Killyon Manor, Hill of Down, County Meath
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.
“(Loftus, sub Magan/LG1868; Magan/IFR; Carw, Bt/PB) A three storey gable-ended house, or mid-C18 house, to which a new façade, with a parapet and cornice, framing bands and a small single-storey Ionic portico, was added ca 1800. Unusual fenestration, the two upper storys being four bay, the ground floor having two windows rather close together on either side of the portico. The house is flanked by screen walls of brick, with blind arches. Ballroom at rear.”
Record of Protected structures:
Townland: Killyon, town: Longwood.
Detached four-bay three-storey house built mid 18thC. With 19thC ballroom, and attached yard buildings.
Not in national inventory
https://www.ihh.ie/index.cfm/houses/house/name/Killyon%20Manor%20
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The Loftus family were resident on the Killyon Manor estate at the far western edge of County Meath from the 16th century, possibly in a tower house within the house that ‘Loftus the Magnificent’ built in the mid-18th century. Rather unusually the house remains one room deep, although a ballroom was added at the rear sometime in the late 18th or early 19th century; there is also a perpendicular wing – the oldest part of the Georgian building. The façade was redone c. 1800 and a small Ionic portico added as well as long flanking screen walls with blind arches. It passed to the Magan family in the 1850s when William Henry Magan of Clonearl in County Offaly married the heiress Elizabeth Georgina Loftus. Their combined fortunes included 20,000 acres in Westmeath, Offaly and Shankill, Co. Dublin in addition to a house on St Stephen’s Green, where their daughter Augusta, jilted as an unsuitable match, is said to have left her wedding breakfast uncleared for 30 years (and as such was possibly the inspiration for Miss Haversham in Great Expectations). Over her lifetime, she became a hoarder and by the time of her death had filled the ballroom to waist-height with her impulsive, largely unopened purchases. A protracted decade-long legal battle over Augusta’s bizarre will ultimately led to the loss of much of the fortune. It was sold out of the family in the 1960s by Brigadier Bill Magan, who in retirement published a well-regarded memoir called ‘Umma-More’, which tells the story of the various houses owned by the family. Currently owned by the Purcell family, the estate, on a tributary of the River Boyne, is being rewilded and has become an important biodiversity zone.
https://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2018/04/magan-of-killyon.html
THE MAGANS OWNED 5,604 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY WESTMEATH
The family of MAGAN claims descent from the ancient Irish sept of MacCEAN or MacGEAN, latterly written MacGAN and MAGAN, a collateral branch of the sept of MacDermot Roe. Six successive generations of the MAGANS resided in the townland of Umma More or Emoe, about two and a half miles in distance from Ballymore, County Westmeath.MORGAN MAGAN, of Clonearl, County Westmeath, brother of Richard Magan, of Emoe, had issue,
THOMAS, his heir;
MORGAN, successor to his brother;
Susannah.
The elder son,
THOMAS MAGAN, of Togherstown, County Westmeath, a commissioner in the years 1695, 1697 and 1698 for raising a supply in County Westmeath for WILLIAM III, married Sarah Morgan, and dsp 1710, when he was succeeded by his brother,
MORGAN MAGAN, of Togherstown, who wedded Elizabeth ________, and had issue,
Thomas, dsp;
Hubert, dsp;
William, dsp;
Edward, dsp;
Morgan, dsp;
ARTHUR, his heir;
Eliza; Sarah; Ann; Frances.
The sixth son,
ARTHUR MAGAN (1721-77), of Clonearl, Philipstown, King’s County (Offaly), High Sheriff of County Westmeath, 1759, MP for Newtown Limavady, 1765, espoused, in 1754, Anne, daughter of Hugh Henry, of Straffan, County Kildare, and had issue,
Edward, dsp 1779;
Hugh Henry;
ARTHUR, who carried on the line;
Anne; Harriet.
The youngest son,
ARTHUR MAGAN (1756-1808), of Clonearl and Togherstown, married Hannah Georgina, daughter and co-heir (with her sister, Elizabeth Anne, wife of Charles, 2nd Baron Castle Coote) of the Rev Dr Henry Tilson, of Eagle Hill, County Kildare, and had issue,
Edward, died young;
WILLIAM HENRY, his heir;
Arthur, Captain RN;
Thomas Tilson, Captain in the army;
GEORGE PERCY, ancestor of GEORGE, cr BARON MAGAN OF CASTLETOWN;
Henry (Rev), dsp;
Charlotte; Eliza; Harriett; Louisa; Emily; Henrietta.
Mr Magan was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,
WILLIAM HENRY MAGAN (1790-1840), of Clonearl, High Sheriff of County Westmeath, 1827, who wedded, in 1817, Elizabeth Georgina, widow of Colonel Thomas Lowther Allen, and second daughter and co-heir of Dudley Loftus, of Killyon, head of the ancient and distinguished house of LOFTUS, and had issue,
WILLIAM HENRY, his heir;
Dudley, died unmarried;
AUGUSTA ELIZABETH, of whom hereafter.
The elder son,
WILLIAM HENRY MAGAN (1819-60), of Clonearl, Captain, 4th Light Dragoons, MP for Westmeath, 1847-57, espoused, in 1849, the Lady Georgiana Charlotte Keppel, youngest daughter of WILLIAM CHARLES, 4TH EARL OF ALBEMARLE; though dsp 1860, and was succeeded eventually by his sister,
MISS AUGUSTA ELIZABETH MAGAN (1825-1905), of Clonearl, King’s County, and Killyon, County Meath, who died unmarried.
Her estates included 5,604 acres in County Westmeath, 4,418 acres in County Meath, 2,374 in County Kildare, 1,023 in the King’s County, and 165 acres of land in County Dublin.
Miss Magan’s paternal uncle,
GEORGE PERCY MAGAN (1799-1857), of County Carlow, married, in 1824, Ellen, daughter of Valentine O’Connor, and had issue,
PERCY TILSON, his heir;
Thomas Tilson;
Henry;
Henry Augusta;
Edward William;
Hugh Tilson;
Albert Edward;
Valentine John;
Arthur;
Georgina; Mary Monica; Ellen; Charlotte Elizabeth;
Henrietta; Flora Emily; Harriet Honoria.
Mr Magan was succeeded by his eldest son,
PERCY TILSON MAGAN JP (1828-1903), of Correal, County Roscommon, Marlfield House, County Wexford, and Kilcleagh Park, County Meath, who wedded, in 1865, Anne Catherine, daughter of the Rev Edward Richards, and had issue,
Percy Tilson (1867-1947);
ARTHUR TILSON SHAEN, of whom we treat;
Emily Georgina; Muriel Rozel; Rachel Evelyn; Violet Augusta.
The younger son,
ARTHUR TILSON SHAEN MAGAN CMG (1880-1965), of Killyon Manor, Hill of Down, County Meath, Lieutenant-Colonel, Royal Army Service Corps, married, in 1906, Kathleen Jane, daughter of Assheton Biddulph, and had issue,
WILLIAM MORGAN TILSON, his heir;
Francis Shaen;
Annie Sheelagh; Violet Mary; Maureen.
Colonel Magan was succeeded by his eldest son,
BRIGADIER WILLIAM MORGAN TILSON MAGAN CBE (1908-2010), of Killyon Manor, and St Michael’s House, Tonbridge, Kent, who wedded, in 1940, Maxine, daughter of Sir Kenneth Grant Mitchell KCIE, and had issue,
Thomas Kenneth Shaen Biddulph (1941-3);
GEORGE MORGAN, of whom hereafter;
Hugh William;
James Henry.
The eldest surviving son,
GEORGE MORGAN MAGAN (1945-), married, in 1972, Wendy Anne, daughter of Major Chilton, and has issue,
Patrick G B;
Edward William Morgan.
Mr Magan, formerly of CASTLETOWN COX, County Kilkenny, was created a life peer, in 2011, as BARON MAGAN OF CASTLETOWN, of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Chelsea.
In 1876, Mrs Elizabeth Georgina Loftus Magan, of Killyon Manor (above), owned 4,418 acres in County Meath, 5,604 acres in County Westmeath, 2,374 acres in County Kildare, 1,023 acres in County Offaly, and 165 acres in County Dublin, totalling 13,584 acres.
Mrs Magan managed the estates until she died, in 1880, designating her only surviving child Elizabeth Augusta Magan as her heir.
When the Magan family’s main residence, Clonearl, was destroyed by fire in 1846, Killyon Manor became their seat.
Killyon was sold about 1970 to Sir Rivers Verain Carew Bt, who lived there for a time until it was purchased by the Purcell family, who have restored the house and gardens.
First published in April, 2018.
Irish Historic Houses 