Anketill Grove (or Ancketill’s Grove or Anketell Grove), Emyvale,  County Monaghan – gate lodge accommodation 

Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.

p. 4. “Captain Oliver Ancketill built first Ancketill’s Grove ca. 1640, on low ground. His grandson Oliver rebuilt the house on higher ground at the head of the copper beech avenue. This house was demolished in 1781, and a third dwelling was erected on another site: A two-storey, five-bay, gable-ended main block with a small pediment, joined by curved sweeps to single-storey, two-bay wings. There are Georgian-Gothic windows in the wings; a door with a good keystone between two round-headed windows in each of the sweeps. 

“The house was extensively remodelled ca 1840; its most freakish feature, an Italianate campanile sprouting from the centre of the main block, would appear to date from this time; though there may always have been a central attic-tower, following the precedent at Gola, in the same county. The additions of 1840 included a porch and a new staircase; while at the same time the principal rooms were given ceilings of carved woodwork. Sold 1920.” 

https://archiseek.com/2009/1781-anketells-grove-emyvale-co-monaghan

1781 – Anketell’s Grove, Emyvale, Co. Monaghan 

The third Anketell’s Grove (the other two being replaced by each subsequent house on different sites) was originally built in 1781. A five bayed house with curved sweeps to two small wings, the main block has a small fan-lighted pediment. The wings have Georgian Gothic windows while the remainder of the house including the sweeps have round headed windows. Remodelled in 1840, the house was given an unusual Italianate Campanile sprouting from the centre of the main block. Like Gola House (now demolished) also in Monaghan it may always have had a central tower but this is uncertain. 

https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/41400610/anketell-grove-gortmoney-county-monaghan

Five-bay two-storey house, built c.1781 and remodelled c.1840, flanked by gable-fronted single-storey wings, adjoining house by screen walls in Palladian style. Pedimented full-height central bay with projecting single-storey porch to its front. Recent extensions and square-plan four-stage Italianate campanile to rear (north-west) elevation. Pitched slate roof to main block, with rendered chimneystacks and having replacement uPVC eaves course. Hipped slate roof with timber eaves supports and cast-iron weather vane to campanile. Hipped slate roof to porch to front. Mixed replacement and cast-iron rainwater goods. Pitched slate roofs having red brick chimneystacks and clay chimneypots to side-wings. Ruled-and-lined rendered walls to ground floor to front of house and side-wings. Render string course, squared tooled sandstone to first floor. Harl rendered walls to screen walls, pediments and internal elevations of gable-fronted wings, coursed rubble stone to external elevations of wings, and smooth render with render quoins and plinth courses to rear and side elevations of main block. Coursed rubble limestone to campanile having render string courses between stages. Render crest to north-east elevation of porch to front, with tooled limestone surround. Pointed openings to pediments of wings, tooled limestone surrounds and sills, blocked. Round-headed window openings to front having painted tooled limestone surrounds and sills, and replacement timber windows. Round-headed window openings to screen walls, one with replacement uPVC window, others blocked. Pointed-arch openings to front elevations of side wings and first floor to central bay, having painted tooled stone surrounds, sills and timber tracery to windows. Round-headed window opening to pediment of central bay, with timber tracery to window. Square-headed window openings to north-east and south-west elevations of hall connecting to front porch, with painted stone sills and replacement uPVC windows. Square-headed window openings to south-west elevation of porch having replacement uPVC window, painted sill and shouldered render hood-moulding. Square-headed window openings to rear elevations with render sills, reveals and replacement uPVC windows. Round-headed window openings to third and fourth stages of campanile having tooled limestone surrounds, sills and two-over-two pane timber sliding sash windows. Gauged-brick square-headed window openings to fourth stage to rear of tower, with render sills and one-over-one pane timber sliding sash windows. Round-headed lancet windows to front of tower, tooled limestone surrounds and one-over-one pane timber sliding sash windows. Gauged-brick square-headed window openings to second stage with red brick surrounds, masonry sills and replacement uPVC windows. Square-headed openings to side-wings, some blocked. Doorway to front comprising pair of render engaged Doric-style columns on square-plan plinths, supporting painted masonry lintel cornice over square-headed opening having timber panelled door. Square-headed door openings to screen walls with tooled limestone surrounds and keystones. Stepped screen wall to north-east of house, having coursed rubble walls with patches of render and render capping, and square-headed niches flanking central round-headed niche. 

This house was built in the early eighteenth century for the Anketells, who became one of the primary landowning families in the area. Major Matthew John Anketell was listed in Thom’s Directory for 1862 as a Deputy Lieutenant and Magistrate for County Monaghan. The house was remodelled in the mid-nineteenth century, at which point the campanile was altered to match the Victorian stable block, and the wings were rebuilt in Gothic design. A strong sense of symmetry was created by the side wings and screen walls, central pedimented bay and projecting porch, a layout iconic of the Palladian style of architecture. Contextualised by the adjacent stable block and a gate lodge, this country house is of high quality architectural design and makes a strong contribution to the landscape. 

Gate lodge is available for rented accommodation: 

https://www.discoverireland.ie/Where-To-Stay/grove-lodge/74777

Grove Lodge is a cosy stone cottage set on the Anketell Grove Country Estate near Emyvale, County Monaghan. The cottage is refurbished and includes modern facilities, such as TV, DVD player, radio and CD player. For convenient cooking, there is an electric cooker, microwave and electric water heater. Additionally, guests will find a washing machine, tumble dryer, hot press, electric shower, oil-fired central heating and stove.  
 
The property includes private parking, outdoor picnic facilities, lovely farm walks and a dog kennel. It is conveniently located within 5km of Castle Leslie in Glaslough and 15km from the Slieve Beagh mountains, which offer wonderful walks. The nearby Emy Lough offers walking routes and outdoor swimming, while indoor swimming facilities can be found in Monaghan Town, just 6km away. 

Ankatell Grove 
Gortmoney 
Emyvale 
Monaghan 
PO Code: H18 NY52 
Republic of Ireland 

 +353 87 2494854  

laurence.c@clerkinfinancial.com 

Anketell Grove (Ancketill’s Grove), or indeed according to older ordnance survey maps, Trough Grove, is located near Emyvale, in the barony of Trough in Co. Monaghan. It is a curious mixture of styles and form to the eye. The property once belonged to the McKennas but it seems that in the 1630s Oliver Ancketill (son of William Ancketill from Shaftesbury in Dorset) acquired a grant of land and built a house here, possibly replacing a Mckenna one. 
Oddly, a copy of Burke’s History of the landed gentry says it was a Matthew Ancketill who acquired the property in 1636. 
Regardless, Oliver’s family were well regarded in Dorset, it seems an ancestor, Fitzameline Ansechetil was an MP in the parliament of Edward 1st. In the 17th century they were Royalists and this seemed to pertain to the newly established Irish branch of the family too. Oliver’s son Matthew had the estate “ rubber stamped” as to being his property by his monarch Charles 2nd, however he died in 1689 fighting in essence for King William, the enemy of the brother of Charles,James 2nd.  
According to a Samuel Lewis in his topographical dictionary of Ireland in 1837, “Mr.Anketell Esq., a gentleman of considerable property in the neighbourhood” took on an Irish force of 600, commanded by Major John McKenna, who were entrenched in an old Danish fort called Drumbanagher. It appears, according to Lewis, that despite “ a heavy fire on the Protestants” from a commanding position, “ Mr. Anketell, who was of undaunted courage, burst into the fort, at the head of his troops,routed and pursued the enemy with considerable slaughter, but was himself slain in the hour of victory. Major McKenna and his son were both taken prisoners, and the former was destroyed, in the moment of excitement in revenge of the death of the spirited leader of the Protestant force.” 
Major McKenna was the great great grandson of Patrick McKenna, who some regard as the greatest ever McKenna chieftain(he possibly even fared reasonably well with Elizabeth 1st). It’s alleged that the McKenna fortune had been deposited into the lake at Minmurray near his home just before the battle, and that an odd piece occasionally still turns up. Apparently Major McKenna’s severed head was presented to his widow afterwards. 
There is some controversy about this “ battle” in so far as both sides state a completely different version of events, indeed even the year is disputed 1688 or 1689. It seems likely that 1689 is correct because James 2nd had it’s reported, just prior to the incident,made Major McKenna High Sheriff of Monaghan in 1689. Indeed some say he was on his way to arrest Protestants disloyal to James when the whole fracas/battle kicked off as it were. Perhaps the fact that there were 5 separate Anketell subscribers (in the vicinity)to Lewis’s publication, his version of events may have been biased in one direction ? 
I should point out that the family were Ancketill and the name morphed into Anketell probably in the time of William Anketell (1790-1851). Hence the name was written with 2 spellings depending on timeline and perhaps choice. 
Matthew, who had married Matilda Moore, was succeeded by his son William ( High Sheriff 1707). William was only about 32 when he died childless. As a consequence of this, his brother Oliver (MP for Monaghan) inherited the property in 1709. He was a successful lawyer, MP for Monaghan and indeed had been High Sheriff in 1703. He it seems built another new house here but on higher ground at the top of a splendid copper beach avenue.Oliver and his wife Sarah ( née Campbell) had a son William but he died in 1756 predeceasing his father. As a result, Oliver’s eldest grandson Charles inherited the estate. Charles had 2 brothers that I’m aware off, Richard and Matthew. Richard it’s written, upon the death of his wife, on the same day,knelt down beside her and died too. Charles built the house again, a 5 bay, 2 story, gable ended Georgian main block with single storey 2 bay wings attached by curved sweeps. Charles, who never married, was succeeded by his brother Matthew’s son William. William as mentioned earlier seems to have preferred Anketell to Ancketill. It was William or indeed his son Matthew (suceeeded in 1851), or perhaps both of them, who added the campanile and various other embellishments between the 1840/1850s. It’s been observed that the campanile (roughly,from the Italian term “bell tower”) that was added is slightly reminiscent of that at Gola house, seat of the Wrights- burned in the 1920s-also in Co. Monaghan), however it’s scale does seem ill at ease with the dimensions and indeed style of the Georgian house at Anketell. This is more or less how the house stands today, with some probably common, 20th century alterations. 
Overall the house has been built/rebuilt 4 times , and at slightly different locations. 
Matthew was succeeded by his son Matthew David Anketell, who was an actor, diarist and Egyptian hieroglyphist. Sadly he only lived for 2 years after his father’s death, having a bad, indeed fatal fall from a horse. As he had not married, and the next oldest brother, Oliver Frederick Anketell had died before him, the property came into the hands of a 3rd brother, William Ancketill ( there had been 5 boys and 3 girls). I hope you noticed that the spelling of the name has reverted to Ancketill. It appears that this William( 1851-1931) decided to return the name to its former spelling and in 1874 he legally changed it. He was a keen violinist and held the office of DL for Monaghan. He married Jean (Laing Falkner) and they had a daughter named Olive. In the 1870s William is recorded as owning 7,504 acres in Co. Monaghan. It’s obvious however that the estate was in financial peril because he raised a mortgage on it in the early 1880s and by the late 1880s much of the land was no longer in William’s hands. By 1901 William was staying at Killyfaddy Manor, a fine classical house in Co. Tyrone, with his uncle Fitzameline Anketell (an unusual Christian name, but they had as mentioned earlier an ancestor with it too). 
Fitzameline had married an heiress and indeed he himself inherited substantial wealth from his maternal uncle Robert Waring Maxwell. 
In the 1901 census, Anketell Grove is occupied by Samuel Griffin, who states his occupation as a land steward, and his family (no servants). The census record states that the owner of the property is Clement K. Cordner. Clement Kennedy Cordner was a farmer, JP and land agent, from the Muckamore area in Co. Antrim. He was married to Frances (née Anketell) and in the 1901 census was resident in his house (in Co. Antrim) with his wife, 2 Anketell sisters-in-law and 3 servants,with 25 rooms being used in an obviously large home. I know William had sold off more land in 1901, perhaps the house as well, to at least somebody so well known to him ? Clement was William’s brother-in-law. William’s three sisters who were living/staying with Clement were Frances (1845-1916, Clement’s wife, she had previously been married to Captain Newton Haworth Wallace), Augusta (1854-1908) and Selina (1843-1921). 
In the early 1920s the house was sold to a local man, Mr. Patrick Mckenna. I wonder if he was a descendant of Major John ? 
In 1970 the property was bought by Mr. Laurence Clerkin, who still resides there. I thank him for permission to photograph his private home. 

https://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2015/04/anketell-grove.html

THE ANCKETILLS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY MONAGHAN, WITH 7,754 ACRES 

This family was of high station in Dorset at a very remote period (its name appearing in the Domesday Book). 

As early as the reign of EDWARD I, several of its members represented the borough of Shaftesbury in Parliament. 

The pedigree and history, as anciently of Ancketill’s Place, near Shaftesbury, and east Aimer, near Sturminster Marshall, and more anciently of Lye, near Wimborne, and represented by Ancketill, of Ancketill’s Grove, are given in the 3rd edition of Hutchins’ History of Dorset, and there carried down to 1868; the pedigree extends to twenty-three generations, and shows intermarriages with the most distinguished of the old Dorset families. 

The history shows the active part which this family took as Royalists in the time of CHARLES I in Dorset, and that its descendants and representatives in Ireland, when called upon, were not found wanting in devotion to what they considered the right cause. 

The first ancestor of this line,  

CAPTAIN OLIVER ANCKETILL JP (1609-66), of County Monaghan, High Sheriff of County Monaghan, 1662, son of William Ancketill, of Shaftesbury, Dorset, married Rebecca, probably of the family of Bullingbrooke, of Galway, and and issue, 

MATTHEW, his heir; 
William; 
Richard; 
Sarah, m 1660, James Corry, ancestor of the Earls of Belmore; 
Elizabeth. 

Captain Ancketill was succeeded by his eldest son, 

 
MATTHEW ANCKETILL (1651-88), of Ancketill’s Grove, County Monaghan, to whom that estate was confirmed, by patent, in the reign of CHARLES II. 

He was High Sheriff of County Monaghan, 1682, but was attainted by JAMES II. 

Mr Ancketill wedded Matilda, daughter of Robert Moore, of Ravella and Garvey, County Tyrone, and had (with other issue), 

WILLIAM, his heir; 
OLIVER, succeeded his brother; 
Robert; 
Catherine. 

Mr Ancketill was killed at the battle of Drumbanagher Hill, and was succeeded by his eldest son, 

WILLIAM ANCKETILL (1677-1709), of Ancketill’s Grove, High Sheriff of County Monaghan, 1707, who dsp 1709, and was succeeded by his next brother, 

OLIVER ANKETELL (1680-c1760), of Ancketill’s Grove, MP for Monaghan Borough, 1754-60, High Sheriff of County Monaghan, 1703, who married firstly, in 1716, Sarah Caulfeild, second daughter of William, 2nd Viscount Charlemont, by Anne Margetson, his wife, only daughter of the Most Rev James Margetson, Lord Archbishop of Armagh, and had issue (with three daughters), 

WILLIAM (1724-56), father of CHARLES; 

Mr Ancketill espoused secondly, when about 80 years of age, Anne Stephens (née Tuton), but died immediately thereafter, and was succeeded by his grandson, 

CHARLES ANKETELL (1754-1828), of Anketell Grove, who died unmarried, and was succeeded by his nephew, 

 
WILLIAM ANKETELL JP DL (1790-1851), of Anketell Grove, High Sheriff of County Monaghan, 1830, who married, in 1809, Sarah, second daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel John Charles Frederick Waring Maxwell, of Finnebrogue, County Down, and had issue, 

MATTHEW JOHN, his heir; 
William Robert, of Quintin Castle, Portaferry; 
Oliver Charles; 
Fitz Ameline Maxwell, of Killyfaddy, Clogher; 
Maxwell; 
Moutray; 
Anne Dorothea; Maria; Matilda Jane. 

Mr Anketell was succeeded by his eldest son, 

 
MATTHEW JOHN ANKETELL JP DL (1812-70), of Anketell Grove, High Sheriff of County Monaghan, 1834, Major, Monaghan Militia, who married, in 1840, Catherine Frances Anne, eldest daughter of David Ker MP, of Portavo and Montalto, County Down, by the Lady Selina his wife, daughter of the 1st Marquess of Londonderry, and had issue, 

MATTHEW DAVID, his heir; 
Oliver Frederick (1850-72); 
WILLIAM, succeeded his brother; 
Henry; 
Robert Waring Maxwell; 
Selina Sarah; Ada; Frances Emmeline; Gertrude Madelina; 
Bertha Grace Phœbe; Octavia Mary; Augusta. 

Major Anketell was succeeded by his eldest son, 

MATTHEW DAVID ANKETELL (1841-72), of Anketell Grove, who was killed by a fall from horseback, died unmarried, and was succeeded by his next surviving brother, 

 
WILLIAM ANCKETILL DL (1851-1931), of Ancketill’s Grove, Lieutenant, Royal Tyrone Fusiliers, who married, in 1875, Jean Laing, daughter of Robert Falkner, of Broughton Park, Lancashire, and had issue, an only child, 

OLIVE MAUD ANCKETILL (1876-1909), who wedded firstly, in 1901, Reginald George Petre Wymer, only son of Reginald Augustus Wymer, and grandson of Sir Henry George Petre Wymer KCB, and had issue, a daughter, Lovice Vivian Petre. 

She espoused secondly, in 1907, Michael Linning Henry Melville, Egyptian Civil Service, and had issue, a daughter, 

Monica Agnes Ancketill, born in 1908. 

ANKETELL GROVE, near Emyvale, County Monaghan, was originally built by Captain Oliver Ancketill about 1640, on low ground. 

His grandson Oliver rebuilt the house on higher ground at the head of the copper beech avenue. 

This house was demolished in 1781, when a third dwelling was erected on another site: A two-storey, five-bay, gable-ended main block with a small pediment, joined by curved sweeps to single-storey, two-bay wings. 

There are Georgian-Gothic windows in the wings. 

The house was extensively remodelled about 1840, boasting an central Italianate attic tower at the centre, which rises from ground level. 

The estate was mortgaged by William Anketell, early in 1884, to the Scottish Provident Insurance Association. Mr Anketell had been, by that stage, in financial difficulties. 

Scottish Provident began evictions almost at once: The estate was put up for sale in the Encumbered Estates Court in 1886 and the Scottish Provident became absolute owners of the whole estate, with the exception of Anketell Grove House, demesne and three townlands. 

In 1899, Scottish Provident received £4,800 in advances from the Government for sales to sixty two tenants. 

In 1901, William Anketell received £3,820 for sales to thirty-three tenants (Dublin Gazette, 26th July, 1901, pps 1045-6). 

Some time thereafter the Anketells removed to Killyfaddy, near Clogher, County Tyrone.  

Anketell Grove was purchased from the Irish Land Commission in 1922 by Patrick McKenna, of Derryhee, nearby. 

In 1970, Anketell Grove and ninety acres of land were purchased by Mr Laurence Clerkin, the present owner. 

 I AM GRATEFUL TO HENRY SKEATH FOR HIS INVALUABLE ASSISTANCE IN THE COMPOSITION OF THIS ARTICLE. 

https://landedfamilies.blogspot.com/search/label/Monaghan

Ancketill of Ancketill’s Grove 

The Ancketills of Ancketill’s Grove have trodden lightly on the earth, at least in archival terms, and no significant archive is known to survive to document their activities. E.P. Shirley, the historian of County Monaghan, corresponded with the family in the 19th century about their genealogy and family history, and the resulting letters are preserved among his papers in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. But it is hard to evaluate the stories which have been recorded by Shirley and others about the origins of the family and the early history of their estate in County Monaghan. 
 
It seems probable, however, that Capt. Oliver Ancketill (1609-66) was the son of a minor gentry family from the Shaftesbury area of Dorset, who emigrated to Ireland about 1636 and built a house on what became the Ancketill’s Grove estate. His son, Matthew Ancketill (1651-89), who obtained a confirmatory grant of the estate from the Crown after the Restoration, is said to have built a new house on higher ground, and to have laid out an avenue of copper beeches leading to it. He was one of those included in James II’s Great Act of Attainder in 1689 but he was in fact already dead by the time it passed the Irish Parliament.  His son, William Ancketill (1677-1709) died without issue and was succeeded by his brother, another Oliver Ancketill (1680-1760), who was perhaps the most prominent member of the family. Expected to be a younger son, he was educated for a career in the law, and obtained a doctorate from Trinity College, Dublin.  It is not clear whether he continued a legal practice, but he served as MP for Monaghan and lived partly in Dublin, where he became a founder member of the Royal Dublin Society. His only son having predeceased him, he was succeeded by his grandson, Charles Ancketill (1754-1828) who built the present house at Ancketill’s Grove when he came of age. Charles in turn was succeeded by his nephew, William Anketell (1790-1851), whose son Matthew John Anketell (1812-70), made the Italianate additions and alterations to the house and left it largely as it now stands. His son, William Ancketill (1851-1931), resumed the ancient spelling of his family name but sold the estate at some point around 1890. 
 
Two of the younger sons of William Anketell (1790-1851) also acquired country houses. William Robert Ancketill (1820-89) married into the Ker family, and both he and his son, Amyatt William Ancketill (1853-1915) rented Quintin Castle on the coast of County Down from the Kers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Fitz Ameline Maxwell Ancketill (b. 1825) inherited Killyfaddy from his maternal uncle in 1877 and it remained the property of his descendants until the early 1950s.  William Ancketill (1851-1931) seems to have lived there after selling Ancketill’s Grove at the beginning of the 20th century, presumably as a tenant of his cousin, Reginald Ancketill (1861-1937). 
 
 

Ancketill’s Grove, Emyvale, Monaghan 

 
The Ancketill’s first house here is said to have been built about 1640 on low ground as the successor to a McKenna stronghold near the site. In the late 17th century it was rebuilt on higher ground at the head of a famous copper beech avenue.   

Ancketill’s Grove

 
This second house was in turn replaced by the present building in about 1781.  This began as a gable-ended house of five bays and two storeys with a projecting pedimented central bay, linked by single-storey quadrants to pedimented wings of two bays with Gothick sashes.  The ground floor and wings are rendered but the upper floor is of pale ashlar blocks.  The central bay is partly obscured by an exceptionally large early 19th century porch with a hipped roof and Tuscan doorcase, set well forward of the house and linked to the original entrance by a short passage. In about 1852 a bulky Italianate square tower with a low pyramid roof on wide eaves was added to the rear of the house, and the Gothick windows were given round heads, flat hoods and plate glass, robbing the house of much of the prettiness it once possessed; they have been replaced even more unsuccessfully since. Inside, several rooms were given ceilings of carved woodwork. 
 
Descent: Granted c.1636 to Oliver Ancketill (1609-66); to son, Matthew Ancketill (1651-89); to son, William Ancketill (1677-1709); to brother, Oliver Ancketell (1680-1760); to grandson, Charles Ancketill (1754-1828); to nephew, William Anketell (1790-1851); to son, Matthew John Anketell (1812-70); to son, Matthew David Anketell (1841-72); to brother, William Ancketill (1851-1931), who sold c.1890 to Clement Kennedy Cordner; sold in 1920s to Patrick McKenna… sold 1970 to Laurence Clerkin (fl. 2019).  

Ancketill, Capt. Oliver (1609-66), of Ancketill’s Grove. Son of William Ancketill of Shaftesbury (Dorset), born 12 November 1609.  A Royalist, he settled in Ireland in 1636 and was a JP for Monaghan and High Sheriff of Monaghan in 1662. He married Rebecca (b. 1617), daughter of John Bullingbrooke, and had issue: 
(1) Sarah Ancketill; married, December 1660 or February 1663, Col. James Corry MP (d. 1718) of Castle Coole (Fermanagh) and had issue; 
(2) Elizabeth Ancketill (b. 1648); 
(3) Matthew Ancketill (1651-88) (q.v.); 
(4) William Ancketill (b. 1652), from whom the Anketells of Dernamuck (Monaghan) claim descent; 
(5) Richard Ancketill (b. 1654). 
He acquired the Ancketill’s Grove estate in 1636. 
He died 8 June 1666. 
 
Ancketill, Matthew (1651-89), of Ancketill’s Grove. Eldest son of Capt. Oliver Ancketill (1609-66) of Ancketill’s Grove, and his wife Rebecca, daughter of John Bullingbrooke, born 1651. High Sheriff of Monaghan, 1682; included on the list of those attainted by the Great Act of Attainder in the Irish Parliament in 1689, though he was dead by then. He married, 1672, Matilda, daughter of Robert Moore of Ravella and Garvey (Tyrone) and had issue: 
(1) William Ancketill (1677-1709); High Sheriff of Monaghan, 1707; died without legitimate issue, 1709; 
(2) Oliver Ancketill (1680-1760) (q.v.); 
(3) Robert Ancketill;  
(4) Frederick Ancketill; 
(5) Bullingbrook Ancketill (fl. 1750); married and had issue; 
(6) Catherine Ancketill; married Thomas Singleton of Fort Singleton (Monaghan). 
His ownership of the Ancketill’s Grove estate was confirmed by letters patent in 1668. At his death the estate passed in turn to his sons William (d. 1709) and Oliver. 
He was killed at the Battle of Drumbanagher, 13 March 1688/9 and was buried at Donagh, but his body was later moved to Glaslough church. 
 
Ancketill, Oliver (1680-1760), of Ancketill’s Grove. Second son of Matthew Ancketill (1651-88) and his wife Matilda, daughter of Robert Moore of Ravella and Garvey (Tyrone), born 1680. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1695; MA, LLD). High Sheriff of Monaghan, 1703; MP for Monaghan borough in the Irish Parliament, 1754-60; a founder member of the Royal Dublin Society.  He married 1st, 28 February 1716, the Hon. Sarah (d. 1742), daughter of William Caulfeild, 2nd Viscount Charlemont, and 2nd, c.1760, Mrs. Anne Stephens (né Tuton), and had issue: 
(1.1) William Ancketill (1724-56) (q.v.). 
He inherited the Ancketill’s Grove estate from his elder brother in 1709; at his death it passed to his grandson. 
He died shortly after his second marriage, 27 May 1760. His first wife died in December 1742. 
 
Ancketill, William (1724-56). Only son of Oliver Ancketill (1680-1760) and his first wife, the Hon. Sarah, daughter of William Caulfeild, 2nd Viscount Charlemont, born 18 March 1724. He married, 11 March 1748, Anne, eldest daughter of Charles Coote MP, of Coote Hill (Cavan) and sister of 1st Earl of Bellamont, and had issue: 
(1) Oliver Anketell (b. 1749), born December 1749; died young; 
(2) Charles Anketell (1754-1828) (q.v.); 
(3) Richard Anketell (1755-1814), married Margaret Cochrane (d. 1814) of Omagh (Tyrone) and had issue two sons and one daughter, who all emigrated to Canada; died the same day as his wife; 
(4) Matthew Anketell (1756-1828) (q.v.). 
He died in 1756. 
 
Anketell, Charles (1754-1828), of Anketill’s Grove.  Eldest surviving son of William Ancketill (1724-56) of Ancketill’s Grove and his wife Anne, daughter of Charles Coote MP of Coote Hill (Cavan), born 1754. He changed the spelling of his name from Ancketill to Anketell. He was unmarried and without issue. 
He inherited Ancketill’s Grove from his grandfather in 1760; at his death it passed to his nephew, William Anketell (1790-1851). 
He died 20 November 1828. 
 
Anketell, Matthew (1756-1828), of Arlington Castle, Portarlington (Offaly). Youngest son of William Ancketill (1724-56) of Ancketill’s Grove and his wife Anne, daughter of Charles Coote MP of Coote Hill (Cavan), born 1756. Captain in 57th Regiment; High Sheriff of Monaghan, 1783; Lt-Col. of Monaghan Militia. Like his brother, he changed the spelling of his name from Ancketill to Anketell. He married 1st, Prudentia Martha (d. 1781), daughter of John Corry of Rockcorry, Cootehill (Monaghan) and 2nd, Mary (d. 1838), only child of Rev. Richard Norris DD and had issue: 
(1.1) Prudentia Catherine Anketell; died aged 8; 
(2.1) William Anketell (1790-1851) (q.v.); 
(2.2) Maria Anketell (d. 1842); died unmarried, 28 April 1842; 
(2.3) Matilda Anketell (d. 1819); died unmarried, 28 June 1819; 
(2.4) Caroline Anketell (d. 1817); married, 1817, Lt. Augustus Woodville Amyatt (?d. 1857) of Royal Irish Dragoon Guards and died three weeks later. 
He died 11 April 1828. His first wife died 7 October 1781. His widow died in August 1838.  
 
Anketell, William (1790-1851) of Ancketill’s Grove. Only son of Matthew Anketell (1756-1828) of Arlington Castle, Portarlington (Offaly) and his second wife, Mary, daughter of Rev. Richard Norris, born 10 October 1790. DL and JP for Monaghan; High Sheriff of Monaghan, 1830. He married, 23 June 1809, Sarah (1792-1874), daughter of Lt-Col. John Charles Frederick Waring Maxwell MP of Finnebrogue (Down) and had issue: 
(1) Maj. Matthew John Anketell (1812-70) (q.v.); 
(2) Anne Dorothea Anketell (c.1813-91); married, 10 December 1833, Rev. Robert Loftus Tottenham (d. 1893), chaplain to HM Legation to Florence, son of Rt. Rev. Lord Robert Ponsonby Tottenham, bishop of Clogher, and had issue five sons and five daughters; died 16 October 1891; 
(3) Maria Anketell (c.1813-88); married, 5 December 1838, Rev. Sir John Richardson-Bunbury (1813-1909), 3rd bt. and had issue one son and two daughters; died March 1888; 
(4) William Robert Ancketill (1820-89) (q.v.);  
(5) Oliver Charles Anketell (1821-41), born 18 August 1821; educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1839); Lieutenant in 37th Madras Infantry of East India Co.; diarist; died unmarried at Hong Kong, 13 July 1841; 
(6) Matilda Jane Anketell (1823-40), born 15 November 1823; died unmarried, 14 March 1840; 
(7) Fitz Ameline Maxwell Ancketill (b. 1825) of Killyfaddy, Clogher (Tyrone), born 14 April 1825; JP for Tyrone; High Sheriff of Tyrone, 1881; married, 8 November 1859 at Alexandria (Egypt), Laura Valetta (c.1830-1907), eldest daughter and co-heiress of Henry Ranking of Eaglehurst, Bathford (Somerset), co-manager of Bank of Egypt, and had issue three sons and one daughter; inherited Killyfaddy from his uncle in 1877; died after 1901; 
(8) Maxwell Ancketill (1826-88) of Leatherhead (Surrey), born 24 October 1826; married 1st, 29 September 1857, Julia Elizabeth (d. 1869), only surviving child of Gustavus Whitaker of St Petersburg (Russia) and had issue three sons and two daughters; and 2nd, 1879, Mary Louisa, third daughter of Henry Ranking of Eaglehurst, Bathford (Somerset), and died 22 February 1888; will proved 13 April 1888 (estate £243); 
(9) Moutray Ancketill (1829-99), born 18 April 1829; served in Royal Artillery (Lieutenant, 1848; Captain, 1854; retired, 1881); died unmarried, 3 April 1899. 
He inherited the Anketell’s Grove estate from his uncle in 1828.  
He died 23 April 1851. His widow died 2 April 1874. 
 
Anketell, Maj. Matthew John (1812-70), of Ancketill’s Grove.  Eldest son of William Anketell (1790-1851) and his wife Sarah, daughter of Lt-Col. John Charles Frederick Waring Maxwell MP of Finnebrogue (Down), born 31 October 1812. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1830). JP and DL for Monaghan; High Sheriff of Monaghan, 1834; Major in Monaghan militia. William Scoular exhibited a bust of him at the Royal Academy in 1839. He married, 6 February 1840, Catherine Frances Anne (d. 1887), elder daughter of David Ker MP of Portavo and Montalto (Down) and had issue: 
(1) Matthew David Anketell (1841-72), born at Douro (Portugal), 5 January 1841; actor, diarist and Egyptian hieroglyphist; died as a result of a fall from his horse, 17 July 1872; 
(2) Selina Sarah Anketell (1843-1921), born 10 April 1843; died unmarried, 2 December 1921; will proved 14 February 1922 (estate £4,029); 
(3) Ada Anketell (b. & d. 1844), born 8 and died 14 September 1844; 
(4) Frances Emmeline Anketell (1845-1916), born 8 October 1845; married 1st, 22 January 1867, Capt. Newton Haworth Wallace (d. 1870) of Royal Bengal Fusiliers, and 2nd, Clement Kennedy Cordner (d. 1905) of Greenmount, Muckamore (Antrim), but died without issue, 11 September 1916; will proved 21 November 1916 (estate £7,711); 
(5) Gertrude Madeline Anketell (1847-1915), born 20 May 1847; married, 1 July 1873, Anketell Moutray (d. 1927) of Favour Royal, Aughnacloy (Tyrone) and had issue; died 21 August 1915; administration of goods granted 27 November 1915 (estate £173); 
(6) Bertha Grace Pheobe Anketell (1849-98), born 25 February 1849; died unmarried, 10 January 1898; will proved 6 August 1900 (estate £2,739); 
(7) Oliver Frederick Anketell (1850-72), born 27 February 1850; died unmarried, 10 February 1872; administration of goods granted 5 March 1872 (estate under £1,000); 
(8) William Ancketill (1851-1931) (q.v.); 
(9) Octavia Mary Anketell (1852-1928), born 5 June 1852; married, 19 February 1879, Frederic Augustus Morse-Boycott (d. 1926) of Sennowe Park (Norfolk), son of John Hall Morse-Boycott of Sennowe Park and had issue; died 1 April 1928; will proved 7 June 1928 (estate £225); 
(10) Augusta Anketell (1854-1908), born 12 March 1854; died unmarried, 8 May 1908; will proved 17 February 1909 (estate £3,836); 
(11) Henry Ancketill (1855-1930) (q.v.); 
(12) Robert Waring Maxwell Anketell (1856-68), born 29 November 1856; died young, 15 May 1868. 
He inherited the Ancketill’s Grove estate from his father in 1851. At his death it passed in turn to his eldest son Matthew (d. 1872) and third son William. 
He died 8 May 1870. His widow died 28 February 1887; her will was proved 19 May 1887 (estate in England £7,431). 
 
Ancketell, William (1851-1931), of Ancketill’s Grove. Third son of Matthew John Anketell (1812-70) and his wife Catherine Frances Anne, daughter of David Ker of Portavo and Montalto (Down), born 16 March 1851. Lieutenant in Royal Tyrone Fusiliers; a prominent freemason and a violinist. He married, 15 July 1875, Jean Laing (1852-1929), only daughter and co-heiress of Robert Falkner of Broughton Park (Lancs) and had issue: 
(1) Olive Maud Stannus Ancketell (1876-1909), born 29 October 1876; married 1st, 24 October 1901 (div.), Lt. Reginald George Petre Wymer, son of Capt. Reginald Augustus Wymer and had issue a daughter; married 2nd, 1 November 1907, Michael Linning Henry Melville, son of His Honour Robert Melville of Hartfield Grove (Sussex) and had issue a daughter; died 6 March 1909; her will was proved 26 June 1909 (estate £255). 
He inherited the Ancketill’s Grove estate from his elder brother in 1872, but mortgaged much of the land in the 1880s and sold the house c.1890. He and his wife lived latterly at Killyfaddy and Clatford House, Epsom (Surrey). 
He died 3 July 1931; his will was proved 21 November 1931 (estate £3,157). His wife died 9 November 1929; her will was proved 9 December 1929 (estate £96). 
 
Ancketell, Henry (1855-1930). Fourth son of Matthew John Anketell (1812-70) and his wife Catherine Frances Anne, daughter of David Ker of Portavo and Montalto (Down),  
born 4 May 1855.  Educated at Royal Naval College, Dartmouth; served in Royal Navy, 1868-75; then studied for the church but joined the Irish Land League; emigrated to USA and was a journalist on New York Standard, 1884-96; emigrated to South Africa, 1896; Member of Legislative Assembly of Natal, 1901-07, and (with Gandhi) promoted the cause of indentured Indian labour in Africa; poet and lecturer; married, 7 December 1900, Oona (d. 1955), daughter of Joseph Reeson of Durban, Natal (South Africa), artist and founder of the Women’s Suffrage Movement in South Africa, and had issue: 
(1) Matthew David Ancketell (b. 1907), born 27 December 1907; educated at South African Collegiate School, Cape Town; served in WW2 with South African Coastal Defence Force; manager of Life Assurance Co. in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, 1924-63; hon. Treasurer of South African Red Cross, 1945-70; Chairman of Sheltered Employment Factory, 1946-70; hon. Treasurer of South African Council of Churches, Port Elizabeth, 1958-70; Fellow of Institute of Commence and Administration of South Africa; married 1st, 30 May 1933 (div. 1957), Brenda, daughter of Capt. George Calcutt of Glasgow and Melbourne (Australia) and had issue one son and one daughter; married 2nd, 12 December 1958, Anne Bell, daughter of Patrick Arnot Anderson of Port Elizabeth (South Africa) and formerly of Coupar Angus (Perths); 
(2) Henry George Ancketell (1911-81) of Croydon (Surrey), born 5 January 1911; educated at South African Collegiate School, Cape Town; after a varied career in the theatre, films, insurance and the motor trade, he served in WW2 and was later a practitioner in metaphysics and spiritual healing; married 1st, November 1936 (div. 1944), Doreen Gunstone (d. 1971), author (as Dorothy Burnham), and had issue one son; married 2nd, 16 September 1944 (div. 1960), Barbara Mary, daughter of John Edwin Andrews of Manor House Farm, Foxton (Leics) and had issue one son and two daughters; died 1981. 
He died 22 June 1930. His widow died 8 May 1955. 
 
Ancketill, William Robert (1820-89) of Quintin Castle, Portaferry (Down). Younger son of William Anketell (1790-1851) and his wife Sarah, daughter of Lt-Col. John Charles Frederick Waring Maxwell MP, born 31 March 1820. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1838). JP for Monaghan and Capt. in Monaghan militia; author of novels of Irish life. John Edward Jones exhibited a bust of him at the Royal Academy in 1852. He married, 8 October 1844, Madelina Selina (d. 1878), daughter of David Ker MP of Portavo, Donaghadee and Montalto (Down), and had issue: 
(1) Edith Matilda Ancketill (1845-1928), born 5 November 1845; married 1st, 8 August 1871, Thomas John Knox (d. 1875), second son of Most Rev. Robert Knox DD, Archbishop of Armagh and had issue a daughter; married 2nd, 20 February 1880, Capt. John Lewis Vaughan Henry, 2nd Dragoon Guards, eldest son of Mitchell Henry of Kylemore Castle (Galway) and had further issue; died 9 July 1928; 
(2) Constance Ancketill (1847-1914), born 10 October 1847; died unmarried, 11 June 1914; administration granted 25 September 1914 (estate £1,668); 
(3) Ada Ancketill (1850-1937), born 27 February 1850; died unmarried, 22 January 1937; will proved 24 May 1937 (estate £2,945); 
(4) Amyatt William Ancketill (1853-1915), born 1 August 1853; Lieutenant in 83rd Foot; died unmarried, 20 August 1915; will proved, 3 December 1915 (estate £742) 
(5) David Fitz Ameline Robert Ancketill (1855-85), born 27 May 1855; served in Army as Lieutenant in 1st Royal Scots and took part in Afghan War of 1880 and Egyptian War of 1882; later served in 3rd Belooch Regiment of Native Infantry in India and died unmarried at Karachi, 26 August 1885; 
(6) Celia Selina Ancketill (1857-83), born 2 September 1857; died unmarried, 18 October 1883; 
(7) William Frederick Ancketill (b. & d. 1858), born 28 February and died 14 December 1858.  
He leased Quintin Castle from the Ker family. 
He died in London, 9 March 1889. His wife died on 8 April 1878. 
 

Sources 

 
Burke’s Irish Family Records, 1976, pp. 18-20; M. Bence-Jones, Country Houses of Ireland, 1988; E.P. Shirley, History of the County of Monaghan, 1879 
 

Location of archives 

 
No significant archive is known to survive. 
 

Coat of arms 

 
Argent, a saltire raguly vert.