(644) Blackburne of Tankardstown House and Rathfarnham Castle

According to Edward Blackburne's memoir of his father, the Blackburnes were established as gentleman farmers or minor gentry in Co. Meath for several generations in the 18th century until in the 1790s the unsettled state of the Irish countryside and the risk of violent insurrection forced Richard Blackburne (c.1745-98), with whom the genealogy below begins, to abandon his house at Great Footstown and move into Dublin for greater security. It was thus at Dublin that his only surviving son, Francis Blackburne (1782-1867), grew up and completed his education. After studying at Trinity College, Dublin and Kings Inns he went to Lincoln's Inn in London and was called to the Irish bar in 1805. He then entered upon a brilliantly successful legal career which culminated in his serving for two brief periods as Lord Chancellor of Ireland. In the 1860s he was offered, but declined, a baronetcy. With the wealth generated by his legal offices, he purchased first, around 1815, the modest Tankardstown estate in County Meath, where he was probably responsible for rebuilding the house, and later, in 1847, Rathfarnham Castle. His main homes, however, were probably always his town houses in Dublin and the suburban villas he owned successively before buying the castle. He was married for fifty-eight years to Jane Martley (d. 1872), and together they had fourteen children, although only five of them survived their long-lived father. These included William Martley Blackburne (1821-68), who inherited Tankardstown, and  Edward Blackburne QC (1823-1902), who inherited Rathfarnham. William, who survived his father by only a few months, bequeathed Tankardstown to his own elder son, Francis William Blackburne (1851-1921), who was educated in England and married the daughter of a Scottish gentry family but settled at Tankardstown, where he was High Sheriff of Co. Meath in 1898-99. He and his wife had one son and three daughters (one of whom died young). The son, William John Anstruther Blackburne (1904-42), was generally known as Jack. He studied agriculture at Cambridge, where the start of his studies seems to have been delayed by his father's death and perhaps also by the Irish civil war, and his obituary commented on his use of modern farming and horticultural methods. He died of cancer in his 30s, and since he was unmarried the Tankardstown estate passed to his two sisters, Elena Townshend (1898-1996) and Amabel Blackburne (1910-96). Elena and her husband Charles Townshend seem to have farmed the estate until 1966, when he died, after which the two sisters carried on until the 1970s when they sold Tankardstown and retired to a smaller house on the estate.

Edward Blackburne (1823-1902), who inherited Rathfarnham Castle from his father, the Lord Chancellor, pursued a legal career like his father and was made a QC in 1868, although he never achieved judicial office. He married the daughter of a Dublin physician, and they produced one son and one daughter. The son was Francis Blackburne (b. 1859), but though he was the heir apparent to Rathfarnham, he seems either to have fallen out with his father or to have had no interest in occupying the position of privilege in society to which he had been born. He was remarkably difficult to trace in contemporary records, but he went first to London, where he was married in 1881 to a woman called Minnie Mulholland, who has proved even more elusive. They then emigrated to the United States, where they had a son in San Francisco in 1883 and a daughter in Springfield, Ohio in 1887 before moving on to Toronto (Canada). At a young age their son, Edward Blackburne (1883-1948), was returned to Ireland, where he was apparently brought up by his grandfather and educated as a gentleman, no doubt with a view to his being the heir to Rathfarnham. The elder Edward died in 1902 and left his widow a life interest in Rathfarnham, which expired on her death in 1911. By then the younger Edward had taken holy orders and was a curate in the east end of London, where his sister kept house for him. Within months of coming into his Irish inheritance he had married, sold the Rathfarnham estate and been instituted as rector of Bolnhurst, a small and remote village in the claylands of north Bedfordshire. He remained there until 1919, but then resigned the living and moved to Sussex. Although he was a licensed preacher in the diocese of Chichester in the 1920s and 1930s he seems never to have held another benefice. He and his wife had three daughters but no sons, and he died in very modest circumstances at Totnes in south Devon in 1948.

Tankardstown House, Co. Meath

The house began as a rectangular house of two storeys, with a three bay front and slightly shorter three-bay sides, built of limestone rubble. It was constructed about 1815, and therefore probably for Francis Blackburne (1782-1867) who bought the heavily mortgaged estate around that time, rather than for the previous owner, Brabazon Morris, although this cannot be certain. The use of rubble stone rather than ashlar gives the house a curiously rustic look, and it seems likely that the exterior was originally stuccoed to give a smoother, more neo-classical impression. The house has a very wide central hall and two staircases at the rear, and the principal reception rooms to either side.

Tankardstown House: the entrance front and side elevation of the original block.

Tankardstown House: the side elevation showing the late 19th century addition and the new entrance then built.

In 1883-86, Francis William Blackburne enlarged the house to the rear to the designs of Sir Thomas Drew. The extension, which consists of an additional block built onto the back of the earlier house and a long wing projecting to its east, included a new front entrance and a large Jacobethan staircase hall. Alterations were made to the layout of the house, so that the original front door became a window, and the Regency interiors were changed by the introduction of coarser and more elaborate classical details. It is said that the original intention was to build a larger extension, but that the plans were simplified during the build. A pair of metalwork gates on the avenue approach are stamped 'Paris 1890'. 

Descent: Brabazon Morris; sold c.1815 to Francis Blackburne (1782-1867); to son, William Martley Blackburne (1821-68); to son, Francis William Blackburne (1851-1921); to son, Jack Blackburne (1904-42); to sisters, Elena Frances (1898-1996), wife of Charles Maurice Waddington Loftus Townshend (1899-1966), and Amabel Blackburne (1910-96), who sold 1970s... sold 2002 to Brian and Patricia Conroy, who since 2008 have operated it as a wedding and events venue.

Rathfarnham Castle, Co. Dublin

An important Elizabethan house in a strategic position close to the bridge by which the main road south from Dublin to the Wicklow mountains crosses the River Dodder. There was a medieval castle here, an outbuilding of which survived and was incorporated into the ground floor of a 20th century residential block, now known as Cromwell's Court. Rathfarnham's significance lies in the fact that it was designed not as a tower house, but as a semi-fortified mansion, demonstrating new (and ill-founded) optimism about the stability of the Elizabethan settlement in Ireland and the security of the countryside. While defencibility was still a significant consideration, for the first time in Ireland, equal or greater weight was given to making the house a pleasant and comfortable place of residence. 

Rathfarnham Castle: a late 19th century view of the house from the south-east.

Rathfarnham was built in 1582-85 for the Most Rev. Adam Loftus (c.1533-1605), a Yorkshireman who became archbishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor of Ireland, 1581-1605.

Rathfarnham Castle: ground floor plan, as altered in the 18th century.

The house takes the form of a rectangular double pile central block with a tower at each corner, a form familiar in England in houses such as Mount Edgcumbe (Cornwall); but whereas at Mount Edgcumbe the towers are square, at Rathfarnham they are bastion-shaped, and the towers are battered at the base and offset at each storey, allowing greater visibility for defenders of any attacking force. Later alterations to the fenestration and interiors make it difficult to know what Adam Loftus's Rathfarnham would have been like to live in, but the floor levels and materials tell us quite a lot. The basement is vaulted throughout, and the main entrance (now an 18th century doorway but thought to be in the original position) is to the ground floor above, and is approached by an external stair. This floor was 12 feet high internally, but the first floor was much taller, so we can assume that this was where the principal 16th century rooms were; the top floor is treated as an attic and no doubt housed servants' accommodation. The spine wall down the centre of the main block is a massive structure, some twelve feet thick.

The castle changed hands several times during the Irish Confederate Wars (1641-53), but seems to have remained habitable throughout. In the 1690s it passed by marriage from the Loftus family to the Whartons, and in 1723 was sold by the 1st Duke of Wharton (who had incurred massive losses in the South Sea Bubble) to William Conolly, Speaker of the Irish Parliament and the builder of Castletown House (Co. Kildare). Conolly spent £62,000 on his purchase but seems to have been more interested in the land than the house, of which he granted a long lease to Edward Worth (1672-1741). Worth was said in 1733 to be 'prodigious fond of the place and is continually improving it", although his activities are surely too early for the rich Rococo ceilings in the house. After Worth died, the lease was sold in 1742 to Archbishop John Hoadly, who was translated from Dublin to Armagh in the year he acquired Rathfarnham. In the four years he owned the house, his obituarist recorded him making 'repairs' to Rathfarnham, but could he have accomplished the extensive works that seem to form the first phase of internal remodelling in such a short period? Hoadly died in 1746 and the lease passed to his son-in-law, Bellingham Boyle MP (1709-71), an MP who suffered repeatedly from financial troubles. Nonetheless, he seems the most likely person to have commissioned the first phase of internal remodelling of the house. 

Rathfarnham Castle: Rococo ceiling of the library (later drawing room) behind the bow on the east front.

This produced a series of rich Rococo plasterwork ceilings with contrastingly plain classical doorcases and window frames. His work may also have involved taking the kitchens out of the basement and relocating them in a new wing to the south-west, building a new staircase in the north-west tower, and the construction of the bowed projection on the east front, which disturbs the symmetry of the house but provdes a particularly handsome bow-ended library on the ground floor. Other surviving Rococo ceilings from this phase of work include that of the passage through the central spine wall from the entrance hall to the long gallery, and a room on the first floor of the south front.

Rathfarnham Castle: ceiling attributed to Athenian Stuart in the first-floor Breakfast Room.

Rathfarnham Castle: the saloon/gallery in the late 19th century.

In 1763, Boyle sold his lease to Sir Lawrence Dundas, and it seems likely that he continued the remodelling of the house, turning to James 'Athenian' Stuart as his architect. In 1769, Lady Shelburne mentioned that some of the interiors were being decorated after designs by Mr. Stuart, and on stylistic grounds these have been identified as the ground-floor Gallery (formerly with inset paintings by Angelica Kauffman) and the Breakfast Room and Gilt Room on the first floor of the south front. The date of Lady Shelburne's comment implies that the work was still in progress when the lease of Rathfarnham was sold in 1767 to Nicholas Home-Loftus, 2nd Earl of Ely, who was a descendant of the original builder, Archbishop Loftus. He died at the age of 31 two years later, and the house passed to his uncle, Henry Loftus (1709-83), 7th Viscount and later 1st Earl of Ely of a new creation. Henry seems at once to have put in hand further alterations to the house, on which he consulted Sir William Chambers, but the main interiors seem to have pre-dated his involvement and his hand is only identifiable in the picture gallery and some more minor spaces. 

Rathfarnham Castle: picture gallery, decorated by Sir William Chambers. Image: David Davison

Rathfarnham Castle: the architect of the entrance hall is unknown, but is unlikely to be Chambers, who was well known for opposing the use of baseless Doric columns, and who is unlikely to have designed such a top-heavy doorcase!

Rathfarnham Castle: the house from the south-east, drawn by Gabriel Beringer in 1774.

Rathfarnham Castle: view of the park in 1794 by George Holmes
[Glin Castle Collection]

Rathfarnham Castle: entrance front and park in 1794
from a view by George Holmes. [Glin Castle Collection]

The woodland of the demesne was praised in a letter of 1699 and the grounds had evidently been laid out - presumably for Edward Worth - by 1734, when Lady Anne Conolly described Rathfarnham as having the best garden she had seen in Ireland, with a 'pritty garden' and 'a vastly well-wooded park with a racing water going thro' it, besides a great many fine fishponds' and the largest carp she had ever seen. By 1774, when the house was depicted by Beringer, the surroundings had been landscaped in the Brownian manner, and over the next quarter of a century the grounds were ornamented by Lord Ely and his nephew, later the 1st Marquess of Ely, with a temple consisting of a circular tower surrounded by a Doric colonnade (demolished in 1979), a rather plain Gothick gate of 1790 at the village entrance to the park (demolished in the 20th century), a greenhouse, aviary and serpentine streams. The one surviving structure is a fine triumphal arch entrance gate to the demesne, now known as Ely's Arch. This has been plausibly attributed by Dean to Francis Johnston and dated to c.1802, but there is said to be map evidence for its existence by 1779; perhaps there was an earlier structure on the same site. 

Rathfarnham Castle: the Ely Gate, attributed to Francis Johnston and said to have been built c.1802.

In the early 19th century the Loftus family moved to Loftus Hall (Co. Wicklow) and Rathfarnham was leased to a dairy farmer and fell into disrepair. By 1837 it was threatened with demolition, and there were plans to divide the demesne into small plots for the building of suburban villas. This was averted when the estate was purchased by Francis Blackburne, who like Adam Loftus was Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He and his son occupied the house, but in 1912 the estate was sold to a firm of property developers who divided the estate up, selling the eastern part for development as a golf course, developing the north-west section for housing, and selling the castle and south-west part of the grounds to the Society of Jesus, which also bought some of the house contents at auction. In 1913, the Jesuits carried out some additions and alterations, including creating a chapel within the house, to the designs of Charles B. Powell, but seem to have made few other significant alterations to the fabric in the seventy years they occupied the house. In 1986 they sold the estate to another development company, and the house was once again threatened with demolition. A vociferous public campaign led to the purchase of the house and its immediate environs by the Irish Government, which declared it to be a National Monument and vested it in the Office of Public Works, which has undertaken a major restoration work on the building, although there is still more to be done.

Descent: built for Most Rev. Adam Loftus (c.1533-1605); to son, Sir Dudley Loftus (1561-1616), kt.; to son, Sir Adam Loftus (d. c.1659), kt.; to younger son, Dr Dudley Loftus (1619-95); to great-niece, Lucy, wife of Thomas Wharton (1648-1715), 1st Marquess of Wharton; to son, Philip Wharton (1698-1731), 1st Duke of Wharton, who sold 1723 to William Conolly (1662-1729). After the granting of a long lease to Edward Worth (1672-1741) the only interest of subsequent landlords was in a small ground rent, and it was the leaseholders who were the active owners. The lease passed from Edward Worth to the Most Rev. John Hoadly (1678-1746), archbishop of Dublin and later of Armagh, and then to his son-in-law, Bellingham Boyle (1709-71); sold 1767 to Nicholas Home-Loftus (1738-69), 2nd Earl of Ely; to uncle, Hon. Henry Loftus (1709-83), 7th Viscount and later 1st Earl of Ely; to nephew, Charles Tottenham (later Loftus) (1738-1806), 1st Marquess of Ely; to son, John Loftus (1770-1845), 2nd Marquess of Ely, who sub-let the house from 1812; sold 1847 to Rt. Hon. Francis Blackburne (1782-1867); to son, Edward Blackburne (1823-1902); to widow (d. 1911) for life and then to grandson, Rev. Edward Blackburne (1883-1948), who sold 1912 to Bailey & Gibson; sold 1913 to Society of Jesus; sold 1985 to Delaware Properties; sold 1987 to Irish Government and declared a National Monument. 

Blackburne family of Rathfarnham Castle and Tankardstown House

Blackburne, Richard (c.1745-98). Eldest son of George Blackburne (d. 1769) and his wife Mary, born about 1745. Farmer and landowner. He married, 1774 (licence 10 June), Elizabeth (d. 1826), daughter of Francis Hopkins of Darvistown (Co. Meath), and had issue:

(1) Jane Blackburne (c.1775-1860), born about 1775; married, 1803 (licence 30 March), William Webb (c.1771-1845), deputy Commissary General and author of a travel book about a journey down the River Rhine and a stay in Switzerland and Italy (1827); died 25 April 1860;

(2) Elizabeth Blackburne (c.1777-1863), born about 1777; died unmarried 29 August 1863 and was buried at Mount Jerome Cemetery;

(3) George Blackburne; died in infancy;

(4) Rt. Hon. Francis Blackburne (1782-1867) (q.v.);

(5) Anna Maria Blackburne (c.1792-1865), born about 1792; died unmarried, 10 September 1865 and was buried at Mount Jerome Cemetery; administration of goods granted 14 October 1865 (effects under £450).

He lived at Great Footstown (Co. Meath) until the 1790s, when he was forced by popular unrest in the countryside to flee to Dublin; the house at Footstown being abandoned thereafter.

He died in 1798. His widow died at Dundrum in September 1826.

Rt. Hon. Francis Blackburne (1782-1867) 

Blackburne, Rt. Hon. Francis (1782-1867). Only son of Richard Blackburne (c.1745-98) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Francis Hopkins of Darvistown (Co. Meath), born 11 November 1782. Educated at private schools in Dunshaughlin and Dublin, Trinity College, Dublin (matriculated 1798; BA 1803; LLB and LLD, 1852), King's Inns (admitted 1801; called 1805) and Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1803). In 1803 he inherited the law library of his uncle, Anthony Blackburne. He was a barrister-at-law (KC, 1822); Serjeant-at-Law, 1826-31; Attorney General of Ireland, 1831-35, 1841-42; Master of the Rolls in Ireland, 1842-46; Lord Chief Justice, 1846-52; Lord High Chancellor, 1851-52, 1866-67; Lord Justice of Appeal, 1856-66; Vice-Chancellor of Trinity College, Dublin, 1851-67 and a Commissioner of National Education in Ireland, 1852-53, resigning from the latter post because of the watering down of Protestant religious content in the national syllabus. He was a Tory in politics, but this did not prevent his career from progressing when the Whigs were in power, and it was the Whigs who appointed him Attorney General and made him a member of the Irish Privy Council in 1821. He was a member of the Royal Dublin Society and a supporter of the Antient Concert Rooms, Dublin. He was short and stout and had an inexpressive face but was noted for his melodious singing voice. In 1867 he was offered a baronetcy by Lord Derby, but declined the honour. He married, between 31 August (licence) and 5 September (newspaper report) 1809, Jane (d. 1872), daughter of William Martley of Ballyfallen (Co. Meath), and had issue fourteen children, including:

(1) Elizabeth Frances Blackburne (d. 1825), eldest daughter; died at Roebuck Hall, 21 August 1825;

(2) Richard Francis Blackburne (d. 1821); died at Willowmount, Rathfarnham, November 1821;

(3) Alice Catherine Blackburne (c.1819-85); married, 23 June 1842 at St Peter, Dublin, Capt. George Daniell RN (1797-1856), and had issue one son; died at Kingstown (Co. Dublin), 3 March 1885;

(4) Jane Isabella Blackburne (c.1820-1902), born about 1820; married, 25 October 1845 at Taney (Co. Dublin), Thomas Rice Henn QC (1814-1901) of Paradise Hill (Co. Clare), and had issue seven sons and two daughters; died 29 April 1902 and was buried at Mount Jerome Cemetery;

(5) William Martley Blackburne (1821-68) (q.v.);

(6) Francis Blackburne (1822-63), baptised at St Peter, Dublin, 30 July 1822; died unmarried, 14 February 1863;

(7) Edward Blackburne (1823-1902) (q.v.);

(8) A son (b. & d. 1825), born January 1825 but died in infancy;

(9) Elizabeth Mary Blackburne (1826-63), born at Roebuck Hall, 4 August, and baptised at Taney, 7 September 1826; married, 13 October 1853 at Rathfarnham, Edward Perceval Westby (c.1828-93) of Roebuck Castle (Co. Dublin) (who m2, 16 June 1864 at Taney, Susan Elizabeth, eldest daughter of John Davis Garde of Mount Dillon), only son of Nicholas Westby, and had issue two sons and one daughter; died at Roebuck Castle, 2 May 1863;

(10) Frederick John Blackburne (1827-63), born 1827; educated at Trinity College, Dublin (matriculated 1844; BA 1848); JP for Co. Cork?; lived at Renny House (Co. Cork) and Keymer (Sussex); married, 3 July 1856 at Hove (Sussex), Annette (1836-1921), daughter of Eardley Hall of Wilmington (Sussex), and had issue one son; died 4 October 1863; will proved 6 November 1863 (effects under £1,500);

(11) John Henry Blackburne (1830-91), born 9 November 1830; an officer in the Royal Artillery (2nd Lt., 1850; Lt., 1853; Capt., 1856; retired 1859); married, 20 August 1857 at St Lawrence-in-Thanet (Kent), Elizabeth Susanna (1833-1931), second daughter of Anthony Crofton of Lincoln's Inn, barrister-at-law; died at Wells (Som.), 15 May 1891; will proved 9 September 1891 (effects £15,382);

(12) Adelaide Frances Blackburne (b. 1833), born in Dublin, 26 June 1833 and baptised at Taney, 28 July 1833; probably died young;

(13) Arthur Blackburne (1835-67), born 22 February 1835; educated at St Columba's College; died unmarried at Corderry (Co. Louth), 31 May 1867 and was buried at Rathfarnham, although his remains were later removed to Mount Jerome Cemetery; administration of goods granted 13 July 1867 (effects under £800).

He purchased Tankardstown House in about 1815 and Rathfarnham Castle in 1847. He lived at a house called Willow Mount in Rathfarnham (sold 1825) and later at Roebuck Hall, Clonskeagh (Co. Dublin) until he acquired Rathfarnham Castle. He also had town houses in Leinster Sq. and later in Merrion Sq., Dublin.

He died 17 September 1867 and was buried in Mount Jerome Cemetery, Dublin; his will was proved 11 October 1867 (effects under £80,000). His widow died in Monkstown (Co. Dublin), 27 September 1872, and was also buried at Mount Jerome Cemetery; her will was proved 8 November 1872 (effects under £8,000).

Blackburne, William Martley (1821-68). Eldest surviving son of Rt. Hon. Francis Blackburne (1782-1867) and his wife Jane, daughter of James Martley MD, born 1821. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (matriculated 1838; BA 1842). He married, 12 January 1847 at St Peter, Eaton Sq., Westminster (Middx), Mary (1823-89), daughter of Rev. Dr. William Thorpe DD, and had issue:

(1) Francis William Blackburne (1851-1921) (q.v.);

(2) Eva Amabel Blackburne (1857-1909), baptised at St Peter, Dublin, 21 December 1857; married, 14 July 1890 at St John, Notting Hill, Charles Currell Eyre (1862-1943), transport agent at Florence (Italy), son of Mahlon Dickenson Eyre, an American banker of Florence (Italy), but had no issue; died 15 June 1909 and was buried at Slane (Co. Meath);

(3) Augustus Edward William Blackburne (1860-93); merchant; married, 24 June 1891 at St John, Notting Hill (Middx), Isabella Olive (1863-1944), daughter of Mahlon Dickenson Eyre (1821-82) of Florence (Italy), and had issue one son; died in Naples (Italy), February 1893.

He inherited Tankardstown House from his father in 1867.

He died 8 May 1868 and was buried at Mount Jerome Cemetery, Dublin; his will was proved 8 July 1868 (effects under £3,000). His widow married 2nd, 10 December 1869 at St Paul, Knightsbridge (Middx), George Thompson Lefroy (d. 1890) of Carriglas Manor (Co. Longford), son of Rt. Hon. Thomas Lefroy, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, and died at Farvis (Austria), 5 September 1889; her will was proved in Dublin, 13 January 1890 (effects £2,044?).

Blackburne, Francis William (1851-1921). Elder son of William Martley Blackburne (1821-68) and his wife Mary, daughter of Rev. Dr. William Thorpe DD, born 7 March 1851. Educated at Eton and Merton College, Oxford (matriculated 1870; BA 1874). JP for Co. Meath; High Sheriff of Co. Meath, 1898-99. He married, 9 December 1895 at Edinburgh Cathedral, Olive Beatrice Louisa (1870-1941), third and youngest daughter of John Anstruther-Thomson of Charleton (Fife), and had issue:

(1) Mary Elizabeth Rosia St. Clair Blackburne (1897-1904), born 18 March 1897; died young, 20 January 1904 and was buried at Slane (Co. Meath);

(2) Elena Frances Margaret Anne Blackburne (1898-1996), born 29 August 1898; married, 22 March 1928 at St Paul, Onslow Sq., Kensington (Middx), Charles Maurice Waddington Loftus Townshend (1899-1966) of Slane, third son of Charles Loftus Uniacke Townshend of Hill House, Reigate (Surrey), and had issue two sons; died aged 97 on 10 April 1996 and was buried at Slane;

(3) William John Anstruther (k/a Jack) Blackburne (1904-42) (q.v.);

(4) Amabel Clementina Olive Georgina Blackburne (1910-96), born 3 May 1910; teacher; died unmarried, 1996.

He inherited Tankardstown House from his father in 1868 and came of age in 1872.

He died 11 July 1921 and was buried at Slane (Co. Meath). His widow died 17 November 1941 and was buried with her husband at Slane; her will was proved 21 April 1942 (estate in England £1,079).

Blackburne, William John Anstruther (k/a Jack) (1904-42). Only son of Francis William Blackburne (1851-1921) and his wife Olive Beatrice Louisa, youngest daughter of John Anstruther Thomson of Charleston (Fife), born 30 November 1904. Educated at Castle Park School and Pembroke College, Cambridge (matriculated 1923; BA 1926), where he studied agriculture and horticulture. Farmer and horticulturalist at Tankardstown, where he was noted for his advanced methods. He was unmarried and without issue.

He inherited Tankardstown House from his father in 1921. At his death it passed to his two surviving sisters, who sold it in the 1970s.

He died of cancer, 1 June 1942; administration of his goods was granted to his younger sister, 16 July 1942 (estate £15,402).

Blackburne, Edward (1823-1902). Fourth son of Rt. Hon. Francis Blackburne (1782-1867) and his wife Jane, daughter of James Martley MD, born 13 November 1823. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (matriculated 1840; BA 1845; LLB and LLD, 1875) and King's Inns, Dublin (admitted 1842; called 1845). Barrister-at-law (QC 1868); JP for Co. Dublin. He wrote a biography of his father, published as The Life of the Right Hon. Francis Blackburne (1874). He married, 25 August 1857 at Monkstown (Co. Dublin), Georgiana Arabella (1837-1911), eldest daughter of Robert James Graves MD of Dublin and Cloghan Castle (Co. Offaly), and had issue:

(1) Francis Blackburne (b. 1859) (q.v.); 

(2) Georgiana Beatrice Blackburne (1861-1936), baptised at St Stephen, Dublin, 17 May 1861; married, 5 June 1890 at Rathfarnham, Rev. Henry Richard William Farrer (1860-1933), vicar of Bridport (Dorset) and canon of Salisbury Cathedral, only son of Capt. R.H. Farrer, and had issue three sons; died 26 August 1936 and was buried at Bridport (Dorset).

He inherited Rathfarnham Castle from his father in 1867. At his death it passed to his widow for life.

He died 7 December 1902 and was buried at Mount Jerome Cemetery, Dublin; his will was proved 16 February 1903 (estate £52,457). His widow died 18 January 1911 and was also buried at Mount Jerome Cemetery; her will was proved 5 May 1911 (estate £58,092).

Blackburne, Francis (b. 1859). Only son of Edward Blackburne (1823-1902) and his wife Georgiana Arabella, eldest daughter of Robert James Graves MD of Dublin and Cloghan Castle (Co. Offaly), born 9 February 1859. He emigrated to the United States and later lived in Toronto (Canada); his occupation is given in one census return as 'machinist'. There is no evidence that he returned to Ireland or England later in his life, and he presumably died in Canada or the USA, but his death has not been traced. He married, Jul-Sept 1881 in Fulham (Middx), Minnie Mulholland, and had issue:

(1) Rev. Edward Blackburne (1883-1948), born in San Francisco, California (USA), 28 May 1883; educated at St Columba's College, Rathfarnham, Trinity College, Dublin (BA 1908), and Wells Theological College (admitted 1908); ordained deacon, 1909, and priest, 1910; inherited Rathfarnham Castle on his grandmother's death in 1911 but sold it in 1912; rector of Bolnhurst (Beds), 1913-19, after which he appears to have retired from active ministry, although he was licensed to preach in the diocese of Chichester; married, 14 February 1912 at Carrignavar (Cork), Geraldine Fitzgerald (1885-1964), daughter of Lt-Col. F.F. MacCartie of Carrignavar, and had issue three daughters; died at Totnes (Devon), 27 July 1948; will proved 18 July 1949 (estate £524);

(2) Frances Evelyn Blackburne (1887-1958), born at Springfield, Ohio (USA), 11 July 1887; acted for a time as housekeeper to her brother before his marriage; probably the woman of this name who died unmarried at Hove (Sussex), 28 February 1958; will proved 9 June 1958 (estate £8,125).

His date of death is unknown. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Principal sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1898, vol. 2, supplement p. 28; Burke's Landed Gentry of Ireland, 1958, pp. 701-02; J. Harris, Sir William Chambers, 1970, pp. 241-42; E. McParland, 'Rathfarnham Castle, Co. Dublin', Country Life, 9 September 1982, pp. 734-37; K. Bristol, 'Rathfarnham Castle in the architectural oeuvre of James 'Athenian' Stuart: a question of patronage', in M.J. McCarthy, Lord Charlemont and his circle, 2001, pp. 113-22; Sir H.M. Colvin, A biographical dictionary of British architects, 4th edn., 2008, pp. 243-44, 1002; J.A.K. Dean, The gate lodges of Leinster, 2016, pp. 143-45;

https://www.youwho.ie/blackburne.html.

Location of archives

Blackburne of Tankardstown: deeds, legal and estate papers and correspondence, c.1821-1908 [National Library of Ireland]

Coat of arms

None recorded

Can you help?

• Can anyone provide additional information about the ownership of Tankardstown between the 1970s and 2002?
• Can anyone supply information about the later years and death of Francis Blackburne (b. 1859) or his wife Minnie?
• 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 13 September 2026.