of Ireland: Encumbered Estates’ Court Rentals (O’Brien), D'Arcy, 2 Aug 1850, Vol 2, MRGS 39/001, (microfilm copy in NUIG)
• National Archives of Ireland: Encumbered Estates’ Court Rentals (O’Brien), D'Arcy, 13 July 1852, Vol 17, MRGS 39/008, (microfilm copy in NUIG)
• National Library of Ireland: Unsorted collection, late 16th - late 18th century [in bad condition]. PC 622
• National Library of Ireland: Pedigree of D'Arcy, including D'Arcy of Tuam and Killtolla, c 110-1810. GO MS 112: 247-269
• National Library of Ireland: Pedigree of D'Arcy of Co Meath and France, of Kiltolla, Co Galway and of Gorteen, Co Mayo, c1100-1810. GO MS 162: 66-69
• National Library of Ireland: Certificate of descent of D'Arcy of Galway, 1603-1800. GO MS 95: 27
• National Library of Ireland: Miscellaneous [Blake] deeds, including leases of Rosleague, Sheeans and other lands in barony of Ballynahinch, Co Galway, from the D'Arcys of Gorteen to various persons, 18th & 19th centuries. D 16,899-16,932
• National Library of Ireland: CONDORCET, Marie. Éloge de l'Comte d'Arcy and genealogy of D'Arcys of Kiltulla and Clifden Castle. Londres: [s.i], 1846.

Contemporary printed sources

• The Dublin Penny Journal: Anon. Clifden Castle, county Galway. IV, 194(1833), 297-301.
• DUTTON, Hely. Statistical and agricultural survey of the county of Galway. Dublin: Royal Dublin Society, 1824. : 413
• LEET, Ambrose. A directory to the market towns, villages, gentlemen's seats, and other noted places in Ireland. Dublin: Printed by B. Smith, 1814 : 108
• LEWIS, Samuel. A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837: Vol. I, 339 & Vol. II, 217.
• TAYLOR, George & SKINNER, Andrew. Maps of the Roads of Ireland, surveyed in 1777 and corrected down to 1783. Facsimile of 2nd edition. Shannon: Irish University Press, 1969: 76.
• WILSON, William. The Post-Chaise Companion or Travellers Directory Through Ireland. The author: Dublin, 1786 : 120 (Kiltolla)

Modern printed sources

• Jnl. of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society: REDINGTON, M. Count Patrick D’Arcy, an eminent Galwayman of the 18th century. With tabular pedigrees of the D’Arcy family by Martin J. Blake & with correction to D'Arcy of Clifden pedigree. X (1917-1918), 58-66 & 159
• BENCE-JONES, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses. Revised ed. London: Constable, 1988. : 84
• BURKE, Sir Bernard. A genealogical and heraldic history of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland. London: Harrison & Sons, 1886: I, 469
• GLIN, Knight of, GRIFFIN, D. J. & ROBINSON, N.K (eds). Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland. Dublin: Irish Architectural Archive/Irish Georgian Society, 1989. : 69, 72 & 74.
• HEANEY, Henry (ed). The Irish Journals of Robert Graham of Redgorton. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1999: 261
• LYONS, Mary C. Illustrated Incumbered Estates, Ireland, 1850-1905. Whitegate, county Clare: Ballinakella Press, 1993. : 1
• VILLIERS-TUTHILL, Kathleen. History of Clifden, 1810-1860. [Dublin]: the author, 1981: All

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