Return to Contents here

Eglish Castle, Eglish Church and the Berry Burial Enclosure

Eglish Castle 2008 showing palladium front, remains of tower house

(right corner) and part of Eglish Church (far right). (photo: Pat David).

“Eglish” is derived from the word “Eaglais” meaning church in the Irish language. The Irish pronunciation is somewhat like "Ah-glish".

Eglish Castle, a large country house, in the parish of Eglish, Kings County (now Offaly), was occupied by my Berry family from 1776 until c.1876. It presumably derives its name from the original tower house built by the O’Molloy family which was incorporated into later additions. Sadly, it is now derelict and uninhabited. The castle and about three acres is currently owned by the Alexander family. It is situated near Birr, in the heart of the Bog of Allen¹ in the Irish midlands, a region not generally acclaimed for scenic features, apart from the heathery Slieve Bloom Mountains. However, the Bog is noted for the prehistoric and archaeological treasures it has yielded, as well as the rich natural history that survives in what remains of it.

When King’s County was created in 1557, the ancient territory of Firceall was included in it and divided into the baronies of Eglish, Ballyboy and Ballycowan. The baronies were named after the strongest castle in each and at the time Eglish had a strong Castle built by the O’Molloys. At some date its ownership must have passed to the Loftus family. According to Pey², the Loftus family connected to the Eglish Barony were descended from a Yorkshire family. Adam Loftus, Archbishop of Dublin, came to Ireland in 1561 and lived at Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin. He was an uncle to Adam Loftus who was appointed Lord High Chancellor of Ireland in 1619. He was created Lord Ely in 1622 and represented the King in Parliament. Through these powerful offices the Loftus family were in a position to acquire numerous tracts of forfeited lands. Edward Loftus, who leased Eglish Castle from 1712 to 1756 was a great, great, grandson of Archbishop Adam Loftus.

Eglish Castle was purchased by Marlborough Sterling from the executors of Mrs Ellinor Loftus (widow of Edward Loftus) in about 1756. Ellinor lived at Eglish Castle from 1714 until her death in 1755. Knight Berry (1743-1807) of the ‘Clonehane/Dovegrove’ family first obtained the lease of Eglish from Lucy, widow of Marlborough Sterling in 1766, at a rent of £140. This lease he assigned to his son in law, Thomas Berry (1737-1815), on 15 June 1770 in return for an annuity of £98. In about 1776 Thomas bought the head interest of the Sterlings, which was sold in Chancery. He apparently farmed most of his estate himself. Eglish, together with land at Claughill amounted to 284 acres in 1809. Thomas’ eighth son, Francis Berry (1779-1864) succeeded to the lands of Eglish, Cloughill, Ballincollinda and Shanlone. The Rev. William Berry (1850-1920) succeeded to Eglish under Francis’ will. In 1872 William, then of Queens College Cambridge, leased Eglish Lodge, the townland of Shanacloon, part of Eglish with the Mansion House and outbuildings to his brother in law, Nathaniel Slator, who was married to Matilda Berry. However, in 1876 William sold Eglish and the rest of the estate under the Irish Land Acts. He owned 828 acres in King's Co., valued @ £402 p.a.

According to heritage architect Dr C. Southgate, (Salters Sterling pers. comm. 2005), Eglish Castle consists of

(a) a late 15th early 16th Century tower house, built by the O’Molloys.

(b) a late 17th C addition on one side; and

(c) a mid 18th C addition at the rear and a palladium front. (Sterling family history records that the palladium was paid for with the dowry of Sophia Sterling, daughter of Capt. James Sterling and Patience Hansard, when she married Knight Berry).

Eglish Castle is registered on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH)³ (#14930004), which describes it as follows:

“Detached U-plan seven-bay two-storey over basement country house, built c.1770, with remains of castle abutting east side, with pediment and oculus window covered by growing ivy. Now in a ruinous state. Hipped slate roof with tooled stone eaves course and red brick chimneystacks. Roughcast rendered walls. Timber sash windows with tooled stone sills. Venetian window to rear. Round-headed door opening with timber fanlight having switch-track glazing bars and timber panelled door flanked by timber sash sidelights with tooled stone sills. Door accessed by tooled stone steps flanked by splayed rendered plinth wall with tooled stone capping.

Eglish Castle is in a state of disrepair, with its roof falling in. In spite of this the elegant nature and special character of the old country house remains. A round-headed doorway with decorative Gothic style timber fanlight, accessible via tooled steps, compliments the symmetrical façade with its six-over-six sash windows. In all, the house plays a significant role in the county's built heritage”.

Although closed since 1987, Holy Trinity Church, which was built in 1839, still stands on the east side of Eglish Castle. It was built on or near the site of an earlier church that was destroyed in the 1641 Rising. The nearby curate’s house was demolished during road building works in the 1970’s ⁴. Its graveyard contains some old family tombs, including a Berry family enclosure where many of my ancestors are buried.

Holy Trinity Church, Eglish in 2008. (Photo: Pat David) Undated early photograph of Holy Trinity Church, Eglish.

Walled Berry burial enclosure on left. (L.Wilson mss).

List of people buried in the Berry enclosure

* = recorded as buried in the Berry enclosure by Rev. William Berry and by Rev. J.T. Webster in 1921

Bold font = Clonhane/Dovegrove Family

ADAMS, Alicia (1777-1833)*

ANDREWS, Penelope (1819-1892)

BERRY, Catherine Frances (1818-1822)

BERRY, Edward Fleetwood (1817-1875)

BERRY, Edward Nathaniel (1848-1869)

BERRY, Frances (1743-1807)*

BERRY, Frances (1813-1825)*

BERRY, Frances (1870-1882)*

BERRY, Frances (Fanny) (1809-1832)*

BERRY, Francis (Frank) Octavius (1779-1864)*

BERRY, Francis Fetherstonhaugh (1847-1857)*

BERRY, John (1764-1815)*

BERRY, John (1819-1825)

BERRY, Knight (1714-1793)*

BERRY, Luke Michael (1781- c.1815)*

BERRY, Maria (1819-1824)*

BERRY, Martha (1800-1833).

BERRY, Penelope (1851-1890)

BERRY, Robert Alexander (1845-1864)

BERRY, Robert Fleetwood (1777-1822)

BERRY, Smith Massey* (1787-1863)

BERRY, Sterling (1771-1828)*

BERRY, Thomas (1737/8-1815)*

BERRY, Thomas Francis (1819-1852)

CROW, Elizabeth (1786-1848)

FETHERSTONHAUGH, Susanna (1816-1876)*

MITCHELL, Margaret*) (?-1905)

MITCHELL, James Berry (c. 1862-1935)

WINSLOW, Dorothea (1780-1826)*

? Dorothea (? -1825) – First wife of BERRY, Marlborough (Mallie) Parsons (1773-1842) *

Another potentially interesting churchyard is at Kilbeggan, Westmeath where “…on 2 April 1771, with his brother Thomas, James Middleton Berry obtained a grant from the Vestry of Killbeggan of a piece of ground, 20 feet by 13, in the churchyard to commence 64 feet from the S.W. corner of the church to build a vault for the burying places of themselves and their families”. If it still exists, this burial area which predates the Eglish one, probably contains earlier Berry burials e.g. Thomas Berry (c.1675-c.1740) and John Berry (c.1702-1768).

Links

¹ Bog of Allen

http://www.ipcc.ie/bogofallenvisitorguide.html

² Pey, Brian (ed) 2003. Eglish and Drumcullen A Parish in Firceall. p.90. Published by Firceall Heritage Group.

³ National Inventory of Architectural Heritage

http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?county=OF&regno=14930004&type=record

Holy Trinity Church, Eglish

⁴ Pey, Brian (ed) 2003. Eglish and Drumcullen A Parish in Firceall. p.33. Published by Firceall Heritage Group.

Return to top here