Estate: Shawe-Taylor

Associated Families

• Shawe-Taylor
• Morgan (Monksfield)
• Lambert (Castle Lambert)

Description

Walter Taylor was granted almost a thousand acres in the barony of Kiltartan, county Galway in February 1667. Following a marriage in 1825 it became the Shawe-Taylor estate and included lands in the parish of Kilmacduagh, barony of Kiltartan, county Galway in 1855. The Shawe-Taylors also held extensive property in the barony of Dunkellin. Sir John Taylor, of Castle Taylor, is recorded as the proprietor of lands in the parish of Beagh, barony of Kiltartan, and the parish of Kilcolgan in the 1830s. The Ordnance Survey Name Books record their agent as George Cuppage of Galway. The main house on the estate was at Castle Taylor, formerly Ballymagrath, close to the village of Ardrahan but they also held another house in the townland of Monksfield, between Ardrahan and Craughwell. This had been acquired from the Morgan family. In 1778 the Taylors also had a property at Raheen, closer to Gort. In 1906 Walter Shawe Taylor held over 400 acres of untenanted demesne land at Castletaylor South as well as a further 1100 acres of untenanted land in the parishes of Killinny and Kilmacduagh. The Shawe-Taylor estate was sold to the Land Commission in the 1930s by Michael Shawe-Taylor who was the last of the family to live there.

Houses

House Name / Description	Townland	Civil Parish	PLU	DED	Barony	County	Map Ref
Raheen (H552) Raheen is associated with both the Kilkelly and O'Hara families. In the 1770s it seems to have been a residence of the Taylor family, with whom the O'Haras intermarried. In the 1830s the OS Name Books record it as "a neat house, in form like a cottage two stories high." Raheen House was badly damaged by fire in the latter part of the twentieth century. The entrance gateway is still extant.	Raheen Demesne	Ardrahan	Gort	Cahermore 102	Kiltartan	Galway	Lat/Lon: 53.10529 -8.83325 OSI Ref: M442064 Discovery map #52. OS Sheet #122.
Castle Taylor/Ballymagrath (H599) The house at Castle Taylor, originally known as Ballymacrath, was built adjacent to a tower house. The Taylor family had been settled there since the 17th century. In 1837 Lewis recorded it as the seat of Gen. Sir. J. Taylor. In 1894 and 1906 it was the residence of Walter Shawe Taylor and was valued at £50. It is now in ruins.	Castletaylor South	Ardrahan	Gort	Castle Taylor 92	Dunkellin	Galway	Lat/Lon: 53.17562 -8.79872 OSI Ref: M466142 Discovery map #52. OS Sheet #104.
Monksfield (H655) The house at Monksfield had originally belonged to the Morgan family who were of Welsh origin. Evidence from the 17th century records shows that they acquired land in this area in the later 17th century. In 1837 Lewis recorded Monksfield as the seat of Capt. Morgan. It had to be sold in the mid-19th century due to debts. By the 1850s it was the residence of Thomas Shawe-Taylor.In 1906 it was owned by Walter Shawe Taylor and was valued at £14. Kelly, writing in 1976, indicated that the estate was sold to the tenants around 1908. After the estate was divided, the house continued to be occupied well into the twentieth century but is now a ruin surrounded by farmland.	Monksfield	Killogilleen	Loughrea	Killogilleen 132	Dunkellin	Galway	Lat/Lon: 53.18318 -8.74051 OSI Ref: M505150 Discovery map #52. OS Sheet #104.
Garryland (H1552) Garryland was an extensive wooded area, part of the Shawe-Taylor estate in the parish of Kilmacduagh, barony of Kiltartan. At the time of Griffith's Valuation and also in 1906 buildings to the value of £10, including a wood-ranger's house, were located here. These buildings are now in ruins but substantial areas of woodland remain and are now maintained by the Forestry and Wildlife Service.	Garryland	Kilmacduagh	Gort	Killinny	Kiltartan	Galway	Lat/Lon: 53.07803 -8.87451 OSI Ref: M414034 Discovery map #52. OS Sheet #122.

Archival sources

• Irish Architectural Archive: Castle Taylor. Photographs. 054/009.
• Irish Architectural Archive: Monksfield. Photograph. 096/019.
• James Hardiman Library, National University of Ireland, Galway: Shawe-Taylor Letters.

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. : Gort Union, 94. (Castle Taylor)
• GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Loughrea Union, 45. (Monksfield)
• 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] : 440.
• LEWIS, Samuel. A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837: Vol I, 56.
• ORDNANCE SURVEY NAME BOOKS, County Galway, http://places.galwaylibrary.ie/default.html: Ardrahan Parish
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. Return of Untenanted Lands in Rural Districts, Distinguishing Demesnes on Which There is a Mansion..., HC 1906, c, 177: 319, 321 & 325.
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. 15th Annual Report of the Commissioners of Public Records Ireland, 1825. Vol XVI, Appendix I, Grants under Acts of Settlement: 163
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. 15th Annual Report of the Commissioners of Public Records Ireland, 1825. Vol XVI, Appendix III. Abstracts of the conveyances from the trustees of the Forfeited Estates and Interests in Ireland in 1688'.: 352
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. Return of names of proprietors and area and valuation of properties in counties in Ireland, held in fee or perpetuity or long leases at chief rents, 1876. (412) LXXX. 395: 148.
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. Return of owners of land of one acre and upwards, in the several counties .... in Ireland. HC 1876, LXXX: 299
• SLATER, Isaac. Royal National Directory of Ireland: List of the principal seats. (Manchester: 1894) : xxiv, 14 (CastleTaylor)
• 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: 201

Modern printed sources

• The Blazer: Kelly, Sean. Topography of Craughwell. No.4 Summer 1976
• BENCE-JONES, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses. Revised ed. London: Constable, 1988. : 75
• BLAKE, Tarquin. Abandoned mansions of Ireland. Cork: Collins Press, 2010.: 124-129 (Monksfield)
• BURKE, Sir Bernard. A genealogical and heraldic history of the Landed Gentry of Ireland. London: Harrison & Sons, 1912: 685.
• FORDE, J., CASSIDY, C., MANZOR,. P & RYAN, D (eds). The district of Loughrea, Vol.I: Local history, 1791-1918. Loughrea: Loughrea History Project, 2003. : MELVIN, P. Estates and gentry around Loughrea, 52-53.
• GLIN, Knight of, GRIFFIN, D. J. & ROBINSON, N.K (eds). Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland. Dublin: Irish Architectural Archive/Irish Georgian Society, 1989. : 69.
• HICKS, David. Irish country houses: portraits & painters. Cork: The Collins Press, 2014. : pp.134-147
• HOWARD, Joseph Jackson and CRISP, Frederick Arthur (eds). Visitation of Ireland. Baltimore: reprint by Genealogical Publishing Co. Inc., 1973: Vol VI, 138-139
• MELVIN, Patrick. Estates and landed society in Galway. (Dublin: Éamonn de Búrca, 2012). : 42-43
• MULLIGAN, Kevin. Vain transitory splendours: the Irish country house and the art of John Nankivell. Dublin: Irish Georgian Society, 2018. : Castle Taylor, pp.42-43.
• SPELLISSY, Séan. The History of Galway. Limerick: Celtic Bookshop, 1999. : 283.