Carrick Barron, or Carrickbarrahane, Stradbally, Co. Waterford
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. 57. “[Barron; Osborne] A 2 storey 5 bay C18 house with a 1 bay pedimented breakfront having a round-headed window above a fanlighted doorway. A seat of the Barron family; subsequently belonged to the Osbornes of Newtown Anner, Co Tipperary and known for a time as “Lady Osborne’s Summer House.””
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Detached five-bay two-storey house, c.1820, retaining some early fenestration with single-bay two-storey gabled breakfront, single-bay two-storey canted projecting bay to side (south) elevation, and four-bay two-storey lower return to west. Renovated and mostly refenestrated, 1998. Hipped gabled slate roof to main block (gabled to breakfront; pitched to return) with clay and rolled lead ridge tiles, rendered chimney stacks, and replacement uPVC rainwater goods, 1998, on replacement cement rendered eaves, 1998. Unpainted replacement cement rendered walls, 1998, with rendered quoins to corners, rendered band to eaves to canted projecting bay, and unpainted lime rendered walls to return over random rubble stone construction. Square-headed window openings (round-headed window opening to first floor breakfront and to return) with cut-stone sills. Replacement uPVC casement windows, 1998, to main block with 3/6 and 6/6 timber sash windows to remainder. Round-headed door opening with replacement glazed uPVC panelled door, 1998, having sidelights, and spoked fanlight. Interior with timber panelled shutters to window openings. Set back from road in own grounds with landscaped grounds to site.
Appraisal
A well-appointed, substantial house distinguished by stylistic features including a canted projecting bay, which enhance the architectural value of the composition. Although extensive renovation works in the late twentieth century have led to the loss of much of the original fabric, and to the erosion of some of the early character as a result, some important salient features and materials survive intact, both to the exterior and to the interior, which enhance the historic quality of the site.
http://landedestates.nuigalway.ie/LandedEstates/jsp/property-list.jsp?letter=C
James R. Smyth was leasimg this property from the trustees of Mrs. Osborne in 1851 when it was valued at £23. The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage suggests it was built c.1820. It is still extant.
Barron of County Waterford, baronets
As with so many Irish gentry families, the loss of early records means that the earlier generations of this family as recorded below are very uncertain, and dependent as much on family traditions reported to the editors of Burke’s Landed Gentry as upon any original records. I have, however, done my best to corroborate or correct the statements made by Burke in such sources as are available, and particularly from local newspapers, which for this part of Ireland become a rich source only in the 1820s.
The essential facts of the family background seem to be fairly clear, however. Their forebears were a cadet branch of the great Fitzgerald family and were based at Burnchurch (Co. Kilkenny). Already in the 16th century they were using the alternative name of Barron or Baron. They remained Roman Catholics and were Royalists in the Civil War, as a result of which they were deprived of their estate at Burnchurch under Cromwell. Capt. James Fitzgerald alias Barron, who was heir to his uncle, Richard Fitzgerald alias Barron of Burnchurch, went to France and served under the Prince de Condé, Louis II of Bourbon, in his military campaigns in the 1660s. Some years after the restoration of the monarchy in Britain and Ireland, Capt. Barron returned to his native country and sought to recover the Burnchurch estate, but his claim, like those of many other Irish Catholic families, was never adjudicated on. He subsequently settled in County Waterford, where over several generations the family acquired – through marriage and purchase – a number of small estates, eventually achieving a position as one of leading gentry families in the county by sheer force of numbers. Not only did they have at any one time a large number of properties, they acquired and sold them frequently, and also passed them between different branches of the family by bequest and rental, so that tracing the descent of individual places is far from straightforward. Only those properties which clearly had country house status are noticed below.
Capt. James Barron had three sons, of whom the second, Pierse Barron (fl. 1725) was chiefly responsible for the liberal scattering of the family name around County Waterford, since he had five sons, three of whom also had large families. His eldest son, James Barron (b. 1715) of Carrickbarrahane, had five sons and two daughters. Two of the sons, Eustace and William, emigrated to Cadiz (Spain) and their descendants moved on to Mexico, where in the early 19th century they founded the great merchant and banking house of Barron, Forbes & Co. and subsequently acquired mining and political interests. It is said that in the mid 19th century, over 90% of the external trade of Mexico was in their hands. The wealth and status of the Spanish and Mexican branches of the family attracted several of their Irish relations in later centuries to settle, either temporarily or permanently, in those countries, and this is reflected in the genealogy below.
The third son of Pierse Barron (fl. 1725) was John Barron (1718-1800), who inherited the Ballydurn and Ballyneal estates between Kilmacthomas and Carrick-on-Suir from his father. He had six sons and three daughters, the eldest of whom was Pierse Barron (1752-1811) of Ballyneal, who had five sons and five daughters, born late in his life. Pierse seems to have increased the wealth of the family significantly, probably through trading with England, but when he died only his eldest son, Pierse Barron, was of age. In 1817, tragedy struck when this Pierse, with four of his sisters, were drowned by the sinking of the packet boat ‘William & Mary’ in the Bristol Channel. As a result, their brother, Henry Winston Barron (1795-1872) became the head of this branch of the family. Like his younger brother, William Winston (later William Newell) Barron (1805-91), and several of their cousins, Henry was a political animal, and actively involved in campaigning for Catholic emancipation and, later, for weakening the ties between Ireland and Britain. He served as the MP for Waterford City at Westminster between 1832 and 1870, but his long political career was far from smooth and he lost as many elections as he won due to some bitter political rivalries, which at least once spilled over into a duel. As his rivals were quick to point out, he was at least averagely venal, and there seems little doubt that several of his relatives benefited in their careers from the helping hand which those who owed him favours were able to provide. At the end of his first term in Parliament he was rewarded with a baronetcy. His marriage in 1822 brought him an interest in the estates in England of the Page-Turner family, which greatly increased his wealth, and he bought Belmont Park near Waterford – the grandest of the family seats – and also built Glenanna, a little cottage near the sea at Ardmore.
In due course, the baronetcy and the estates passed to his son, Sir Henry Page-Turner Barron (1824-1900), 2nd bt., who was a very different man from his father. He entered the diplomatic service straight from school and spent fifty years ‘lying abroad for the good of his country’ at postings in Italy, Belgium, Portugal, Turkey and Germany. He was unmarried and had no issue, so the baronetcy died with him, but he left a vast fortune of over £300,000, which is comparable to the great industrial magnates of the time. He made a significant number of charitable bequests, left an important collection of pictures to the National Gallery of Ireland, and divided his landed property between his nephew, Cecil Charles Polhill-Turner (later Polhill), who received his English lands, and his first cousin once removed, Edward Alphonse Winston Barron (1876-1939), who received the Irish estates (some 4,680 acres in County Waterford). The Irish property no longer included Belmont Park, which the 1st baronet had sold to his second cousin, Pierse Marcus Barron (1806-79) in the 1860s, and although it did include Glenanna, this was a small house not really suitable as a permanent residence. This lack of a principal residence had not mattered in the 2nd baronet’s day as he lived abroad, but in 1903, his heir, Edward A.W. Barron bought the Woodstown estate overlooking Waterford Harbour. He subsequently divided his time between Woodstown and a town house in London. During his ownership, the estate was greatly reduced by sales (chiefly to farming tenants), and after Edward died, his executors sold Woodstown in 1944. Edward was apparently the last of the family to live as a landed gentleman in County Waterford.
Carrickbarrahane (aka Carrick Barron), Stradbally, Co. Waterford
The house was a seat of the Barron family but was rebuilt, perhaps after 1832, as a two-storey, five bay house with a one bay pedimented breakfront having a round-headed window above the fanlighted doorway for the Osbornes of Newtown Anner (Co. Tipperary) and was known for a time as ‘Lady Osborne’s Summer House’. The house still exists but seems now to be a farmhouse.
Descent: James Barron (b. 1715); to son, Pierse Barron (b. 1740); to daughter, Mary Anne, wife of John Barron (1754-97); to son, Pierse George Barron (1792-1864), who leased it to his uncle, William Barron (c.1761-1832) and later sold it to the Osborne family of Newtown Anner, who rebuilt it.
Barron family of Carrickbarrahane and Georgestown House
Fitzgerald (alias Barron), Captain James (fl. 1690). Son of Edward Fitzgerald and nephew of Richard Fitzgerald of Burnchurch (Co. Kilkenny), who was deprived of his estates by Oliver Cromwell and transplanted to Connaught. A Roman Catholic in religion, he went abroad and served in France under the Prince de Condé, returning to Ireland after the Restoration of King Charles II with Col. Dempsey and others. He petitioned the king for the return of his barony and lands of Burnchurch, but his claim was rejected by default, since it was never formally determined. He then settled in Co. Waterford, where he married Slany Ny Brien, daughter and heiress of Donald More O’Brien of Cummeragh and Abbeyside Castle (Co. Waterford), and had issue including:
(1) William Barron, of Ballykirogue; married a daughter of Darby Kennedy of Ballykerogue alias Castletown, and had issue;
(2) Pierse Barron (b. c.1690; fl. 1726) (q.v.);
(3) Stephen Barron, of Carrigennahala; married a daughter of Hearn of Brennan, and had issue three daughters.
He lived at Fahagh, Stradbally (Co. Waterford).
His date of death is unknown. His wife’s date of death is unknown.
Barron, Pierse (b. c.1690; fl. 1726). Second son of Capt. James Fitzgerald (alias Barron) and his wife Slany Ny Brien, daughter and heiress of Donald More O’Brien of Cummeragh and Abbeyside Castle (Co. Waterford), born about 1690. He married, c.1710*, Mary, daughter of Thomas FitzGerald of Kilconavey, and had issue:
(1) James Barron (b. 1715) (q.v.);
(2) William Barron (1717-1800?), born 1717; settled at Durrow (Co. Leix); married Mary Anne, daughter of Morgan Kennedy of Garranamoyden and Ballynamullin, and had issue five sons and two daughters; will proved 1 May 1800;
(3) John Barron (1718-1800) (q.v.);
(4) Edward Barron; died unmarried and without issue;
(5) Pierse Barron (1726-1809) of Fahagh, born 1726; married Anne, daughter of Luke Power of Waterford, but had no issue; died 1809; will proved 28 April 1812;
(6) Monica Barron; died unmarried.
He lived at Garrahillersh (Co. Waterford).
His date of death is unknown. His wife’s date of death is unknown.
*Some sources give a date for this marriage of 12 May 1697, but this seems improbable as all the children were born so much later.
Barron, James (b. 1715). Eldest son of Pierse Barron (b. c.1690; fl. 1726) and his wife Mary, daughter of Thomas FitzGerald of Kilconavey, born 1715. He married, 1738, Margaret Catherine, daughter and heiress of John Power of Georgestown (Co. Waterford), and had issue:
(1) Pierse Barron (b. 1740) (q.v.);
(2) Eustace Barron (1742-97), born 1742; emigrated to Spain, where he married, 1784, Catalina Manuela Cantillon (c.1762-1823) of Cadiz, and had issue six sons and two daughters (from whom descent the Barron family of Mexico, bankers, merchants and proprietors of extensive mines); died 1797;
(3) William Barron (1745-1814) (q.v.);
(4) John Barron (1750-1800) (q.v.);
(5) Allen Barron; died unmarried;
(6) Catherine Barron; married A. Barker of Co. Wexford;
(7) Ellen Barron; married [forename unknown] Horseman of Co.. Cork.
He lived at Carrickbarrahane and inherited Georgestown House in right of his wife.
His date of death is unknown. His wife’s date of death is unknown.
Barron, Pierse (b. 1740). Eldest son of James Barron (b. 1715) and his wife Margaret Catherine, daughter and heiress of John Power of Georgestown (Co. Waterford), born 1740. He married, 1768, Johanna, daughter of Thomas Connery, and had issue:
(1) Mary Anne Barron; married, 1789, her cousin, John Barron (1754-97) of Ballyneale, second son of John Barron of Ballydurne, and had issue one son; her date of death is unknown;
(2) Margaret Barron; married James Quan of Waterford (bankrupt, 1824), but died without issue.
He inherited Carrickbarrahane from his father.
His date of death is unknown. His wife’s date of death is unknown.
Barron, William (1745-1814). Third son of James Barron (b. 1715) and his wife Margaret Catherine, daughter and heiress of John Power of Georgestown (Co. Waterford), born 1745. He married, 1794, Margarita Power of Davidstown Castle (Kildare), and had issue:
(1) Margaret (alias Margarita) Barron (b. c.1795), born about 1795; married 1st, 7 November 1814 at St James, Westminster (Middx), Henry Charles Hervey Aston (1792-1821) of Aston Hall (Ches.) and had issue one son and one daughter; married 2nd, Le Chevalier de Poggenpohl, secretary to the Prince Lieven, Russian ambassador in London and later Russian Chargé d’Affaires in Spain; married 3rd, Lt-Gen. Le Chevalier de Montenegro, chamberlain to HRH Infante Don Francisco de Paulo of Spain; she probably died in Spain but her date of death is unknown;
(2) Catalina Barron (1804-23), born 7 February 1804; died unmarried, 23 June 1823;
(3) Pierce Marcus Barron (1806-79) (q.v.);
(4) William Eustace Barron (1808-25), born 16 May 1808; died unmarried at Malaga (Spain), 7 November 1825.
He lived latterly at Cadiz (Spain).
He died at Cadiz, 1814. His widow married 2nd, Col. Le Chevalier Fitzgerald, of the Spanish Service; her date of death is unknown.
Barron, Pierce Marcus (1806-79). Elder son of William Barron (1745-1814) and his wife Margarita Archibald Power, born 3 July 1806. JP (from 1833) and DL for Co. Waterford; High Sheriff of Co. Waterford, 1868. He was appointed an Assistant Poor Law Commissioner for Ireland, 1847. He married, 9 October 1824, Catherine (k/a Kate) Lucinda (b. c.1805-70) (whose sister married Manuel de Godoy, 2nd Prince di Bassano, a Spanish-Italian aristocrat), daughter of Laurence Crowe of St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin, and had issue:
(1) Pierce Eustace Laurence Aloysius Barron (1826-96) (q.v.);
(2) Joseph Manuel Barron (1827-92), born 31 May 1827; employed at The Admiralty; married, 11 April 1849, Elizabeth Mary Seymour, second daughter of Thomas Soulsby of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and had issue six sons and one daughter; died 18 May 1892;
(3) William Arthur Archbold Barron (c.1831-66), born about 1831; emigrated to Mexico, probably to work in the family business there; died at Jelisco, near Tepic (Mexico), 6 October 1866;
(4) A daughter (b. & d. 1833), born 30 July 1833 but died in infancy, 20 November 1833;
(5) twin, A child (b. & d. 1834), born 27 June 1834 but died the same day;
(6) twin, A child (b. & d. 1834), born 27 June 1834 but died the same day;
(7) Catherine (k/a Kate) Lucinda Mary Anne Barron (1835-1912), born 11 August 1835; she married, 1857 at Boulogne-Sur-Mer, the Viscount de Cosepigny, but the marriage was annulled by French Law in 1858, although it apparently remained valid in England; she lived later with her youngest brother; died 24 January 1911; will proved 2 March 1911 (estate £6,303) and 5 December 1916;
(8) Margeurita Louisa Barron (1838-1912), born 1838; a nun of the Carmelite monastery of the Incarnation, Hampton (Co, Dublin) as Sr. Mary Francis Xavier of the Infant Jesus; died 1912;
(9) Arthur Hervey Aston Barron (c.1840-82), born about 1840; married, 17 August 1876, Maria, eldest daughter and co-heiress of Michael Donovan of Dublin; died at Westport (Co. Mayo), 23 April 1882 and was buried at Aughavale Cemetery, Waterford;
(10) Maria Matilda Barron (c.1840-1910), born about 1840; married, 1867, John O’Keefe MP (1827-77) of Dungurvan (Co. Waterford) but had no issue; lived subsequently with her youngest brother; said to have died in 1910;
(11) Emma Eliza Mary Clare Barron (c.1842-90), born about 1842; married, 28 November 1871 at Belmont Park, Vincent Scully (1846-1927) of Mantlehill House (Co. Tipperary), son of Vincent Scully QC MP, and had issue three sons and three daughters; died 7 April 1890;
(12) John Marcus Fitzgerald Barron (1844-80), of Georgestown, born 18 May 1844; JP for Co. Waterford; married 1st, 30 April 1868 at Tramore (Co. Waterford), Mary Madeline (d. 1872), youngest daughter of William Henry Barron of Lacken (Co. Waterford) and had issue one son; married 2nd, 28 September 1875 at St Michael, Kingstown (Co. Dublin), Margaret Kate (d. 1932), daughter of Nicholas King MD of Dublin and of Ards (Co. Kerry), and had issue one daughter (who died young in 1885); died at Turret House, Tramore (Co. Waterford), 19 July 1880; will proved 14 August 1880 (effects under £100); his widow lived latterly in London and died 10 May 1932;
(13) Rev. Eustace John Fitzgerald Barron (c.1847-1916), born about 1847; educated at Middle Temple (admitted 1869; called 1871); barrister-at-law; but was ordained in the Roman Catholic church and was subsequently priest of St Peter, Gloucester (Glos), 1878-94, canon of Clifton Cathedral, 1894-1916 and priest of Weston-super-Mare (Som.), 1898-1916; he died 3 November 1916; administration of goods granted 26 June 1916 (estate £942).
He lived at Glenview by 1833 (an early 19th century house which he probably built and may have sold c.1850) and later at Killowen (Co. Waterford) and Belmont Park, which he purchased from Sir Henry Winston Barron, 1st bt. He had a town house at 102 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin.
He died at Belmont Park, 2 August 1879; his will was proved 7 January 1880 (effects under £3,000). His wife died 12 January 1870 and was buried in the family vault in Ferrybank Catholic Church.
Barron, Pierce Eustace Laurence Aloysius (1826-96). Eldest son of Pierce Marcus Barron (1806-79) and his wife Catherine Lucinda, daughter of Laurence Crowe of St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin, born 22 February 1826. Educated at Downside, London University (matriculated 1845), Lincoln’s Inn (admitted 1848) and King’s Inns, Dublin (called 1851). Barrister-at-law. An officer in the Waterford Light Infantry (Lt., 1855). He married, 1864 in Mexico, Ellen Clerke Cecilia (1833-1914), second daughter and co-heiress of Capt. Edward Abney (1788-1839) of Measham Hall (Derbys), and had issue:
(1) Cecilia de Meysam Constance Josephine Barron (1865-1946), born in Mexico, 1865; married, 4 March 1897, Francois Celestin Fidele Fourmaintraux (d. 1941), son of Francois Fourmaintraux and had issue four sons and three daughters; died 30 April 1946;
(2) Percy Alphonse Abney Joseph Frederick Barron (1867-1942), of Manoir de Menneville, Echingen (France), born 18 July 1867; educated in France; married, 2 June 1903, Marie Adele Ernestine Francoise (d. 1957), daughter of Paul Gaultier de Bruillac de Lespinay of St. Malo (France), and had issue two sons and three daughters; died 30 August 1942;
(3) Ernest Edward de Wivelslie Joseph Barron (1871-1941), of Manoir de Menneville, Echingen (France), born 12 November 1871; educated in France; married, 7 January 1905, Evelyn Maud Innes Thompson (d. 1962) of London, and had issue six sons and six daughters; died 25 March 1941.
He inherited Belmont Park from his father in 1879, but sold it to the Brothers of Charity in 1883.
He died 23 May 1896; administration of goods granted 14 October 1913 (estate 2,528). His widow died in France, 21 April 1914.
Barron, John (1750-1800). Fourth son of Pierse Barron (b. c.1690; fl. 1726) and his wife Mary, daughter of Thomas FitzGerald of Kilconavey, born 1750. In 1775, he was a tanner in Waterford. He married Mary, daughter of Michael Maddock of Waterford, tanner, and had issue:
(1) James Barron (c.1771-1857) (q.v.);
(2) Eustace Barron; married ?Anne (d. 1839), sister of Joseph Power of Dangan (Co. Kilkenny?) and Seafield (Co. Waterford) but died without issue;
(3) John Barron of Annestown;
(4) Pierse Eustace Barron (d. 1826) of Hermitage; died unmarried at Dungarvan, after a few days illness with a sudden fever, 11 May 1826;
(5) William Barron, of Lacken (Co. Waterford); married [forename unknown] Cooper of Ballynure Castle and had issue two sons and two daughters;
(6) Edward Barron, of Georgestown; married [forename unknown] Alley, and had issue four sons and three daughters;
(7) Catherine Barron; married Lt-Gen. Halliday;
(8) Mary Anne Barron; married Patrick Sheehan MD (d. c.1852) of Waterford, physician.
He inherited Georgestown from his father.
He died in 1800. His wife’s date of death is unknown.
Barron, James (c.1771-1857). Only son of John Barron (1750-1800) of Georgestown House and his wife Mary, daughter of Michael Maddock of Waterford, tanner. JP for Co. Waterford. He married, c.1810, Mary (b. c.1790), daughter of William Grant of Montalto, Woodstown (Co. Waterford), and had issue:
(1) John Barron; died unmarried in the lifetime of his father;
(2) Pierse Eustace Barron; died unmarried in the lifetime of his father;
(3) Catherine Barron (c.1815-70); inherited Georgestown from her father; married James Sherlock Harper (d. 1868) of Waterford, wine merchant; died in Waterford, 20 November, and was buried at Kill RC church, 27 November 1870.
He inherited Georgestown from his father. At his death it passed to his daughter and her husband, and after their deaths to his first cousin once removed, John Marcus Barron (1844-80).
He died aged 86 on 11 June 1857. His wife’s date of death is unknown.
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