A History of Castlegarde – Part 6
The Mystery of Castlegarde Ownership A.D. 1764 to A.D. 1820
by David Thompson & Daniel Grace
Another year of research has taken place, and while in that time we have found some pertinent
information, we have not been able to solve the ownership question of Castlegarde from A.D. 1764
to A.D. 1820.
We finished Article 5 by describing how in A.D. 1764 Castlegarde was owned by the Baron of Offaly
(later 1 st and last Earl of Charleville in the first creation) Charles Moore following his marriage to
Hester Coghill. Lord Charleville died in A.D. 1764 without issue, and leaving us the present day
mystery of who inherited Castlegarde upon his demise.
During this period Castlegarde, sitting atop its three hundred and fifty million year old crinoidal
limestone foundation (created from coral when Ireland was sub-tropical!) changed hands in a rather
uncertain fashion.
Charles Moore bequeathed his estates to his nephew John Bury of Shannon Grove in County
Limerick. John Bury died suddenly in a swimming accident in May 1764 a few months after inheriting
the Earl of Charleville’s estates. His son, named Charles William Bury (later 1 st Earl of Charleville in
the second creation) was born posthumously on the 30 th of June 1764.
It is from this point between 1764 and the sale of the Castlegarde estate by the exchequer to Waller
O’Grady following an 1820-1823 court case that there is uncertainty as to who was the owner of
Castlegarde. We are going to examine this over the rest of the article in three strands 1) Hester
Coghill’s (Lady Charleville) second marriage, 2) the inheritance of John Bury, and 3) what we can
ascertain from the documents of the exchequers court case in 1820. Here we can only present the
facts as we find them to date (we are still researching), no conclusion will be drawn with certainty as
to ownership during this period.
1) Lady Charleville’s 2nd Marriage.
Lady Charleville, Hester Moore (nee Coghill) married again following the death of her first husband
in 1764. She married her second spouse Major John Mayne in 1767, who changed his surname to
Coghill. We know that Mayne received a large fortune that Hester brought to the marriage and he
lived extravagantly, and we know that Hester inherited the Coghill estates of her father James
Coghill. Hester outlived her second husband who died in 1785 with no issue from this marriage.
What we don’t know is whether or not Castlegarde remained in the estates of the Earl of Charleville
where it had been given by way of marriage settlement upon Hester’s marriage to Charles Moore, or
did Hester take it with her upon the death of her first husband. If she did it most likely would have
been inherited by John Cramer on her death in 1789, whereupon Cramer changed his surname to
Coghill and is the ancestor of the later Coghill baronet’s. Cramer was either a third cousin or a
second cousin once removed of Hesters on her grandmothers side.
It is doubtful that Hester retained ownership of Castlegarde the reason being that at the time of the
1820 to 1823 court case there is no mention of the Cramer-Coghill baronets who were extant at this
time and still are today; Vice Admiral Sir Josiah Coghill being the 3rd Baronet at this point (A.D.
1823). The only possibility of Castlegarde being in their ownership at this time would be if it had
been given to revenue as an inheritance payment, as Sir Josiah only inherited in 1817, however we
would still have expected some mention of his name in connection with the estate during the court
case. We are still researching the Coghills and further information might yet turn up.
2) John Bury’s inheritance.
Charles Moore’s sister, Jane, married William Bury of Shannon Grove, Co. Limerick. Their eldest son
John Bury was born in 1725 and married Catherine Dunally in 1761. John succeeded to the
Charleville estates in 1764.
As already stated John Bury died in a tragic drowning accident shortly after inheriting the Earl of
Charleville’s estates in May 1764, his son Charles William was born posthumously on the 30 th of June
1764. Charles William then being a minor was unable to succeed in his tenure until he was 21.
Thomas Johnston would appear to have managed the estates totally 23,000 acres on his behalf while
he and his mother went to live in Tullamore.
In 1785 Charles William Bury took control of the estates and in 1798 he married Catherine Maria
Tisdall. He was raised to the peerage as The Lord Tullamore in 1797 and in 1800 as The Viscount
Charleville, in 1806 he was made 1st Earl of Charleville (in the Second Creation). We do know he
built Charleville castle in the 1790s and continued to put investment into it by way of additions until
about 1805. His son, also named Charles William was born in 1801. He also built the courthouse, the
gaol and brought the canal to Tullamore.
Charles William Bury prior to his elevation to the peerage served as MP for Kilmallock in Co. Limerick
in 1790 and again from 1792 to 1797.
This building work seems to have considerably depleted his finances. We cannot say for certain that
he sold Castlegarde at this time, or that he gave it to revenue to settle debts owed to the exchequer.
We do know that later the Bury family had to sell all their Limerick estates, which had been managed
by their cousin the Reverend Bury of Cork.
The 2 nd Earl married Lady Harriot Charlotte Beaujolais in 1821, which coincidentally is very close to
the period in which the exchequer sold Castlegarde. We know Lady Beaujolais brought no
inheritance with her into the marriage but was a profligate spender and interior designer
(responsible for some of the beautiful designs within Charleville Castle).
The completion of the sale of the Limerick estates took place in 1844, seven years after the death of
Charles William Bury, 1 st Earl of Charleville in the second creation and during the lifetime of Charles
William Bury, 2 nd Earl of Charleville who also needed money for election costs and a lavish lifestyle
much of which he spent travelling on the continent.
It is possible that Castlegarde had to be sold due to the spending by both the 1 st and 2 nd Earls of
Charleville in the second creation or offered by them to the revenue to settle outstanding debts. We
cannot say for certain, but of the two main possibilities this looks the more likely reason for it ending
up being sold by the state.
3) The 1820 – 1823 Court Case.
There are records of a settlement awarded to various parties from the estate of Castlegarde which
are in existence as a result of a court case from 1820 – 1823.
We have no idea as to who the owner of Castlegarde was at this time. It would appear that monies
with owing to His Majesties Revenue. Who owed these monies is uncertain.
What we don’t know is did one of the parties sell Castlegarde or offer it up to the revenue as means
of paying their debts. Again they are not mentioned in the court case which indicates that by then
revenue had taken full possession of this estate, of course this comes back to our earlier difficulty in
that Hester Coghills heirs are given no mention either. Unless the estate was sold somewhere in
between to an unknown buyer we are still none the wiser as to whether it was Hester Coghill or the
Bury Family who were the owners at this time.
From the records of the court case we know that eight named people received five shillings each by
way of compensation for claims upon the estate. We do not know the nature of the various claims,
however we can surmise that with the estate falling into the exchequers hands the Bailey tenure as
tenants came to an end, and they were paid five shillings by way of compensation. Others who were
paid compensation included Lord Northland, we can only assume that debts were owed to them
from the estate, but that as is the case in Irish law today the exchequers debt took precedence over
all others and the five shillings paid to each of these was the residual left over when revenue had
received their pound of flesh.
The list of those compensated (at a rate of five shillings each) were:
1) Thomas Bailie (also spelt Bailey); 2)Christopher Delmage; 3)William Thomas Monsel; 4)Frances
Calvet and his wife; 5) Nicolas Calvert; 6) Thomas Lord Viscount Northland and his wife Diana Jane;
7) Jane Bailie.
It would seem that up to this point the Bailie family (also referred to in other documents as Bailey)
had enjoyed some form of long term lease on the property of Castlegarde from the owners and that
this had continued through various changes in ownership. The loss of this lease upon the exchequer
obtaining ownership of Castlegarde must have been a financial blow to the Bailie family. From
records we know that the residual income from the lease after the previous owners were paid their
rent was sufficient for the Bailey family to leave a provision of £300 from the lands at Castlegarde for
the education of their daughters children in 1706.
What we know with certainty is that following this court case the Castlegarde estate was purchased
for the sum of £3,050 by Waller O’Grady in 1823. This money was paid to the exchequers account in
the bank of Ireland. Our next article will deal with the O’Grady family ownership and their
renovation of the existing keep with a Payne Brothers designed extension.
We will also continue to research the A. D. 1764 to A.D. 1820 period of ownership, and perhaps we
may find more interest from other documents we are hoping to access.