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Katherine Townsend (109)

Notes for Katherine Townsend

Married 1694. William Gunn (1) of Rattoo,(2) Lixnaw, Co Kerry. See Burke's Irish Landed Gentry 1912 - Gunn of Rattoo.

William with eight colleagues and accompanied by his wife Katherine, who was disguised as a man, tried to join the cause of William of Orange at Sligo in the spring of 1689. Katherine "behaved with undaunted courage superior to her sex" but they were all caught and imprisoned in Galway. The men were tried for treason, found guilty and condemned to death but Katherine was spared. However, their execution was delayed and they were all transferred to Dublin in the summer of 1690 and subsequently released in July that same year.

William's will is dated 16 May 1723 and was proved on 25 November 1723.

Nothing is known of their children Francis, Richard, William, Rebecca, Sarah and Catherine. Their son, Townsend Gunn, married Elizabeth (3) daughter of John Blennerhasset (4) of Conway Castle and died in 1766. They had a son William Townsend Gunn and two daughters Catherine Gunn and Elizabeth Gunn.

Of the children:

William Townsend Gun of Rattoo, married Sarah, eldest daughter of Anthony Stoughton (5) of Ballyhorgan, (6) Co Kerry, on 7 December 1765 and had the following issue.

Catherine was born in 1728.

* Elizabeth Gunn was born in 1733 and married Thomas Mullins on 5 October 1757. Thomas Mullins was born 25 October 1736, was created a baronet on 7 December 1797 and elevated to the peerage of Ireland on 31 July 1800 as Baron Ventry (7 & 8) of Burnham. He died 11 January 1824. They had thirteen children of whom their daughter Anna Mullins married in 1811 Richard Townsend Orpen (9) of Ardtully,(10) co. Kerry, son of Richard Orpen, and great-grandson of Richard Orpen of Killowen. See the entry for Anne Townsend [143] who married Richard Orpen's father.

(1) The entry for Gunn in the University of Galway Landed Estates Database records "The Gun (sometimes spelt Gunn) family were descended from Rev. William Gun, of Limerick, but were established in north Kerry, according to Smith, during the reign of Charles I. Wilson Gun was one of the principal lessors in the parishes of Killury and Rattoo, barony of Clanmaurice, at the time of Griffith's Valuation. He owned 11,000 acres in county Kerry in the 1870s. The representatives of John L. Gun held several townlands in the parish of Killehenny, barony of Iraghticonnor. In 1867, these lands were offered for sale in the Landed Estates Court. George Cashel, of Shallee, Silvermines, county Tipperary, was leasing over 250 acres from the Gun estate in the parish of Rattoo, county Kerry at the time of Griffith's Valuation. In 1868 he offered for sale in the Landed Estates Court, property in the baronies of Iraghticonnor and Clanmaurice, county Kerry, as well as lands in the barony of Owney and Arra, county Tipperary. An offer was made by the Congested Districts Board on over 400 acres of the Gun & Crosbie estate in 1914."

(2) The entry for Rattoo House in the University of Galway Landed Estates Database records "At the time of Grffith's Valuation, Rattoo House, in the possession of Wilson Gun, was valued at £20. Lewis refers to Rattoo Lodge as the residence of W.T. Gun in 1837. This would appear to be the house which Bary states was built by Wilson Gun in 1836. The 1st editon Ordnance Survey map, however, indicates "Rattoo House (in ruins)", south west of the Round Tower, which would suggest there was an earlier house also known by this name. In 1906 it was owned by William T.J. Gun and valued at £63. The house remained in the Gun family and their descendents until the 1920s when it was sold to the Land Commission by Ella Browne, grand-daughter of Wilson Gun. It is still extant and occupied. In 2010 it was offered for sale."

(3) Elizabeth Blennerhasset was second daughter of "Black Jack" Blennerhasset and the niece of Dorcas (Crumpe) Blennerhasset.

(4) The entry for Blennerhasset (Ballyseedy & Beaufort) in the University of Galway Landed Estates Database records "Smith states that the Blennerhassett family were originally from Cumbria, in the north of England. The first to settle in Kerry was Robert who married, Elizabeth, daughter of Captain Jenkin Conway, from whom the subsequent generations of Blennerhassetts claim their descent. John Blennerhassett was granted an estate of 2,787 acres in the barony of Trughanacmy, county Kerry and 2,039 acres in the barony of Fermoy, county Cork under the Acts of Settlement in 1666. The representatives of Sir. A. Blennerhassett were among the principal lessors of lands in the parish of Knockane, Barony of Dunkerron North, at the time of Griffith’s Valuation. Rev. William Blennerhassett was among the principal lessors in the parish of Ballincuslane while Charles Blennerhassett held lands in the parishes of Ballymacelligott, Ballyseedy and Currans, barony of Trughanacmy at the same time. In 1861 and 1862, Henry Blennerhassett, MD, offered for sale in the Landed Estates Court rentals of lands in the barony of Fermoy, county Cork and Dunkerron, county Kerry as well as houses in the town of Tralee. In 1865, houses in Dublin and Tralee as well as lands in the barony of Clanmaurice, were offered for sale by the trustees of John Blennerhassett. The estate of Sir Rowland Blennerhassett of Churchtown, Beaufort, amounted to over 8000 acres in the 1870s."

(5) The entry for Stoughton (Kerry) in the University of Galway Landed Estates Database records "Thomas Stoughton was one of the principal lessors in the parishes of Caher and Dromod, barony of Iveragh and the parishes of Dysert and Rattoo, barony of Clanmaurice, at the time of Griffith's Valuation. William Stoughton held several townlands in the parish of Killury, at the same time. In the 1830s the Ordnance Survey Field Name books record the letting of property in the parish of Ballyheige, part of the Crosbie estate, to Thomas Stoughton. Kerry Supple acted as his agent. The estate of Thomas A. Stoughton of Ballyhorgan, amounted to over 11,000 acres in the 1870s while that of Charles Stoughton, of Ballynoe and London, was over 2000 acres in county Kerry. Thomas Stoughton also owned over 1200 acres in county Cork, mostly in the baronies of Kinalea and Kerrycurrihy, through the marriage of his father with Mary Daunt. An offer was made by the Congested Districts Board on over 1200 acres of the Stoughton estate in 1916. This family had close links with that of Stoughton, of Owlpen Manor, Gloucestershire."

(6) The entry for Ballyhorgan House in the University of Galway Landed Estates Database records "At the time of Griffith's Valuation, Thomas Stoughton was occupying this property which was valued at £33. Lewis refers to it as the seat of T.A. Stoughton in 1837. Bary states that this house was built by the Stoughtons in the seventeenth century and continued to be occupied by them until the twentieth century, though it suffered attacks from the Whiteboys and during the War of Independence. It is now a ruin."

(7) The entry for de Moleyns (Mullins) (Lord Ventry) in the University of Galway Landed Estates Database records "Smith indicates that Frederick Mullins was granted lands in Dingle, which he named Burnham after the family's original seat in England. Lord Ventry owned land in almost all parishes in the barony of Corkaguiny at the time of Griffith’s Valuation. His uncle the 2nd Baron had bought the Trants' county Kerry estate in 1813 (D 27,862 NLI). Lord Ventry was among the principal lessors of lands in the parishes of Ballymacelligott, Kilgarrylande, Killorglin and O'Brennan, barony of Trughanacmy at the same time. The Ordnance Survey Name Books mention David P. Thompson of Tralee as his agent. William deMoleyns was also leasing several townlands in the parish of Killorglin. Lands in the parish of Kilbonane, barony of Magunihy, had been offered for sale in the Encumbered Estates Court in 1851. A manuscript note on the sale notice indicates the purchasers were Hunt, Stokes and Booker. Part of Lord Ventry's estate at Ballymoreigh, parish of Dingle, county Kerry and at Ballyshane, parish of Dunmahon, county Cork, was offered for sale in July 1852 and the Cork land again in December 1852. In the 1870s the de Moleyns estate amounted to over 91,000 acres in county Kerry. An offer was made by the Congested Districts Board on over 80,000 acres of Lord Ventry's estate in 1913."

(8) When Maurice Fitzgerald, 16th Knight of Kerry, died in June 1779 everything was left in trust to Lord Doneraile and John Townsend [214?] for the benefit for life of Lady Anne Fitzgerald, Maurice's wife, with the remainder for life to Richard Boyle Townsend [219], Maurice's only nephew. Shortly afterwards Thomas Mullins claimed that Maurice Fitzgerald owed him various sums of money and filed against Lady Anne, Richard Townsend and the trustees created under the deed of settlement made on Maurice Fitzgerald's marriage. Thus began a saga of claim and counter-claim that continued until 1831 when the case was brought by children of Thomas Mullins (the appellants) before the House of Lords for judgement against John Townsend [230] (the respondent). This was reported in 'New Reports of cases heard in the House of Lords' 1831 Volume V pages 567 to 592.

(9) The entry for Orpen (Glanarought) in the University of Galway Landed Estates Database records "Burke describes the Orpen family as claiming great antiquity. They settled in Ireland after the Cromwellian wars and married into some of the other influential families in county Kerry including the Herberts. Richard Orpen was agent for Sir William Petty on his county Kerry estates. Over 4000 acres of the estate of Richard Becher Opren in the barony of Glanarought were offered for sale in the Encumbered Estates Court in November 1852. The petitioner was John B. Warren, who later acquired parts of the Orpen lands in this area. Over 10,000 acres of the estate of Adrian Taylor, in which members of the Orpen and Warren families had an interest, were offered for sale in the Encumbered Estates Court in May 1855. Richard J.T. Orpen was one of the principal lessors in the parishes of Kenmare and Kilgravan at the time of Griffith's Valuation. In the 1870s the estate of the late Sir Richard Orpen amounted to over 12,000 acres in county Kerry as well as 300 acres in county Cork. The representatives of F.H. Orpen were the proprietors of 800 acres in county Kerry at the same time."

(10) The entry for Ardtully House in the University of Galway Landed Estates Database records "Richard J.T. Orpen was leasing Ardtully House from John Croker at the time of Griffith's Valuation, when it was valued at £23 5s. In 1814 Leet records it as the seat of Richard O. Townsend while Lewis, in 1837 mentions Ardtully as "the ancient mansion of Richard Orpen Townsend". It was also the seat of the Orpen family in the 1770s. Bary states that this property included an earlier castle, which was originally part of the McFineen McCarthy lands forfeited in the seventeenth century. It was granted by the Hollow Blade Company to the Conways but, later in the eighteenth century, the Orpens were occupying the house, subsequently replaced in the nineteenth century. Recorded, perhaps mistakenly, as the seat of R.H.M. Orpen and Sir. R.J.T Orpenm in 1894, in 1906 it was owned by Richard H.M. Orpen and valued at £40. The Scottish-baronial style house was burnt in 1921 but the ruins remain."

For other connections with the Stoughton and Mullins families see Anne Townsend [143] and Helena Townsend [218].

For other connections with the Orpen family see Anne Townsend [143].

'Supplemental Addenda to Unpublished Kerry Records' p. 57-58 and 'Pooles of Mayfield' p.237 refer.