(311) Bagot of Ard House, Kilcoursey House, Ballyturin House and Aughrane Castle

Bagot of Kilcoursey

Bagot of Aughrane Castle

It is thought that a branch of the Bagot family was established in Ireland by John Bagot, who accompanied Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke, when he led an English army into Ireland at the request of Dermot MacMurrough, the deposed King of Leinster, in 1172. The family were important figures in medieval Ireland, and Robert Bagot (1213-98) was Chief Justiciar from 1274. They were first settled at Wexford but soon acquired an estate on the edge of Dublin (where by the early 14th century they had built Bagotrath Castle), and also an estate in Co. Limerick, which became known as Baggotstown. Bagotrath Castle remained in use until the 17th century, but was slighted in 1649 and subsequently abandoned. The site was cleared in the early 19th century, when the Irish Grand Canal was constructed and new warehousing and other facilities were built on the site. The Bagots remained Catholics after the Reformation, like so many Old English families, and John Bagot (d. 1672) is said to have been present at the Assembly of Catholic Confederates held in Kilkenny in 1647 and a signatory of the treaty of Limerick in 1651. Much of the family's property was confiscated by the Commonwealth authorities, but at the Restoration of the monarchy, John Bagot and his younger brother James Bagot, recovered the estates, only for them to be lost again when John's descendants supported King James II against King William III. This time, the loss was permanent, for although Edward Bagot (1620-1711) petitioned William III for the return of Bagotstown in 1700, the estate had by then been sold. Edward, who was perhaps the first of the family to conform to Protestantism, was, however, compensated by the award of lands in Co. Kildare and King's County (now Co. Offaly, which name is used throughout this account). It was on the Offaly estates that the family came to build its first country houses, and the genealogy below therefore starts with Edward.

Edward's eldest son and principal heir was Col. Milo Bagot, who effectively founded the two branches of the family considered here when he settled the Ard House estate on his eldest son, John Bagot (1702-60) in 1725, and the Kilcoursey estate on his third son, Charles Bagot (b. 1704) in 1734. John Bagot, who must have built the present Ard House if his father had not already done so, had a number of sons who served in the army and who did not long survive him, so Ard House came into the possession of his fourth son, John Lloyd Bagot (d. c.1801). John had married the heiress of an estate at Ballymoe in Co. Galway, and in due course they also inherited this property. There seems never to have been a country house at Ballymoe, although by the mid 19th century there was a dower house there, known as The Hermitage, where members of the family occasionally lived. John Lloyd Bagot was succeeded by his son, Thomas Neville Bagot (1784-1863), who had the reputation of being a 'kindly and indulgent landlord'; he was certainly active in the 1840s in trying to bring relief to his tenants in county Galway, who suffered severely during the Famine. His efforts to support his tenantry cannot have helped his own financial situation, for in 1858 he sold Ard House and its lands through the Encumbered Estates Court, and thereafter divided his time between a house in Dublin and The Hermitage.

Thomas Neville Bagot had three daughters (two of whom reverted to the Roman Catholic faith to the displeasure of their father) and four sons: John Lloyd Bagot (1814-90) who was the heir to Ballymoe; Bernard William Bagot (1816-99) who was a barrister; Charles Augustus Bagot (c.1820-77) who was a solicitor; and Christopher Neville Bagot (c.1822-77), who emigrated in 1844 in search of riches in the Australian goldfields. This sort of sentence has a tendency to conclude with a clause such as "and was never heard of again", but in fact Christopher returned in about 1860 with a very respectable fortune indeed. In 1863 he bought Castle Kelly (Co. Galway) and 11,000 acres through the Encumbered Estates Court, paying £105,000 cash down to complete the purchase, and renaming the house Aughrane Castle. More than a decade of hard work and primitive living in Australia had taken its toll on Christopher, however, and by the 1870s, he was an ailing batchelor with an estimated personal estate of £60,000. To his brothers, who had remained in Ireland and who were in varying degrees in low water financially, his likely early death without heirs gave them reasonable expectations of a resolution to their problems. However, in 1875 Christopher unexpectedly married a baronet's daughter, who on the evidence of their pre-nuptial agreement was expected primarily to act as his nurse. Just three months into the marriage, she produced a baby son. To explain this to the world (and later to the courts), she concocted a story of a previous secret marriage to Bagot in 1874, but it was a very thin story and widely disbelieved. Nonetheless, it seems probable that the child was Bagot's rather than another man's, a view which the courts eventually supported. The appearance in quick succession of a wife and an heir was of course a disaster for the expectations of the circling shark brothers. Led by Bernard, who as a barrister and JP understood the law, the brothers 'rescued' Christopher from the clutches of his wife and succeeded in convincing the ailing man that she was a designing vixen who had tricked him into marriage in the interest of securing his fortune and then saddled him with another man's child. Christopher wrote a new will, explicitly disclaiming the child, but still making fairly generous financial provision for both wife and child, while leaving the majority of the estate to his brothers. When Christopher died in 1877, his widow successfully contested the will in the interests of her son and herself, in one of the most celebrated probate cases of the 19th century. The untimely birth of her son and heir did not help her case or reputation, but the high-handed actions of the brothers were exposed in the court. They then pursued the case in the High Court, where a wise judge made it plain that the parties should compromise, and a settlement was finally reached in 1880, by which the widow and son got a substantially increased share of the estate, but the real estate went to the eldest brother, John Lloyd Neville Bagot (1814-90), who in the interim had inherited the Ballyturin estate in right of his wife. 

John Lloyd Neville Bagot died in January 1890 and before the year was out his son, Edward Thomas Lloyd Neville Bagot (1848-90) had followed him to the grave. The Aughrane and Ballymoe properties passed next to Edward's son, Milo Victor Neville Bagot (1880-1913), whose mother took him to live in Italy. The Irish estates were left in the care of Milo's uncle, John Christopher Neville Bagot (1856-1935), who had in his own right inherited Ballyturin House from his father. The Ballymoe estates were sold in 1894, apparently to pay off liabilities on the property. Aughrane was occupied by another of Milo's uncles, Charles Henry Bagot (1860-1938), but shortly before Milo was due to come into his estate at the age of thirty, and perhaps because Milo had recently married an Italian girl and made it plain he did not intend to return to Ireland, Aughrane Castle was sold too. The sale was conducted through the Land Commission (of which J.C.N. Bagot was a member) and while the castle and some 300 acres were converted into an Agricultural College, the rest of the estate was sold to the tenants. J.C.N. Bagot continued to live at Ballyturin House until 1921, when a group of his friends, including a senior policeman, his wife, and two junior army officers, were ambushed and murdered by the IRA at the gates when driving away after a tennis party.

An artist's impression of the Ballyturin House ambush, 15 May 1921.
Image: Illustrated London News

The incident, which was one of the most ruthless and horrifying acts of terror in the long campaign for Irish independence, caused Mr Bagot to abandon Ballyturin and move to Britain, where he bought a modest house at Gresford in Denbighshire.

In 1734, Col. Milo Bagot settled the Kilcoursey estate in Co. Offaly on his younger son, Charles Bagot (b. 1704). At this time there was perhaps just an old castle as a residence on the property (fragments of which are said to remain), and it may have been Charles or his son Daniel Bagot (c.1741-85) who first replaced it with the house that is shown on the 1st edition of the Ordnance Survey 6", c.1840. Frustratingly, however, nothing seems to be known of the appearance of this building, so in the absence of archival evidence it is impossible to date more closely. Daniel was succeeded by his son, the Rev. Charles Emilius Bagot (c.1767-1802), who died relatively young after being afflicted for some months by a progressive religious mania. His son, Charles Bagot (1791-1864) came of age in 1812 and in 1833 inherited from his maternal grandmother a property adjoining Kilcoursey which was then known simply as 'Cottage', but which was already a substantial building and had perhaps been built as a dower house. Charles had five sons and two daughters from two marriages. With the exception of his eldest son, Charles Emilius Bagot (1815-63), who trained as a doctor and practised at Ballingarry and later in Dublin, his family by his first wife emigrated to Australia in 1850. It had no doubt been intended that C.E. Bagot would succeed to Kilcoursey, but he was an invalid and did not survive his father. The property therefore passed to his next brother, John Tuthill Bagot (1819-70), who was forging a successful career as a solicitor and politician in Adelaide. He came home only briefly to claim his inheritance, and although some lands may have been sold soon afterwards, he retained the majority of the property until his death. His representatives sold it in the Landed Estates Court in 1876. It was perhaps at this time that the 18th century Kilcoursey House was abandoned in favour of the dower house, to which the name Kilcoursey House, was transferred. That house was later substantially enlarged and remodelled for the Goodbody family in 1911, and still exists today.

Ard House, Geashill, Co. Offaly

Ard House: entrance front, 2018. Image: Conor Kenny

Ard House is the rare and important survival of a substantial early 18th century  house. It was probably built for Col. Milo Bagot (c.1670-1739), or for his son John Bagot (1702-60), to whom he made the house over in 1725. The entrance front has five bays and two storeys over a basement, but the window openings have no architraves and were probably remodelled when the house was re-roofed in 1786. The front door is approached by five limestone steps carrying the visitor up to the level of the ground floor. The timber sash windows on the front of the house are recent replacements of the originals, but 19th century four-over-four and six-over-six timber sash windows survive on the rear elevation; the basement has timber casement windows. The rear elevation, overlooking a partially cobbled rear yard largely surrounded by single-storey outbuildings with pitched slate and corrugated iron roofs, is less formal than the entrance front, and its fenestration expresses the tripartite division of the interior plan. The pitched tiled roof with rendered chimneystacks was rebuilt in 1786, as is recorded on a plaque now let into one of the gatepiers of the stable yard but formerly on an arch spanning that entrance.  The walls of the house are covered in a roughcast render.  

The original interior plan of the house survives, and shows how the house was formed of three compartments, the middle one of which was devoted entirely to a hall containing an oversized staircase, which was flanked by the principal rooms. The stairs, which have a moulded handrail supported by panels of evenly-spaced turned balusters, are an original feature of the house and unusually run from the ground floor to the attic.

Descent: Col. Milo Bagot (d. 1739), who settled it 1725 on his son, John Bagot (1702-60)... to son, John Lloyd Bagot (d. c.1801); to son, Thomas Neville Bagot (d. 1863); sold through the Encumbered Estates Court, 1858 to William Clarke (1804-95); to sister-in-law, Marianne Clarke (c.1822-1912) and her son, George Newcombe Clarke (c.1846-1927); sold after his death to Elizabeth (1875-1945) (née Odlum), the widow of Thomas Cleary (c.1856-1919) and later the wife of George Abraham Black (d. 1945); to son, Benjamin Cleary (c.1915-86); to son, Karl Cleary (fl. 2018).

Kilcoursey House, Clara, Co. Offaly

There was a castle here in early times, of which some ruins are said to remain in the grounds of the present house. 

Kilcoursey House, as shown on 1st edn. 6" map, c.1840.

It was superseded by a house, probably built in the 1730s after the estate was settled on Charles Bagot (b. 1704), but this in turn seems to have been fallen into ruin sometime after the Bagot family sold their estate here in the 1870s; the last remains are said to have been pulled down in about 1980. 

The present building known as Kilcoursey House is a long low one and a half storey structure, first built before 1833, apparently as a dower house, and called simply 'Cottage'. The site of this is visible on the map shown here on a site a little to the north-east of the original house. The Cottage was apparently enlarged or rebuilt in 1909 for J.H. Goodbody, a Quaker textile manufacturer whose family owned mills in Clara in the Victorian and Edwardian period. On the garden side the house overlooks a series of terraces running down to the River Brosna. In 1985 it achieved a brief notoriety as the setting for the still unsolved but apparently non-sectarian murder of a Catholic priest. 

Kilcoursey House: as rebuilt in 1909 for the Goodbody family,

Descent: Col. Milo Bagot (d. 1739), who settled it in 1734 on his son, Charles Bagot (b. 1704); to son, Daniel Bagot (c.1741-85); to son, Rev. Charles Emilius Bagot (c.1767-1802); to son, Charles Bagot (1791-1854); to son, John Tuthill Bagot (1819-69), to son, Charles Ulysses Bagot (b. 1850); sold 1876, perhaps to James Perry Goodbody (1853-1923); to son, (Joseph) Harold Goodbody (1880-1947); to son, Harold Goodbody (1904-72); to brother, Douglas Goodbody (b. 1916); sold c.1981 to Richard Flynn (d. 2017); sold c.1991 to Michael Mitchell (fl. 2018).

Ballyturin House, Co. Galway

Ballyturin House. Image: courtesy of Dr. Patrick Melvin & Eamonn de Burca/Skehana & District Heritage

A modest three-by-two bay house in a large and isolated demesne at the northern end of Lough Cutra, which was probably built in the early 19th century for the Kirwan family. The house was let from 1824, and passed into the Bagot family by marriage in 1845. In 1921 a police inspector, his pregnant wife and two army officers were ambushed and murdered by IRA gunmen as they were leaving the estate after a tennis party, and soon afterwards the house was abandoned and fell into ruin. Parts of the shell have now collapsed.

Ballyturin House: ruins. Image: Tarquin Blake/Abandoned Ireland.

Descent: Richard Kirwan (1733-1812)... Edward Henry Kirwan (1820-45); to sister, Anne Georgina, wife of John Lloyd Neville Bagot (1814-90); to third son, John Christopher Bagot (1856-1935), who abandoned the house after 1921; to widow, Anna Bagot (d. 1963).

Aughrane Castle (formerly Castle Kelly), Ballygar, Co. Galway

Castle Kelly alias Aughrane Castle. Image: courtesy of Dr. Patrick Melvin & Eamonn de Burca/Skehana & District Heritage

The house consisted of an ancient, perhaps 16th century, tower which was extended in later centuries. The three-storey block with a great gable end rising into a stack of five conjoined chimneys represents an 18th century addition. The house was then turned into a 'beautiful and commanding modern Mansion' by further battlemented additions in the mid 19th century, reputedly by James Pain of Limerick for Denis Kelly. It is said that debris from a nearby monastic site was used as building stone, although the surface was of new cut ashlar. The house had little bartizans at the corners, plain windows with hood moulds and a simple battlemented porch. The estate was sold by the Encumbered Estates Court in 1863, and thereafter the house was known as Aughrane Castle. A gate lodge was designed by James Forth Kempster in 1871-72 for Christopher Neville Bagot, the new owner, at a cost of £300. In 1904, when the house was advertised for sale, it was noted that the old castle 'has some interesting old decorated ceilings and oak floors'. The accommodation then comprised an entrance porch and inner hall with Gothic grand staircase; spacious drawing room, library, dining room, writing room, eight family bedrooms, bath room, dressing room, and thirteen servants' bedrooms, as well as the usual domestic offices.

In 1909, following a disastrous bog slide on the estate, in which one person was killed and eight families were rendered homeless and unemployed, the estate was sold to the Estates Commissioners, and a school of forestry was established in the house and surrounding grounds by the Board of Agriculture. On 15 May 1921, however, the house was burned down by a gang of 30 armed men, who evacuated the caretaker at gunpoint and then systematically doused the furniture with petrol; only the external walls were left standing. The Board of Agriculture filed a claim for £10,000 compensation under the Malicious Injuries Act, but it not clear whether this was ever paid.

Descent: Timothy O'Kelly (fl. 1566); to son, Rory O'Kelly (fl. 1590); to son, Capt. Colla O'Kelly (d. 1615); to son, Col. John Kelly (d. 1674); to son, Col. Charles Kelly; to son, Capt. Denis Kelly (d. 1740); to kinsman, John Kelly (d. 1748); to son, Denis Kelly (d. 1794); to son, John Kelly (d. 1813); to brother, Rev. Andrew Armstrong Kelly (1763-1849); to son, Denis Henry Kelly (1797-1877); sold in Encumbered Estates Court, 1863, to Christopher Neville Bagot (d. 1877); after lengthy legal proceedings to brother, John Lloyd Neville Bagot (1814-90); to son, Thomas Lloyd Neville Bagot (1848-90); to son, Milo Victor Neville Bagot (1880-1913); sold to Estates Commissioners, 1909, and handed over to Board of Agriculture, 1909; burned 1921.

Bagot family of Ard House, Ballyturin and Aughrane Castle

Bagot, Edward (1620-1711). Eldest son of James Bagot of Ballinstown & Waterstown, and his wife Margaret, daughter of John Milo Power of Ballyphilip and Camphire (Co. Waterford), born 1620. Royal Commissioner for Co. Leix, 1663; High Sheriff of Co. Kildare, 1667 and Co. Leix, 1680. He married, 1659, Catherine, daughter of William Colborne of Great Connell (Co. Kildare), and had issue:

(1) Col. Milo Bagot (1660-1739) (q.v.);
(2) Arthur Bagot (fl. 1711); executor of his father's will;
(3) Christopher Bagot; from whom descend the Bagots of Nurney and Kilnoon;
(4) Elizabeth Bagot (d. 1725); married George Medlicott (c.1649-1717) of Tully (Co. Kildare), fourth son of Thomas Medlicott of Abingdon (Berks) and had issue seven sons and seven daughters; died 29 December 1725.
He lived at Harristown and Walterstown (both Co. Kildare) and secured grants of land in Kildare and Co. Offaly from the Crown in 1700 in compensation for the loss of the Bagotstown estate, seized when his cousins were attainted for their support of James II.
He died in 1711 and was buried in Kildare Cathedral. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Bagot, Col. Milo (1660-1739). Eldest son of Edward Bagot (1620-1711) and his wife, Catherine, daughter of William Colborne of Great Connell (Co. Kildare), born 1660. High Sheriff of Co. Offaly, possibly in 1728. He married, 1700, Margaret (b. 1673), daughter of Edmond Armstrong of Mauristown (Co. Kildare), and had issue:
(1) John Bagot (1702-60) (q.v.);
(2) Elizabeth Bagot (1702-39); married, 15 March 1719, as his first wife, Warneford Armstrong (1699-1767) of Ballycumber (Offaly), and had issue five sons and six daughters; died 23 October 1739;
(3) Michael Bagot (d. 1744); died without issue;
(4) Charles Bagot (b. 1704) [for whom see Bagot family of Kilcoursey below];
(5) Mary Bagot; married Thomas Walsh of Hallaboys (Co. Kildare), but died without issue.
He inherited the Kildare and Offaly estates of his father in 1711. He settled Ard House, on his son John in 1725, and Kilcoursey on his son Charles in 1734. He lived at Newtown (Co. Leix).
He died in 1738/9 and is said to have been buried at 'Kilmansham near Clare'; his will was proved at Dublin in 1738/9. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Bagot, John (1702-60). Eldest son of Col. Milo Bagot (1660-1739) and his wife Margaret, daughter of Edmond Armstrong of Mauristown (Co. Kildare), born 1702. He married, 1728, Mary, daughter of Sir Edward Herbert, 2nd bt., of Durrow Abbey (Offaly) and had issue:
(1) Milo Bagot (d. c.1766); died without issue; an officer in the 32nd Foot (Lt.; retired, 1764); his will was submitted to the Prerogative Court of Dublin 1766 but was not proved;
(2) William Bagot; died without issue;
(3) Charles Bagot; an officer in the 32nd Foot (Lt., 1764); died without issue;
(4) John Lloyd Bagot (d. c.1801) (q.v.);
(5) Thomas Bagot; died without issue;
(6) Mary Bagot; died without issue;
(7) Margaret Bagot; married Archibald Armstrong (1726-93) of Garry Casle, Banagher (Offaly) and had issue (who assumed the name of Bagot).
Ard House, near Geashill, was settled on him by his father in 1725.
He died in 1760; his will was proved at Dublin in 1760. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Bagot, Capt. John Lloyd (d. c.1801). Fourth but only surviving son of John Bagot (1702-60) and his wife Mary, daughter of Sir Edward Herbert, 2nd bt., of Durrow Abbey (Offaly). An officer in the 37th Foot (Ensign, 1762; Capt.); ADC to Lord Cornwallis during the American War of Independence. On the formation of the Glinsk Loyalist Volunteers in 1789 he was appointed Lt-Col. of the corps. He married, 14 October 1775 at Ballymoe, Catherine Anne (d. 1817?), daughter of Michael Cuffe of Ballymoe (Galway), and had issue:
(1) John Cuffe Bagot (c.1776-1804); lived at Westminster (Middx); died unmarried and without issue, 1804; will proved in Dublin, 1804;
(2) Louisa Bagot (c.1777-1863); married [forename unknown] Burke; died at Ballymoe, 11 June 1863;
(3) William Bagot (d. 1804); lived at Dublin; died without issue; probably the man of this name whose will was proved at Dublin, 1804;
(4) Cordelia Bagot (d. 1801); died unmarried; will proved at Dublin, 1801;
(5) Isabella Matilda Bagot (c.1780-1868); died unmarried, aged 88, Oct-Dec 1868;
(6) Thomas Neville Bagot (1784-1863) (q.v.);
(7) Maria Bagot (c.1785-1873); died unmarried, aged 88, Apr-Jun 1873.
He inherited Ard House, near Geashill (Co. Offaly) from his father or brother in the 1760s, and Ballymoe (Co. Galway) in right of his wife.
His will was proved in 1801. His widow may be the 'Catherine Bagot' buried at St John, Dublin, on 28 September 1817.

Bagot, Thomas Neville (1784-1863). Youngest but only surviving son of Capt. John Lloyd Bagot (d. c.1801) and his wife Catherine Anne, daughter of Michael Cuffe MP of Ballinrobe (Co. Mayo), born 31 October 1784. JP for Offaly, Galway and Roscommon, c.1812-63. Vice-President of the Society for the Improvement of Land, 1846. Guardian of Glennamaddy Poor Law Union. Described in his obituary as 'a kindly and indulgent landlord'. He married, June 1811 at Elphin (Roscommon), Ellen (1790-1848), second daughter of John Fallon of Runnimead (Co. Roscommon) and had issue:
(1) Letitia Mary Bagot (c.1813-98); a Roman Catholic nun; died unmarried at Kingstown (Co. Dublin), 8 January 1898;
(2) John Lloyd Neville Bagot (1814-90) (q.v.);
(3) Bernard William Bagot (1816-99), of Carranure House (Roscommon), born 28 December 1816; educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1834; BA 1839) and Kings Inns, Dublin (called to bar, 1843); barrister-at-law; JP for Co. Roscommon; was apparently the moving spirit in the family's attempt to wrest the fortune of his younger brother Christopher away from Christopher's widow and son, which after a lengthy legal case which consumed a sizeable part of the value of estate, was only partially successful; married 1st, 17 December 1850 at Rathfarnham (Co. Dublin), Euphemia (d. 1855), daughter of Richard John Hinds of Newgrove (Co. Longford) and Mount Prospect, Rathgar (Co. Dublin) and had issue one son; married 2nd, 18 March 1862 at St Peter, Dublin, Josephine Isabella, daughter of Joseph A. Holmes of Clogher House (Co. Sligo) and had issue two daughters; died 22 January 1899;
(4) Ellen Mary Bagot (d. 1866); died unmarried at Chateau Huplandre, Boulogne (France), 26 July 1866;
(5) Charles Augustus Bagot (c.1820-77), born about 1820; educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1834; BA 1840; MA 1863); solicitor in Dublin; certified insane, 1873; married, 28 September 1858 at St Peter, Dublin, Fanny Louisa, daughter of A.S. Kerr of Dublin, and had issue three sons (who all emigrated and died abroad); died 18 April 1877; will proved 19 September 1877 (effects under £3,000);
(6) Christopher Neville Bagot  (c.1822-77) (q.v.);
(7) Catherine (k/a Kate) Bagot (d. 1908); married, 4 January 1849 at St Thomas, Dublin and St Mary's RC Pro Cathedral, Dublin, Francis Meagher (d. c.1854) of Ballinderry (Tipperary), barrister-at-law, and had issue one son; lived latterly in Italy; died at Genoa, 16 March 1908; will proved in Dublin, 26 October 1908 (effects £1,268).
He inherited the Ard House and Ballymoe estates from his father in 1801, but sold Ard through the Encumbered Estates Court in 1858. He lived thereafter at The Hermitage, Ballymoe, and also owned a house in Fitzwilliam St., Dublin.
He moved to France for health reasons in 1862, and died at his youngest daughter's house in Boulogne, 8 February 1863; administration of his goods was granted to his second son, 14 March 1863 (effects under £1,000). It is probably he who is commemorated by a tomb with an effigy at Ballymoe, the inscription on which is now too damaged to be legible. His wife died suddenly of an apoplexy after dinner at their Dublin house on 17 March 1848.

Bagot, John Lloyd Neville (1814-90). Eldest son of Thomas Neville Bagot (1784-1863) and his wife Ellen, daughter of John Fallon of Runnimead (Co. Roscommon), born November 1814. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1834). JP for Co. Galway, Clare and Roscommon. He took the additional forename Neville by royal licence in 1878 on inheriting the Aughrane Castle estate. He married, 13 September 1843 at St Peter, Dublin, Anne Georgina (1823-88), only daughter of Edward Henry Kirwan of Ballyturin Castle (Co. Galway), and had issue:
(1) (Edward) Thomas Lloyd Neville Bagot (1848-90) (q.v.);
(2) Edward Henry Kirwan Bagot (1850-82); born 1850; died unmarried, Oct-Dec 1882;
(3) John Christopher Bagot (1856-1935) (q.v.);
(4) twin, Charles Henry Bagot (1860-1938) (q.v.); 
(5) twin, Anna Isabella Bagot (1860-1942), born 31 May 1860; lived at Listride, Roscommon; died unmarried, 17 April 1942; administration of goods granted 22 June 1942 (estate £309);
(6) Ellen Georgina Bagot (1863-1953); married, 12 December 1907, Harry Huggins (1866-1938), eldest son of Henry Huggins of St. Annes-on-Sea (Lancs), but had no issue; died, 22 July 1953; her will proved 12 September 1953 (estate £3,348).
He inherited the Ballymoe estate from his father in 1863, and Aughrane Castle after lengthy legal proceedings following the death of his youngest brother in 1877. He also inherited Ballyturin House in right of his wife. At his death, Ballymoe and Aughrane passed to his eldest son and Ballyturin to his second surviving son.
He died 14 January 1890; his will was proved 29 April 1890 (effects £4,789). His wife died 14 May 1888; administration of her goods was granted 21 June 1890 (effects £1,900).

Bagot, (Edward) Thomas Lloyd Neville (1848-90). Eldest son of John Lloyd Neville Bagot (1814-90) and his wife Anne Georgina, only daughter of Edward Henry Kirwan of Ballyturin Castle (Co. Galway), born 1848. He married, 1876, his cousin Ellen, a composer of light dance music, daughter of Francis Meagher of Ballinderry (Tipperary), and had issue:
(1) twin, Milo Victor Neville Bagot (1880-1913), born 19 March 1880; married, October 1908, Maria Boccacio (b. c.1885) of Turin (Italy), but had no issue; died in Genoa (Italy), 1913;
(2) twin, Laline Anna Letitia Bagot (1880-82), born 19 March 1880; died in infancy, 20 November 1882.
He inherited the Ballymoe and Aughrane Castle estates from his father in 1890. At his death they passed to his son, then a minor, subject to a proviso he would not come of age until he was 30 (in 1910). John Christopher Neville Bagot (1856-1935) acted as his guardian, and sold the Ballymoe estate in 1894 and Aughrane Castle in 1909.
He died 10 October 1890; administration of his goods was granted to his widow, 5 February 1907 (remaining effects £143). His widow died at Maurizio, Turin (Italy), 31 August 1925; administration of goods granted 10 June 1927 (effects £643).

J.C.N. Bagot (1856-1935)

Bagot, John Christopher Neville (1856-1935). Third son of John Lloyd Neville Bagot (1814-90) and his wife Anne Georgina, only daughter of Edward Henry Kirwan of Ballyturin Castle (Co. Galway), born 20 October 1856. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin. JP for Co. Galway; Member of the Land Commission. He acted as Guardian ad Litem for his nephew, Milo Victor Neville Bagot after 1890, and took the decision to sell the Ballymoe and Aughrane Castle estates. As a young man, he was a notable athlete who represented Ireland at rugby and hockey and was a good tennis player and a first class shot. He married, 20 October 1891 at Fenny Bentley (Derbys), Anna Catherine (k/a Nancy) (1866-1963), only daughter of Lt-Col. William Fleming of Mayfield, Ashbourne (Derbys) and had issue:
(1) Mary Eileen Bagot (1894-1984), born 5 February 1894; married, 21 April 1925 (div. 1947) Brig. James Gerald Bruxner-Randall CBE (1890-1986), son of Col. Richard George Bruxner-Randall of Thurlaston Holt (Leics) and had issue two sons and one daughter; died in London, 9 October 1984; will proved 8 January 1985 (estate £190,357);
(2) Kathleen Anna Bagot (1899-1979), born 21 January 1899; married, 26 June 1923, Kenneth Haldane Watts (1885-1953), son of William Arthur Watts of West Garth, St. Ives (Cornw.), but had no issue; died in Chester, 2 October 1979; will proved 8 February 1980 (estate £56,265).
He inherited Ballyturin House from his father in 1890, but abandoned it after a group of his friends were ambushed and murdered at his gates in 1921 in one of the most brutal assaults during the struggle for Irish independence. He moved to Hill Top, Gresford (Denbighs.)
He died 27 April 1935 and was buried at Gresford (Denbighs.); his will was proved 28 June 1935 (estate £1,238). His widow died in London, 17 January 1963, and was buried at Gresford; her will was proved 29 April 1963 (estate £25,530).

Bagot, Charles Henry (1860-1938). Fourth son of John Lloyd Neville Bagot (1814-90) and his wife Anne Georgina, only daughter of Edward Henry Kirwan of Ballyturin Castle (Co. Galway), born 31 May 1860; educated at Tuam and Trinity College, Dublin; after 1909 a farmer at Athleague (Roscommon). JP, Resident Magistrate, and member of the Grand Jury for the Roscommon Assizes. He hunted with, and was Secretary of, the Roscommon Harriers. He married, 10 November 1891 at St Michael, Blackrock (Co. Cork), Georgina Louisa (1860-1941), fourth daughter of John Osborne MD of Lindville, Blackrock (Co. Cork) and had issue:
(1) Anna Georgina Bagot (1892-1958), born 14 September 1892; died unmarried, 7 February 1958;
(2) Charles Edward Kirwan Bagot (1895-1976) (q.v.);
(3) Gwendoline Frances Bagot (b. 1898), born 2 December 1898; married, 15 April 1931, William Gerald Ridgeway FRCSI, DPH (1886-1936), sixth son of Richard Grubb Ridgeway of Riverview House, Waterford, but had no issue; living at Swanbrook House, Donnybrook (Co. Dublin) in 1976; date of death unknown.
He lived at Aughrane Castle after the death of his brother in 1890, but when it was sold to the Estates Commissioners in 1909 he moved to Curraghmore, Athleague (Co. Roscommon).
He died 19 September 1938; administration of his goods was granted to his younger daughter, 29 March 1939 (estate £59). His widow died 24 May 1941.

Bagot, Col. Charles Edward Kirwan (1895-1976). Only son of Charles Henry Bagot (1860-1938) and his wife Georgina Louisa, fourth daughter of John Osborne MD of Lindville, Blackrock (Co. Cork), born 3 June 1895. Educated at Royal School, Armagh and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, Edinburgh; served in Connaught Rangers in First World War, 1915-18 (2nd Lt.; mentioned in despatches twice); transferred to Gloucestershire Regiment, 1922 (Lt., 1922; Capt., 1925; Maj. c.1939; Lt-Col., 1941); served in Second World War in Burma (mentioned in despatches); General Staff Officer, 2nd British Division in India, 1942, 20th Indian Division in Ceylon, 1943; retired from Army, 1947. He was awarded the MC before 1925. He married, 22 November 1928, Frances Isobel Finetta (1905-95), daughter of Dr. John Angell James of Stoke Bishop, Bristol (Glos), and had issue:
(1) Charles Christopher Neville Bagot (b. 1930), born 2 March 1930; educated at Marlborough; served as an officer in Royal Artillery (Lt.); shipping executive; married, 14 November 1964, Jennifer Muriel (b. 1932), daughter of HH Judge William Donald Massey Sumner of Brissenden House, Bethersden (Kent) and had issue one son and three daughters;
(2) Finetta Veronica Angella Bagot (b. 1933), born 12 February 1933; married, 27 October 1956, Richard Wallace Paul Mellish MB BS (1923-2008) of Burlington, Vermont (USA), second son of Rev. Edward Noel Mellish VC MC of South Petherton (Somerset) and had issue two sons and one daughter.
He lived latterly at Greengates, Painswick (Glos).
He died 2 July 1976; will proved 22 November 1976 (estate £5,726). His wife died in November 1995.

Bagot, Christopher Neville (c.1822-77). Fourth son of Thomas Neville Bagot (1784-1863) and his wife Ellen, daughter of John Fallon of Runnimead (Co. Roscommon), born about 1822. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1838). In 1844 he went to Australia and it is to be presumed that he was a successful gold prospector, for he returned with a fortune and the nickname 'The Nugget'. JP for Galway and Roscommon, 1863. The disputed and bizarre circumstances of his marriage and family life are explored at length in press reports of the legal dispute about his will, which became one of the most celebrated and sensational of 19th century probate cases. He married, 8 August 1875, the beautiful Alice Emily (1853-1908), daughter of Sir William Verner, 2nd bt., and had issue:
(1) William Hugh Neville Bagot (1875-1960), born 22 October 1875; lived at Haut de Mont, La Haule, Jersey; married, 1909 at St Marylebone, London, Louise Kauffman (d. 1967) and had issue one son and two daughters; died 15 February 1960.
He purchased Castle Kelly (Co. Galway) in the Incumbered Estates Court in 1863, and renamed it Aughrane Castle. His purchase included the castle and 11,000 acres, for which he paid £105,000.
He died 23 May 1877; his will was the subject of lengthy litigation between his widow and his brothers, as a result of which a compromise was reached by which his son was declared legitimate and financial provision was made for him and for the widow, while the Aughrane estate passed to his eldest brother; administration of his personal estate was granted 9 August 1878 (effects under £18,000) and full probate was granted 12 August 1880 (effects under £25,000). His widow married 2nd, 30 October 1879 (div. 1895), Maj. Reginald Wynne Roberts DSO (1856-1913), son of Evan Roberts, and had further issue two sons and two daughters; she died 9 July 1908.

Bagot family of Kilcoursey House

Bagot, Charles (b. 1704). Third son of Col. Milo Bagot (1660-1739) and his wife Margaret, daughter of Edmond Armstrong of Mauristown (Co. Kildare), born 1704. He married, 25 August 1739, Temperance, daughter of Daniel Browne of Riverstown (Co. Kildare), and had issue:
(1) Milo Bagot; JP for Co. Offaly; High Sheriff of Co. Offaly; Col. of Kings' County Corps of Infantry, 1779; married Sophia, daughter and co-heir of William Wetherall of Castletown, but died without issue;
(2) Daniel Bagot (c.1741-85) (q.v.);
(3) Andrew Bagot; died unmarried;
(4) Eliza Bagot (d. 1833); married Ulysses North (c.1738-80) and had issue two daughters (Elizabeth, who married in 1791 her first cousin, Rev. Charles Emilius Bagot; and Mary, who married her first cousin, Milo Bagot (1774-1831)); died shortly after 30 October 1833.
His father settled the Kilcoursey estate on him by deed in 1734.
His date of death is unknown. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Bagot, Daniel (c.1741-85). Second but only surviving son of Charles Bagot (b. 1704) and his wife Tempe, daughter of Daniel Browne of Riverstown (Co. Kildare), born about 1741. An officer in the army (Lt., 1762) and later in King's County Light Cavalry (Maj., 1779). JP for Co. Offaly; High Sheriff of Co. Offaly, 1781. He married, Sarah, daughter of Abraham Clibborn of Clare Lodge, and had issue:
(1) Rev. Charles Emilius Bagot (1766-1802) (q.v.);
(2) Daniel Bagot (c.1770-1817), born about 1770; Secretary of the Irish Grand Canal Co., by 1804; married, 9 November 1793, Eliza Cole (d. 1834), only child of Capt. Robert Ponsonby Molesworth, and had issue two sons and one daughter; buried at St Peter, Dublin, 28 September 1817;
(3) Milo Bagot (1774-1831); a nonconformist in religion; married, c.1795 (post-nuptial settlement, 19 September), Mary, second daughter of Ulysses North of Newcastle (Co. Westmeath); buried at St Mary, Dublin, 25 January 1831;
(4) Emily Bagot (d. 1855); married William Edgeworth; died 30 June 1855;
(5) Margaret Bagot (d. 1855); married Thomas Oldham of Dublin and had issue; died in Dublin, 14 April 1855;
(6) Sarah Bagot (c.1780-1868), born about 1780; died unmarried in Dublin, 25 July 1868;
(7) Andrew Bagot (c.1784-1850), born about 1784; educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1804); succeeded his brother as Secretary of the Irish Grand Canal Co., 1817-25 and later as Superintendent of the Canal Trade; married, c.1808, Eliza Shaw (c.1771-1851), and had issue three sons and three daughters; died in Dublin, 17 February 1850;
He inherited the Kilcoursey estate from his father.
He died in Philipstown (Co. Offaly), 1785. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Bagot, Rev. Charles Emilius (c.1767-1802). Eldest son of Daniel Bagot (d. 1785) and his wife Sarah, daughter of Abraham Clibborn of Clare Lodge, born 27 October 1766. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1782; BA 1787) and Inner Temple. Ordained, 1790. Curate of Clara (Offaly), 1790 and Ardnurcher, 1792. In his last months he apparently suffered from a religious mania, which no doubt contributed to his death. He married, 11 August 1790, Eliza (b. 1772), daughter of Ulysses North of Newcastle (Co. Westmeath) and had issue including:
(1) Charles Bagot (1791-1864) (q.v.);
(2) Eliza Anne (or Jane) Bagot (c.1795-1866); married, 1815, Rev. John Ball (d. 1833), curate of Delgany (Co. Wicklow), 1827-30, and had issue including one son; died in Dublin, 27 November 1866;
(3) Ulysses Henry Bagot (b. c.1799); educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1820); died unmarried, probably before 1833;
(4) William Bagot (fl. 1833); died unmarried;
(5) Emilius Walker Bagot (d. 1864); died unmarried, Jan-Mar 1864.
He inherited the Kilcoursey estate from his father in 1785.
He died 3 March 1802. His widow's date of death is unknown.

Bagot, Charles (1791-1864). Eldest son of Rev. Charles Emilius Bagot (d. 1802) and his wife Eliza, daughter of Ulysses North of Newcastle (Co. Westmeath), born 1791. JP for Co. Offaly. Described in 1839 as 'a Liberal Protestant'. He married 1st, 1814, Anna, daughter of John Tuthill of Kingsland (Co. Limerick) and Sion Hill (Co. Dublin), and 2nd, 1840, Sidney Mary (c.1803-86), elder daughter of Andrew Edmund Bigoe Bagot (formerly Armstrong) of Castle Armstrong (Offaly), and had issue:
(1.1) Charles Emilius Bagot (1815-63), born 1815; studied medicine at Glasgow University (MD, 1840; MS, 1853); ran a dispensary at Ballingarry (Tipperary) and later practised in Dublin, but suffered from an unspecified ailment which limited his ability to practice, and caused him to devote more time to medical research; Licentiate of the King's & Queen's College of Physicians, 1859; published numerous papers, chiefly on medical subjects; committee member of the National Art Union for Ireland, 1846 (Chairman, 1848); died unmarried and without issue, 29 November 1863;
(1.2) John Tuthill Bagot (1819-70) (q.v.);
(1.3) Ulysses North Bagot (1822-82), born 1822; emigrated to Adelaide, South Australia with his brother, 1850, and operated there as a merchant; freemason from 1853; married 21 February 1850 at St Peter, Dublin, Rachel (c.1826-84), second daughter of John Meyler, and had issue three daughters (of whom one died in infancy and the others unmarried); died at Adelaide, 8 November 1882;
(1.4) Deborah Henrietta Bagot; died young;
(1.5) Mary Bagot; died young;
(1.6) Eliza Mary Bagot (c.1827-1906); emigrated to Australia with her siblings; died unmarried at Adelaide, 3 November 1906;
(1.7) Anna Frances Bagot (c.1828-1910); emigrated to Adelaide, South Australia; married, 13 September 1853 at St Peter, Dublin, George Augustus Labatt (1825-95), barrister in partnership with her brother, fourth surviving son of Samuel Bell Labatt MD of Rutland Square, Dublin, and had issue three sons and three daughters; died 18 August 1910;
(2.1) Rev. Andrew Edmond Bigoe Bagot (1842-1923), born 30 April 1842; baptised at St Peter, Rathmines, Dublin, 15 July 1863; studied mathematics and physics at Trinity College, Dublin (BA 1863) and at Kings Inns, Dublin (admitted 1864; called to bar, 1867); barrister-at-law; rector of St Mary, Beswick, Manchester; Hon. Sec. of Christian Evidence Society, 1889; married, 21 August 1878 at Dunham Massey (Cheshire), Clara Louise (1857-98), daughter of James Arthur Birch, but had no issue; they were divorced in 1894 after she became an alcoholic and violent towards her husband; died 23 February 1923;
(2.2) Daniel Walter Wagstaffe Bagot (1844-63), born 1844; medical student at Trinity College, Dublin; died unmarried at Kilcoursey House, 1 September 1863.
He inherited the Kilcoursey estate from his father in 1802 and the adjoining property called 'Cottage' from his maternal grandmother, Eliza North, in 1833. At his death he seems to have left his property to his eldest son. His widow moved to Dublin. He lived mainly at a house in Charlemont Mall, Dublin.
He died in Dublin, 8 August 1864; will proved 22 November 1864 (effects £540). His first wife's date of death is unknown. His widow died 4 August 1886; administration of her goods was granted 20 August 1886 (effects £1,135).

John Tuthill Bagot (1819-70)

Bagot, John Tuthill (1819-70). Second son of Charles Bagot (1791-1854) and his first wife, Anna, daughter of John Tuthill of Kingsland (Co. Limerick), born 15 February 1819. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1835; BA 1840), Middle Temple and Kings Inns, Dublin (admitted 1839; called to Irish bar, 1843). Emigrated to Adelaide, South Australia, 1850, where he set up practice as a solicitor in partnership with his brother-in-law, G.A. Labatt, although the partnership was eventually terminated due to financial difficulties. Member of the South Australian Legislative Assembly, 1853-56, the South Australian House of Assembly, 1857-64 and the South Australian Legislative Council, 1866-70 for Light District; Solicitor-General for a brief period in 1857; Commissioner of Crown Lands and Immigration, 1860-61, Attorney-General for a brief period in 1868, and Chief Secretary in Mr Strangways' government, 1868-70. Provincial Grand Master of the Irish Constitution Freemasons in South Australia. He was 'of a cheerful genial disposition, urbane in manners, and possessed many of the most amiable traits of the Irish character'. He married, 1 June 1848 at St Peter, Dublin, Eliza (c.1815-98), daughter of John Meyler, and had issue:
(1) Sarah Anne Woodcock Bagot (1849-53), born September 1849; died young, 19/20 January 1853 and was buried at West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide;
(2) Charles Ulysses Bagot (1851-1919), born in Adelaide, 28 July 1851; member of the Grand Lodge of Freemasons of Ireland in Adelaide, 1899; Government warden at the Peak Hill Goldfield (Western Australia) by 1899 and later at Coolgardie (Western Australia), c.1903-06; married, 22 May 1895 in Adelaide (South Australia), Margaret Eleanor (1853-1925), daughter of George Alexander Lawson, but had no issue; died 17 December 1919 and was buried at West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide, South Australia;
(3) John Meyler Bagot (1852-1924), born in Adelaide, 27 August 1852; married, 1888 in Victoria (Australia), Mary Ellen Murray and had issue two sons and one daughter; died in Sydney, New South Wales (Australia), 29 June 1924;

(4) (Elizabeth) Frances Harriett Bagot (1856-89), born 20 July 1856; married, 22 September 1888, Kenneth John Macaulay (1858-92), but had no issue; died 15 July 1889; her husband committed suicide by cutting his own throat;

(5) Robert George Bagot (1858-1933), born 18 June 1858; educated at St Peter's Collegiate School, Adelaide; with survey department of South Australian Government, 1874-94 and Lands Department of Western Australia, 1894-c.1900; he then farmed in the Nungarin district until c.1910, when failing health obliged him to retire to Perth; freemason from 1896; married, Edna Hope [surname unknown]; died at Mount Lawley, Perth, Western Australia, 20 October 1933.
He inherited the Kilcoursey estate from his father in 1864 and returned to Ireland to claim his inheritance before quickly going back to Australia. Some of his lands may have been sold at that time, but his remaining property was sold by his representatives in the Landed Estates Court in 1876.
He died of apoplexy in Adelaide, South Australia, 5 August and was buried in West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide, 7 August 1870; an obituary was published in the South Australian Register, 13 August 1870. His widow died 14 September 1898 and was buried at West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide; her will was proved 3 February 1899.

Sources

Burke's Irish Family Records, 1976, pp. 49-50; Burke's Landed Gentry, 1850, i, pp. 43-44; The Christian Guardian for 1812, iv, pp. 1-8; M. Bence-Jones, A guide to Irish country houses, 2nd edn., 1990, p. 15; M.C. Lyons, Illustrated Incumbered Estates, Ireland 1850-1905, 1993, pp. 219-20; P. Melvin, Estates and Landed Society in Galway, 2012, pp. 46, 65, 83, 88, 105-06, 158-59, 162, 183-84, 197, 370.

Location of archives

No significant archive is known to survive.

Coat of arms

Bagot of Kilcoursey: Argent, on a chevron gules, between three martlets sable, as many mullets or.
Bagot of Aughrane Castle: Ermine, two chevronels azure, in the dexter chief point a trefoil, slipped, vert.

Can you help?

Here are a few notes about information and images which would help to improve the account above. If you can help with any of these or with other additions or corrections, please use the contact form in the sidebar to get in touch. Can anyone:

• Provide additional historic or contemporary images of the houses described above? I would be particularly keen to trace an illustration of Kilcoursey House as it existed between the 1730s and 1870s, and of the present Kilcoursey House before it was enlarged in 1911.
• Provide additional genealogical information for the members of the family given here, or portraits or photographs of any of those whose names are given in bold?

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 19 November 2017 and updated 30 January, 29 September and 23 October 2018. I am grateful for the assistance of Conor Kenny, Martha Bolger and Paul O'Brien with aspects of this account, and to Mrs P.L. Shard for a correction.