(589) Bernard (later Beamish-Bernard) of Palace Anne

Bernard of Palace Anne 

The Bernards of Palace Anne are a cadet branch of the Bernards of Castle Bernard (Co. Cork), Earls of Bandon, and the genealogy below begins with Arthur Bernard (1666-1735), the second son of Francis Bernard (c.1640-90) of Castle Mahon, and the younger brother of Francis Bernard (1663-1731), judge and MP. Like his brother, he was attainted by the Jacobite parliament in 1689, but quickly rehabilitated after King William III's defeat of James II. He was married in 1695 and evidently lived at first at Lismore Castle, where he or his father-in-law seems to have held a tenancy, but around a decade later he built a new house, called Palace Anne in honour of his wife, on land west of Bandon which he had inherited from his father. According to one tradition, a first house was destroyed by fire soon after being completed, and was then replaced by the building recorded below, which is said to have been built in 1714. Arthur and Anne had a large family of fourteen children, but their eldest son and heir was Roger Bernard (1703-56), who served as Provost of Bandon in 1737 and 1751. He married in 1740 and produced a single son, Roger Bernard (1742-73), who was High Sheriff of Co. Cork in 1768. The younger Roger was unmarried, though he had an illegitimate son, and so on his death Palace Anne passed to his uncle, Arthur Bernard (1716-93), who served as provost of Bandon no less than eight times in the second half of the 18th century. He had four sons and three daughters, but his eldest son and heir, Thomas Bernard (d. 1795) survived him by only two years, and died without issue. For reasons which are unclear, Thomas disinherited his younger brother, Maj. Arthur Bernard (c.1757-1837), who pursued a military career, in favour of his nephew, Arthur Beamish (c.1772-1855), the second son of his sister Elizabeth. Arthur, who took the name Beamish-Bernard as a consequence of his inheritance, played a prominent role, alongside his younger brothers, in the resistance to the agrarian rebellion of 1821-24, and was later active in efforts to bring new investment into the Irish countryside. He became a local director of the Agricultural & Commercial Bank of Ireland and set up the Palace Anne Mills, built in 1837, as a means of generating employment in the area. Unfortunately the mill was an economic disaster and he was bankrupted in 1842. The estate never recovered from this blow, and he seems to have first rented Palace Anne itself to his brother George Beamish (c.1780-1868) and then in 1853 sold most of the land through the Encumbered Estates Court. He died without legitimate issue in 1855, and ownership of Palace Anne seems to have passed either to George or directly to Arthur's nephew, Arthur Beamish-Bernard (1831-88), who ultimately became the owner, but who had emigrated to the United States before 1855 and never returned. The house at Palace Anne was apparently unoccupied from at least 1868 and possibly earlier, and by 1873, when Arthur sold the freehold, it was derelict. Subsequent owners used only one wing of the house and the rest was eventually demolished in 1957.

Palace Anne, Enniskean (Co. Cork)

Palace Anne was one of the most interesting early 18th century houses in Ireland. It was built for Arthur Bernard (1666-1735), who is said to have first built a similar house on a site a mile and a half to the south at a place called Farnasheshary, which was destroyed by fire, after which he built Palace Anne in 1714, and named it in compliment to his wife, Anne Le Poer. This story seems first to have been recorded in 1850, but one must question its probability, since it would entail a remarkable expenditure on building in a world without fire insurance, and the site of the first house is not identifiable. On the other hand, genealogical papers state that those of his children born in or after 1706 were born at Palace Anne, so either the house was built a little earlier than usually stated, or else there really was an earlier house which was known by the same name.

Palace Anne: print of the east front published in 1834, from the Dublin Penny Journal.

Palace Anne originally consisted of a central seven bay block connected by short links to two-bay wings, built of red bricks with moulded brick and limestone dressings. The east front extended to some 140 feet and faced the main road from Bandon; it must have made a remarkably stylish statement to those travelling west. The central block consisted of two storeys over a high basement, with an attic above fronted by three Dutch shaped gables of a type fashionable in England half a century earlier. The wings were lower, of a single storey over the basement, but each had a single shaped gable echoing those on the central block. Inside, the house had a panelled hall, a handsome staircase, and a room known as the Bullock's Hall, with a large carved head of a bullock placed over the fireplace that is said to have commemorated an exceptionally large animal butchered for the housewarming feast.

Palace Anne: the house in 1866. Image: Victoria & Albert Museum

Palace Anne: the ruins of the house and the surviving south wing in the early 20th century. Image: Irish Architectural Archive.

Palace Anne: the remaining south wing in recent years.
Image: The Buildings of Ireland 

Between the house and the road there was a formal garden of topiary and parterres, said to have been maintained into the 19th century in its original early 18th century form, but there was also a large walled garden with a two acre nut grove, a fish pond, and a bath house. All this was lost after the death of Arthur Beamish-Bernard in 1855, when the house was abandoned and quickly declined into ruin. The south wing was refurbished as a dwelling before 1944, but the rest of the house was pulled down in 1957, and now the surviving wing is in a state of serious dilapidation and used only for storage, the owners having moved into a modern farmhouse nearby.

Descent: built for Arthur Bernard (1666-1735); to son, Roger Bernard (1703-56); to son, Roger Bernard (1742-73); to uncle, Arthur Bernard (1716-93); to son, Thomas Bernard (d. 1795); to nephew, Arthur Beamish (later Beamish-Bernard) (c.1772-1855); to nephew, Arthur Beamish-Bernard (1831-88); abandoned and sold in derelict condition 1873 to James Lane... Timothy Creeden (d. c.1893)... Robert Warner (fl. 1899-1944)...

Bernard family of Palace Anne

Bernard, Arthur (1666-1735). Second son of Francis Bernard (c.1640-90) of Castle Mahon (Co. Cork) and his wife Mary, daughter of Capt Arthur Freke of Castle Freke (Co. Cork), born 1666. He was attainted by the Jacobite 'Patriot' Parliament of 1689, but the attainder was reversed by King William III and he became High Sheriff of Co. Cork, 1697, 1706 and Provost of Bandon, 1718. He married, 22 December 1695 at Lismore Castle (Co. Waterford), Anne, daughter and co-heiress of Roger Power (or Le Poer) of Mount Eglantine (Co Waterford), and had issue:  

(1) Mary Bernard (1698-1776), born at Lismore Castle, 13 May 1698; married, 29 October 1721, William Conner (d. 1766) of Connerville (Co. Cork), and had issue five sons and several daughters; buried at Kilbrogan, 16 September 1776;

(2) Ann Bernard (1700-68), born at Lismore Castle, 14 January 1699/1700; married, 1726, Charles Gookin (d. 1758) of Lislee (Co. Cork); buried at Kilbrogan, 19 October 1768; will proved at Cork, 1768;

(3) Thomasine Bernard (b. 1701), born at Lismore Castle, 29 June, 1701; married William Coghlan of Youghal (Co. Cork) and had issue;

(4) Elizabeth Bernard (1702-c.1775), born at Lismore Castle, 6 October 1702; married, 1731, Maj. Jeffrey Gibbon (d. 1738?); will proved at Cork, 1775;

(5) Roger Bernard (1703-56) (q.v.);

(6) Margaret Bernard; married, 1729, Edmund Barrett of Towermore;

(7) Francis Bernard (b. 1706), born at Palace Anne, 7 October 1706; married Elizabeth [surname unknown] and had issue;

(8) Catherine Bernard (b. 1708), born at Palace Anne, March 1707/8; married, 1741, Edward Martin (d. 1750) of Cork and had issue one daughter; 

(9) Arthur Bernard (1716-93) (q.v.)

(10) Henrietta Bernard (b. 1712), born 27 March 1712; married, 1736, her first cousin, William Bernard (d. 1774), fifth son of Francis Bernard (1663-1731) of Castle Bernard, Bandon (Co. Cork);

(11) Arabella Bernard (b. 1713), born at Palace Anne, 10 August 1713; died unmarried;

(12) Alicia Bernard (1715-62), born at Palace Anne, 2nd January 1714/5; married, 1734, Benjamin Green (1711-65), seventh son of Simon Green of Youghal (Co. Cork), and had issue one daughter; died 8 August 1762;

(13) Dorothy Bernard (b. 1716), born Palace Anne, 29 July 1716; married William Cooper;

(14) George Bernard (1719-51), born at Palace Anne, 7 May 1719; an officer in the army (Ensign, 1739; Lt.; Capt.); married, 20 July 1748 at St George's Chapel, Mayfair, Westminster (Middx), Mary (1727-1816), daughter of Sir William Codrington, bt. of Dodington (Glos), and had issue one son (later General George Bernard (1749-1820) of Heaton Lodge, Kirkheaton (Yorks WR)); died in Dublin, 1751; will proved in Dublin, 1751.

He built Palace Anne on lands inherited from his father. A first house may have been built c.1706 and replaced by another on a different site c.1714.

He was buried at Ballymodan (Co Cork), 15 December 1735; his will was proved in 1736. His widow was buried at Ballymodan, 18 June 1749.  

Bernard, Roger (1703-56). Eldest son of Arthur Bernard (1666-1735) and his wife Anne, daughter and co-heiress of Roger Power (or Le Poer) of Mount Eglantine (Co Waterford), born at Lismore Castle, 7 December 1703.  Provost of Bandon, 1737 and 1751. He married, 1740 at Cork, Dorcas Harper (d. 1762), and had issue:

(1) Roger Bernard (1742-74) (q.v.).

He inherited Palace Anne from his father in 1735.

He died in 1756; administration of his goods was granted to his brother Arthur, 28 December 1756. His widow was buried at Ballymodan (Co. Cork), 27 August 1762.

Bernard, Roger (1742-73). Only child of Roger Bernard (b. 1703) and his wife D. Harper, born 1742. Educated at St John's College, Cambridge (matriculated 1761). High Sheriff of Co. Cork, 1767; JP for Co. Cork, 1768. He was unmarried but had an illegitimate son by Jane Donovan:

(X1) William Bernard (fl. 1772).

He inherited Palace Anne from his father in 1756 and came of age in 1763. At his death it passed to his uncle, Arthur Bernard (1716-93).

He died in 1773; administration of his goods was granted to his uncle Arthur Bernard, 26 October 1773.

Bernard, Arthur (1716-93). Third son of Arthur Bernard (1666-1735) and his wife Anne, daughter and co-heiress of Roger Power (or Le Poer) of Mount Eglantine (Co Waterford), born 1716. Provost of Bandon, 1745, 1755, 1762, 1772, 1780, 1784, 1786 and 1790. He married, 1735, his cousin Mary, daughter of Francis Adderley and great-granddaughter of Sir Matthew Hale, and had issue:

(1) Francis Bernard; died without issue, presumably in the lifetime of his father; 
(2) Thomas Bernard (d. 1795) (q.v.);

(3) Roger Bernard (d. 1747); died young and was buried at Ballymodan, 14 March 1747;

(4) Elizabeth Bernard (c.1748-1839) (q.v.);

(5) Alicia Bernard (b. 1754), baptised at Kilbrogan, 13 August 1754; married, 18 September 1788 at Kilbrogan, Rev. John Hingston (1762-99), curate of Kilbrogan, fifth son of Rev. James Hingston (d. 1776) of Aglish (Co. Cork) and rector of Donoughmore (Co. Cork), and had issue three sons and one daughter;

(6) Anne Bernard (c.1755-1824); died unmarried and was buried at Kilbrogan, 23 January 1824. 

(7) Arthur Bernard (c.1757-1837); an officer in the army (Ensign, 1780; Lt., 1781; Capt., 1808; Maj., 1825; retired on half-pay 1826); was disinherited by his elder brother and lived at Longford Row, Cork; married, 1780, Margaret (d. 1838), daughter of John Warren (d. 1800) of Castle Warren (Co. Cork), and had issue eight children; died 14 December 1837.

He inherited Palace Anne from his nephew.

He died in 1793. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Bernard, Thomas (d. 1795).  Eldest surviving son of Arthur Bernard (1716-93) and his wife Mary, daughter of Francis Adderley of Innishannon (Co. Cork), born about 1740. He married, December 1778, Harriet alias Henrietta, daughter of Arthur Lucas of Grange, Fermoy (Co. Cork), but had no issue.

He inherited Palace Anne from his father in 1793. At his death it passed to his nephew, Arthur Beamish (later Beamish-Bernard).

His will was proved in 1795. His wife's date of death is unknown. 

Bernard, Elizabeth (c.1748-1839). Eldest daughter of of Arthur Bernard (1716-93) and his wife Mary, daughter of Francis Adderley. She married, 3 July 1766 at Kilbrogan (Co. Cork), Richard Beamish (d. c.1788) of Raheroon (Co. Cork), son of Thomas Beamish of Raheroon (Co. Cork), and had issue:

(1) Thomas Beamish (c.1770-1823), born about 1770; an officer in the army (Lt., 1793; Capt., 1794; Maj., 1804), who successfully defended Fort Irois, San Domingo, against a French force, 1796, and was mentioned in despatches; died unmarried and without issue, and was buried at Ballymodan (Co. Cork), 16 November 1823;

(2) Arthur Beamish (later Beamish-Bernard) (c.1772-1855) (q.v.); 

(3) Vincent Beamish (c.1774-96) an officer in the army (Lt., 1795); died unmarried in the West Indies in 1796; 

(4) Samuel Beamish (later Beamish-Bernard) (1777-1853) (q.v.); 

(5) George Beamish (c.1780-1868); army officer (Ensign, 1805; Lt., 1806; Captain); apparently rented Palace Anne in 1847, and is said to have inherited Palace Anne on the death of his brother in 1855, but died unmarried, 1868;

(6) Bernard Beamish (1781-1871); army officer (Ensign, 1808; Lt.); tried for murder following a duel between Daniel Conner and Capt. Daunt in which he acted as second to Conner and Daunt was killed, but was acquitted, 1826; married, 5 January 1839 at Desertserges (Co. Cork), Elizabeth (d. 1868), daughter of John Beamish (c.1769-1848), but had no issue; buried, 22 November 1871; 

(7) Adderley Beamish (later Beamish-Bernard) (c.1787-1866), of Kilcoleman House (Co. Cork) and Byard's Lodge (Yorks), born 18 October 1795; army officer (Ensign, 1806; Lt., 1807; Capt., 1819; retired on half-pay by 1822 but returned to service 1829), who served at Talavera (wounded) and Waterloo, and later in the Hanoverian service; married 1st, 19 September 1823 at Knaresborough (Yorks WR), Frances, daughter and heiress of General George Bernard (1749-1820) of Heaton Lodge, Kirkheaton (Yorks WR), Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod to Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and had issue one daughter; married 2nd, 10 July 1845 at the British Embassy in Frankfurt, Anna Catherine (d. 1882), third daughter of Capt. George Walker RN of Fermoy (Co. Cork), and had issue two sons; died at Mayence (Germany), 17 July 1866; will proved in London, 10 August 1867 (effects in England under £600);

(8) Richard Beamish (fl. 1803); died unmarried after April 1803;

(9) Elizabeth Adderley Beamish; married, 1791, her cousin, Thomas Austen (1756-1833) of Skeaf House, Kilmalooda (Co. Cork), son of Vincent Austen, and had issue; 

(10) Mary Beamish (d. 1836); married, 23 April 1800, Maj. William Sullivan (94th/79th regiment); died at Palace Anne, 28 October 1836;

(11) Jane Beamish, married, 11 April 1809 at St Mary, Shandon (Co. Cork), her cousin, Francis Bernard, fourth son of Capt. Arthur Bernard (84th Foot) and grandson of Arthur Bernard of Palace Anne and Mary Adderley, and had issue;

(12) Anne Beamish (c.1777-1858); died unmarried, aged 81, in Dublin, 3 December 1858.

She died in 1839. Her husband's will was proved in 1788.

Beamish (later Beamish-Bernard), Arthur (c.1772-1855). Second son of Thomas Beamish (d. c.1788) of Raheroon (Co. Cork) and his wife Elizabeth, elder daughter of Arthur Bernard of Palace Anne. JP for Co. Cork. Captain commanding the East Carbery Yeomanry, who took an active part in combatting the 'Whiteboys" during the Agrarian Rebellion of 1821-24. He took the additional name of Bernard on inheriting the Palace Anne estate in 1795. He was one of the local promoters and directors of the Agricultural & Commercial Bank of Ireland in the 1830s, and built and operated the Palace Anne Mills, but was found bankrupt, 1842. He was unmarried and without legitimate issue, but had at least two illegitimate sons:

(X1) Adderley Bernard (b. 1823), baptised at Kinneigh or Murragh, 29 November 1823;

(X2) Thomas Bernard (fl. 1847); married, 8 June 1847 at Ballymodan (Co. Cork), Mary, daughter of [forename unknown] Gillman and widow of Barry Gregg of Castle Vind (Co. Cork).  

He inherited Raheroon from his father in 1788 and came of age in c.1793. He inherited Palace Anne from his uncle, Thomas Bernard, in 1795. In 1852 he offered 3,300 acres at Palace Anne for sale through the Encumbered Estates Court. He let Palace Anne to his brother George.

He died aged 83 on 16 January and was buried at Ballymodan (Co. Cork), 19 January 1855; his will was proved in 1855.

Beamish (later Bernard-Beamish), Samuel (1777-1853). Sixth son of of Thomas Beamish of Raheroon (Co. Cork) and his wife Elizabeth, elder daughter of Arthur Bernard of Palace Anne, born 1777. An officer in the army (Ensign, 1806; Lt., 1807; Capt., 1820). He took the additional name of Bernard before 1834. He married, September 1818, Ellen alias Ellinor (c.1800-43), second daughter of Godfrey Byrne (d. 1832) of Bow Park, nr Dublin, and had issue:

(1) Elizabeth Brampton Beamish (1823-62), baptised at Ballymoney, 25 March 1823; emigrated to America with her husband; married, c.1857, as his first wife, Mountiford Longfield McCarthy (1835-1901), son of William Daunt McCarthy, and had issue at least two sons; died 15 January 1862;

(2) Ellen Godfrey Bernard Beamish (1825-1918), baptised at Ballymoney, 21 June 1825; lived at Killinear, Enniskeane (Co. Cork); died unmarried; will proved 20 November 1918;

(3) Marianne Adderley Beamish (b. 1829), baptised at Kinneigh, 11 November 1829;

(4) Arthur Beamish (later Beamish-Bernard (1831-88) (q.v.);

(5) Richard Brampton Adderley Beamish (later Beamish-Bernard) (1834-62), born 11 May 1834 and baptised at Kilbrogan, 30 August 1842; killed at the battle of Antietam, Maryland (USA) in the American Civil War, 17 September 1862.

He lived at Magmόr in the parish of Killowen

He died at Palace Anne, 27 April 1853. His wife died 29 June and was buried 3 July 1843.

Beamish-Bernard, Arthur (1831-88). Elder son of Samuel Beamish (later Bernard-Beamish) of Magmόr in the parish of Killowen, and his wife Ellen alias Ellinor, second daughter of Godfrey Byrne of Bow Park, nr. Dublin, born 20 January and baptised at Kinneigh (Co. Cork), 24 January 1831. He emigrated to America, arriving on 18 September 1850 on the "Roscius" from Liverpool, aged 19. He settled at Palmyra, Jefferson, Wisconsin in 1852 and by 1856 owned a 240 acre farm. He married, 14 November 1852, Elizabeth McCarthy (b. 1830), but had no legitimate issue. He fostered a child (Richard McCarthy), born about 1862.

Either on the death of his uncle Arthur in 1855 or of his uncle George in 1868, he inherited what remained of the Palace Anne estate, but left it unoccupied and decaying. He sold it in 1873.

He died in Jefferson, Wisconsin (USA), 22 June 1888. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Principal sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1850, p.87; Burke's Irish Family Records, 1976, p. 86; H.L. Connor, 'Palace Anne, Co. Cork', Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, 1958, vol. 63, no. 167, pp. 15-17; F. Keohane, The buildings of Ireland: Cork city and county, 2020, pp. 396-98;

http://www.bandon-genealogy.com/Bernards_of_Palace_Anne.htm

Location of archives

No significant accumulation is known to survive.

Coat of arms

Argent, a bend azure, charged with three escallop shells of the first.

Can you help?

• Can anyone supply further information about the ownership history of Palace Anne after its sale by the Bernard family?
• Can anyone provide portraits or photographs of the people whose names appear in bold above, for whom no image is currently shown?
• If anyone can offer further information or corrections to any part of this article I should be most grateful. I am always particularly pleased to hear from current owners or the descendants of families associated with a property who can supply information from their own research or personal knowledge for inclusion.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 11 November 2024.