Estate: Cooper (Markree)

Associated Families

• Cooper (Markree)

Description

Edward Cooper was a soldier in Richard Coote [Lord Collooney]'s, regiment of horse. He is known in the family history as "The Cornet". After the Cromwellian settlement he was granted land in the Collooney area of county Sligo and in counties Limerick and Kerry. The family were already settled at Markree as is evident from the Hearth Money Rolls of 1665. They continued to be a major social and political power in the county for the next two centuries. An interesting feature of the heritage of Markree is its association with astronomy and meteorology. Weather observations have been taken there since 1828. Markree Castle is now a hotel. see http://www.markreecastle.ie/home.htm for more details. The Coopers also held some land in the parishes of Ballinchalla and Kilmainebeg, barony of Kilmaine, county Mayo. In 1867 oyster beds and houses in the city of Dublin, associated with the estate of Edward Joshua Cooper, were offered for sale in the Landed Estates Court. In November of that year the Irish Times reported on the sale of Cooper property in the barony of Carbury, county Sigo, to William Middleton. In 1906 Col. Cooper's estate included almost 2000 acres of untenanted land in the barony of Tirerrill. By March 1916 Richard E.S. Cooper had accepted an offer of £11,000 from the Congested Districts' Board for his 1,639 acres in county Mayo. The Board also acquired over 500 acres of the Sligo estate. The Coopers retained at least part of their Munster estate from the 17th to the 19th century as Edward J. Cooper held land in the parishes of Knocklong, barony of Coshlea and Kilfrush, barony of Smallcounty in the early 1850s and in the 1870s is recorded as owning 1,118 acres in county Limerick.

Houses

House Name / Description	Townland	Civil Parish	PLU	DED	Barony	County	Map Ref
Markree Castle (H141) Markree Castle was built in the early nineteenth century replacing an earlier property, which McParlan indicates was known as Mercury. McTernan notes that it is the oldest residential site in the county, having been founded by Cornet Cooper in the seventeenth century. At the time of Griffith's Valuation it was owned by Edward J. Cooper and was valued at £90. By the mid twentieth century it had fallen into disrepair but was later acquired by another member of the Cooper family. It now operates as a hotel. See http://www.markreecastle.ie/history.htm for more information. In 2014 it was offered for sale.	Markree Demesne	Ballysadare	Sligo	Collooney 48	Tirerrill	Sligo	Lat/Lon: 54.17483 -8.45793 OSI Ref: G701252 Discovery map #25. OS Sheet #26.
Elsinore (H1452) At the time of Griffith's Valuation, Edward Cooper owned a property at Rosses Upper, barony of Carbury, valued at £16. In 1906 the representatives of William Middleton held a property here valued at £18 as well as over 350 acres of untenanted land. The property also has associations with W.B. Yeats who used to spend holidays here with the Middleton family. The house is now a ruin.	Rosses Upper	Drumcliff	Sligo	Drumcliff East	Carbury	Sligo	Lat/Lon: 54.30554 -8.56846 OSI Ref: G630398 Discovery map #16. OS Sheet #8.
Union (H1461) In 1906 Col. E.H Cooper's estate owned a property at Union, barony of Tirerrill, valued at £7. This may the gamekeeper's cottage which is still extant at this location.	Union	Ballysadare	Sligo	Collooney 48	Tirerrill	Galway	Lat/Lon: 54.19001 -8.48261 OSI Ref: G685269 Discovery map #25. OS Sheet #20.
Markree Observatory (H1523) E.J. Cooper was a well-known astronomer and observer of weather patterns. He had this observatory built at Markree c. 1850. It was valued at £40 at the time of Griffith's Valuation. Though now derelict it contains some original features. The archival collection of weather observations taken at Markree is now held by the library of Met Eireann, the Irish meteorological service.	Clooneenroe	Kilross	Sligo	Collooney 48	Tirerrill	Sligo	Lat/Lon: 54.17483 -8.45793 OSI Ref: G701252 Discovery map #25. OS Sheet #26.
Tully More House (H1577) Edward Perry was leasing a house valued at £5 as well as over 100 acres at Tully More, barony of Tirerrill, from the Cooper estate at the time of Griffith's Valuation. Tullymore House is still extant but unoccupied	Tully More	Kilross	Sligo	Collooney 48	Tirerrill	Sligo	Lat/Lon: 54.18026 -8.44727 OSI Ref: G708258 Discovery map #25. OS Sheet #26.
Castletown (Ballysadare) (H1589) A house named Castletown appears on the 1st ed. OS Map in the townland of Cloonmacduff. At the time of Griffith's Valuation, Edward J. Cooper owned a gardener's house here valued at £1. The property is now almost completely overgrown. Historians have speculated that this may also be the location of the original seat of Lord Collooney, later acquired by the Coopers.	Cloonmacduff	Ballysadare	Sligo	Collooney	Tirerrill	Sligo	Lat/Lon: 54.18913 -8.47800 OSI Ref: G688268 Discovery map #25. OS Sheet #20.
Quarryfield (H3683) McTernan notes that Robert Howes of Bunninadden and Quarryfield married Jane Irwin of Mount Irwin in 1754. Subsequently the then house at Quarryfield alternated between Howes and Irwins. In the 1840s the property was purchased by Col.Perceval of Templehouse and later in the nineteenth century by the Coopers of Markree, by whom the present house was built in 1887. The house had a number of owners since and is still extant and occupied.	Quarryfield	Clonoghil	Tobercurry	Kilturra 81	Corran	Sligo	Lat/Lon: 54.03756 -8.61365 OSI Ref: G598100 Discovery map #25. OS Sheet #38.

Archival sources

• Irish Architectural Archive: Markree photographs & press cuttings. 016/015.
• National Archives of Ireland: Landed Estates' Court Rentals (O'Brien), Phibbs, Cooper & Lindesay,11 January 1867, Vol 84, MRGS 39/041, (microfilm copy in NUIG)
• National Library of Ireland: Photstat copy of map of demsene of Mercury. 1704. 16 I 16.
• National Library of Ireland: MSS maps of Joshua Cooper's estate, 1752-1849. 21 F 2.
• National Library of Ireland: Rent ledgers from Cooper estate, 1775-1872. MSS 3050-60.
• National Library of Ireland: Accounts relating to Markree estate, 1700-1800. MS 2172.
• National Library of Ireland: Rental of Joshua Cooper's estate, 1809-10. MSS 3076.
• National Library of Ireland: Rentals of Cooper estate, covering dates between 1813-1827. MSs 9753-9757.
• National Library of Ireland: Deeds relating to Markree estate, 1835-69. D.10,120-125.
• National Library of Ireland: Two cash books, Cooper estate, 1784-1812. MSS 3048-49.
• Sligo County Library: Rentals 1893-1932, Catalogue of Auction Sale Feb. 1954
• Sligo County Library: Estate Maps, 1704-1900.
• Sligo County Library: Accounts & rent books, Cooper estate, 1924-42. S.R.
• Sligo County Library: Rentals of Bryan Ricco Cooper/Lt. E.F. Cooper, 1901-1943. S.R.
• Sligo County Library: Valuation of Col. E.H. Cooper's estate, 1893. S.R.
• Sligo County Library: Schedule of tenanted holdings under Land Purchase Act, 1923-31, Bryan Cooper estate. S.R.
• Sligo County Library: Tracings of St. Paul's church & Sunday School premises, Collooney, 1929. S.R.

Contemporary printed sources

Many of these resources are now available online. For a list with Web links please see the Online Printed Sources Links

• BATEMAN, John. The great landowners of Great Britain and Ireland. London: Harrison, 1883. : p.104
• 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] : 97
• LEET, Ambrose. A directory to the market towns, villages, gentlemen's seats, and other noted places in Ireland. Dublin: Printed by B. Smith, 1814 : 282
• LEWIS, Samuel. A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837: Vol I 163
• McPARLAN, James. Statistical Survey of the county of Sligo (Dublin: Royal Dublin Society, 1802). : 7.
• O'RORKE, T. History of the parishes of Ballysadare and Kilvarnet. Dublin: James Duffy and sons, n.d.: 148-195.
• ORDNANCE SURVEY NAME BOOKS, County Sligo: Vol I 134
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. Return of Untenanted Lands in Rural Districts, Distinguishing Demesnes on Which There is a Mansion..., HC 1906, c, 177: 393 (Markree & Union).
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. 15th Annual Report of the Commissioners of Public Records Ireland, 1825. Vol XVI, Appendix I, Grants under Acts of Settlement: 58
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. 24th Annual Report of the Congested Districts' Board for Ireland, [Cd 8356], HC 1916, vi, 564-586. Appendix VIII: 55
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. Return of owners of land of one acre and upwards, in the several counties .... in Ireland. HC 1876, LXXX: 147, 320
• SLATER, Isaac. Royal National Directory of Ireland: List of the principal seats. (Manchester: 1894) : xxx, 26 (Markree Castle)
• WILSON, William. The Post-Chaise Companion or Travellers Directory Through Ireland. The author: Dublin, 1786 : 105 (Mercrea[Markree])

Modern printed sources

• Corran Herald: KEANE, Tom. Weather and star gazing at Markree Castle. XXXII (1999-2000), 11-12.
• Corran Herald: DUFFY, P.J. The Congested Districts Board (including list of lands acquired in county Sligo under the Wyndham Act). XXXIV (2001-2002), 6-7.
• Corran Herald: O'BRIEN, Pat. The townland called Union. XL (2007-2008), 49-54.
• Irish Times: Landed Estates Court Sales reports, 23 & 25 November 1867, p.4
• Jnl. of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society: Nĺ CHINNÉIDE, Síle. A Frenchman’s Tour of Connacht in 1791. XXXV (1976), 52-66
• Weekly Irish Times: 21 Aug 1937 Markree Castle
• BENCE-JONES, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses. Revised ed. London: Constable, 1988. : 201
• BLAKE, Tarquin. Abandoned mansions of Ireland II: more portraits of forgotten stately homes Cork: Collins Press, 2012. : 240-247 (Elsinore)
• BURKE, Sir Bernard. A genealogical and heraldic history of the Landed Gentry of Ireland. London: Harrison & Sons, 1912: 131
• FITZSIMONS, J.F.Notes on the history of Markree and its observatory. Sligo: [the author], 1982. : All.
• GLIN, Knight of, GRIFFIN, D. J. & ROBINSON, N.K (eds). Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland. Dublin: Irish Architectural Archive/Irish Georgian Society, 1989. : 131.
• MONTGOMERY-MASSINGBERD, Hugh (ed). Burke's Irish Family Records. London: Burke's Peerage, 1976: 273.
• McTERNAN, John C. Sligo: the light of bygone days, Vol.I Houses of Sligo and associated families. Sligo: Avena Publications, 2009. : 78-79 (Elsinore), 392-395 (Markree), 414-415 (Quarryfield
• McTERNAN, John C. The light of bygone days, Volume II: Sligo families. Sligo: Avena Publications, 2009. : 46-53
• McTERNAN, John. A Sligo miscellany: a chronicle of people, places and events of other days. Sligo: Avena publications, 2000. : 122-124, 164.
• NATIONAL INVENTORY OF ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE. An introduction to the architectural heritage of county Sligo. Dublin: Stationery Office, 2007. : 82-88.
• PINE, L.G. (ed). Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Ireland. 4th ed. London: Burke's Peerage, 1958.: 178-179.
• TIMONEY, Martin A (ed). Dedicated to Sligo: thirty-four essays on Sligo's past. Sligo: Publishing Sligo's past, 2013. : Timoney, Martin A. "Hints towards a natural and topographical history of the county of Sligoe" by the Rev. William Henry, 1739", p.151.[Mercury]

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