Introduction

By 1671 ownership of the former MacClancy lands was as follows: Duncarbery Town and Uragh (Randall Clayton); Boyannagh (Owen Wynn); Laughta, Tawnytallen, Duncarbery, Tullaghan, Doobally (Mary Hamilton); Gubacreeny, Drowishwood, Drumboy, Buckode, Aghavohill, Gurteendarragh, Rosclogher, Gortnasillagh, Ballymore, Uragh, Agharooskey, Cloone, Tawly, Cloonty (James Galbraith et al.); Agholaghta, Soosris, Lisanistra, Carroreagh, Kinlough belonging to Duncarbery, Aghaderrard and Aghadunvane (Francis Hamilton).

Much of the lands granted to English settlers during the seventeenth century were never occupied by the grantees, and it was not until the beginning of the eighteenth century that ownership of the land finally passed out of the control of the native Irish and the landlords assumed total control of Dartry. In this century the area would become the preserve of three major landlord families: the Johnstons of Kinlough, the Dicksons of Tullaghan / Tawly and the Whites of Lareen, together with a number of minor families: the Ellis family of Wardhouse, the Connollys of Mount Prospect and the Bartons of Bunduff.

Oakfield Estate

At the beginning of the eighteenth century the lands around Kinlough were owned by the John Rynd of Derryvoyland, Co. Fermanagh, who bought them from Thomas Glasgon (Glasson or Glancy?) of Rosclogher around 1700. He was the eldest son of David Rynd, who had inherited lands in Fermanagh from his father in 1677, lost them under James II in 1689 and got them back again under William and Mary later that year. John Rynd was High Sheriff for Fermanagh in 1708 and for Leitrim in 1722, when his address is recorded as "Dartry".

There were six Johnston landlords. Click on a link to find out more.
 

Robert Johnston (1729 - 1770)

While Rynd was buying Kinlough, the area around Aghadunvane and Unshinnagh was being bought by Robert and John Johnston from Aghakerin and Aghamuldony, Co. Fermanagh from the same Thomas Glasgon who had sold Kinlough. The Johnston brothers were sons of James Johnston of Aghamuldony in Fermanagh. In 1701 Robert and John divided the lands between them. John had a son, Robert Jnr., who set about consolidating an estate in Kinlough by marrying Jane, daughter of John Rynd of Kinlough. By a marriage settlement of 1729 Robert Jnr. was given Kinlough, Drumocarha, and the mountain of Aroo plus 200 pounds by his new father-in-law and Unshinnagh, Dustrack, Cloone, Aghadunvane and Laughta by his father. In 1735 he received Agharooskey Fertagh and Moneen from his father-in-law, thus assembling the future Oakfield estate. Robert seems to have lived in Fermanagh for some time after his marriage, only moving to Kinlough around 1740, when he built a substantial home, Oakfield House, on his estate. Jane died in 1747 at the age of 47, and Robert died around 1770.

James Johnston (1770 - 1823)

Robert was succeeded by his son James who was born in 1733. James and his wife Mary lived in Oakfield House, and continued to expand the estate. There was a continuous programme of tree-planting along the boundaries of the estate farm, and the fields were surrounded by carefully-built stone walls. James even introduced a system of irrigation at Oakfield. The Statistical Survey of Leitrim and Mayo (1810) records that "Water is by one gentleman (Counsellor Johnston of Oakfield) used as a manure, by irrigation, or rather occasional inundations; it enriches his grounds, whether for grazing or tillage, to an incredible degree". James was High Sheriff for Leitrim in 1783, and died in 1823 at the ripe old age of 90. His widow died the following year. He was landlord for over 50 years

Robert Johnston (1823 - 1843)

James Johnston was succeeded by his son Robert, who was then 55 years old. Robert was married to Florence Rathborne of Dunsinea, Co. Dublin. and, until he inherited Oakfield, divided his time between Kinlough and Dublin, where he had a house in Mountjoy Square. He was High Sheriff for Leitrim in 1799, and was landlord of Oakfield for twenty years until his death in 1843 at the age of 75. Florence, who was nineteen years his junior, died the following year.

Robert extended and remodelled Oakfield House shortly after he inherited the property and re-named it Kinlough House after the village which was beginning to grow up outside the estate walls. Some of the houses in the village were built for workers on the estate. Estate workers also lived in Moneen, close to Kinlough House. Griffith's Valuation of 1857 records some of the names: Mackey, Trower, Kilfeder, Long, Mortain, St. George, Kildea, Somerville, Faucett and Johnston. Robert was responsible for much of the construction and planting that were carried out on the estate. The gardens were surrounded by tall stone walls lined on the inside with bricks to retain warmth. Kitchen gardens, formal gardens and orchards were planted. Stables and other out-offices were constructed and an underground passage was built from the yard to the house to permit the servants to come and go without being seen from the Big House. There was a continuous programme of tree-planting along the boundaries of the estate farm, and the fields were surrounded by carefully-built stone walls.

Kinlough House, in the Palladian style, was typical of the gracious homes of landlords of moderate means. It had a columnar portico and a frontage of seventy feet. It was two storey over basement, and commanded views of Lough Melvin and the Dartry Mountains. With the growth of Kinlough village and the increasing importance of Bundoran as a bathing place and railway terminus, Robert added a long curving driveway from the Bundoran road, which added to the importance of the house and allowed the family to come and go without passing through the village. The family retained over 300 acres as a personal estate, with the remainder let to tenants. The income from the estate in 1889 was £2,535. The Church of Ireland parish church, a Protestant school and Parish Hall were built on the edge of the demesne. The house is described in Lewis' Topographical Dictionary of 1837 as being "the beautiful villa of R. Johnston Esq. in a very fine demesne." The rest of the estate which was composed of 12,175 acres: 471 in Donegal, 739 in Fermanagh, 10,633 in Leitrim and 332 in Sligo, was let out to tenants.

Captain James Johnston (1843 - 1848)

Robert was succeeded in Oakfield Estate by his eldest son Capt. James Johnston. Capt. Johnston was High Sheriff for the county in 1844 and was chairman of the Rossinver Famine relief committee in 1847. Some land clearance was carried out by the Captain at around this time, notably in Aghadunvane, where tenants were evicted and the small farms consolidated to make "The Ranch" for cattle grazing, since the price of cattle was rising quickly, while the price of corn was falling. Though he contributed £100 to the collection for famine relief in 1847, it is probable that he viewed the loss of tenants through hunger and disease as an opportunity to clear more of his estate for ranching. These plans never reached fruition, however, for he died in 1848 aged 37, having been landlord of Oakfield for only five years. It is possible that he fell victim to the many fevers which were sweeping the country at the time. The evicting activities of Capt. James may not have been well received by the rest of the family, and the murder of seven landlords, including Major Mahon in nearby Roscommon, during the winter of 1847/48 would have convinced them that evictions could have terrible consequences for the landlords concerned. There were to be no more large-scale evictions on the Johnston estate, and the cruelties of James were buried with him in Kinlough old cemetery. It is significant that his name does not appear in the family entry in Burke's Landed Gentry, which records his younger brother and successor, William, as being the eldest son of the house.

William Johnston (1848 - 1888)

Being childless, the Captain was succeeded by his younger brother William, then aged College, and, as second son, was destined for the civil service until his unexpected inheritance of Oakfield. He was a justice of the peace, and was High Sheriff for the county in 1850. He was landlord for eight years before he married Sarah Percy, daughter of the rector of Carrick-on-Shannon. "Mr. William", as he was known, seems to have been strict, but fair, to his tenants. Writing in 1862, Henry Coulter, in his book "The West of Ireland: Its Existing Conditions and Prospects" has this to say of him:

There are some landlords who give a great amount of employment and act most generously towards their tenants. Prominent amongst them is Mr. Johnston of Kinlough, near Bundoran, who owns large estates in Leitrim, including the town of Drumkeerin in the barony of Dromahair.The accounts which I have received from several quarters in reference to this gentleman represent him as being an excellent landlord. He lets his land at moderate rents, the average being about 15 shillings per acre, and he gives every encouragement to improvement on the part of his tenants. He pays them for the making of drains, and does not charge a per-centage, which he might fairly do on the outlay. He also remunerates his tenants for levelling old and making new fences, gives them lime gratuitously for the manuring of their land, and supplies timber, lime and slates to those who build new houses. This is not all. He allows the whole of the poor rate to be deducted from the rent, and this year he has made a liberal abatement to those tenants whose crops were injured by the overflowing of a river in the neighbourhood of Drumkeerin...... I have further to state, with respect to Mr. Johnston, that he gives a large amount of constant employment, in addition to that given to tenants in the making of drains and other improvements on their own holdings. He also recognises tenant rights on his property, and a short time ago one of his tenants sold the good will of a farm of six acres for 65 pounds. His tenants are comfortable, as they could hardly fail to be under such a landlord, and his rents are always punctually paid."

William may have gained a reputation as an understanding landlord, but he was much less understanding where religion was involved. The Johnstons were staunch members of the Established Church, and, as was the custom of the time, viewed their Catholic tenants as wayward and misguided souls. There was a general paranoia about proselytism - conversion from one religion to another - and members of the Established Church were greatly opposed to the activities of the Jesuits. Relations between Fr. John Maguire, parish priest of Kinlough, and William Johnston were never good. When, in 1865, Fr. Maguire arranged for a mission in the parish, it was rumoured that the Jesuits were coming, and a fierce row erupted. Inflammatory letters to the Ballyshannon Herald by William Johnston and the local Rector, William Ashe, were answered in more moderate tones by Fr. Maguire. The paper published a bigoted leading article in which it referred to "the secret workings and dangerous teachings of the Jesuits....Popery is the last development of idolatry and Jesuitism is the last development of popery....." "Mr. Ashe ..... has felt himself morally bound to oppose the entrance of the blasphemously styled "Holy Fathers" into his parish....... Mr. Johnston, a resident gentleman and proprietor of Kinlough, having at heart the welfare of his tenantry, and well knowing the deadly effects that invariably accompany the teachings of the Jesuitical Order, then addressed Mr. Maguire..." The Herald returned to the fray the following week when it was discovered that the missioners were Redemptorists, not Jesuits. The mission finally passed off peacefully, probably having had little effect, good or bad, on the populace. The affair did spur one local (anonymous) poet to pen the following lines:

William Johnston died in 1888, having been landlord of Oakfield for forty years, and was succeeded by his son James, known to the tenants as "Mr. Jimmy".

James Johnston (1888 - 1929)

Mr. Jimmy, who was to be the last landlord of Oakfield, was born in 1858, and inherited the estate at the age of 30. Two years after he took over Oakfield he married Rebecca Ceely Maude of Lenaghan Park, Co. Fermanagh. They were to endure great sorrow, for their first child, William, died in 1893 a fortnight before his second birthday. Three years later their last child, Christopher, was born, and they soon discovered that he was mentally slow. Christopher, who was known by the childhood nickname of "Kicky", was looked after by his parents at Oakfield. They knew that he could never become landlord, and arranged that, after their deaths, he should be looked after by Herbert Maude and Mrs. Elsie Welsh of Shropshire.
 

The End of the Estate

Political events in England, rather than the disability of their son, were to bring about the dismantling of Oakfield estate. The Land War in Ireland, which had been begun at the end of the 1870s by Davitt and the Land League, supported by Parnell in the British parliament, had dragged on for over twenty years, was finally resolved with a conference of landlords and tenants in 1902, which resulted in Land Acts which gave tenants the right to buy their holdings from the landlords at an average price of £12 per acre. Since most tenants could not lay their hands on that amount of money, the British government raised funds by way of a public stock issue and loaned the money to Irish tenants to buy their lands. From 1905 onwards the Johnston tenants availed of these loans to buy their lands at an average price of £8 per acre. The scheme was very attractive for the tenants, for a small farm of eighteen acres on the Johnston estate, for which a rent of £8 was payable in 1895 could be bought for £148 in 1905 and the annual repayment on the loan, including interest at 3.25%, was less than £5. Thus the tenants could at once gain ownership of their land by paying an annuity that generally amounted to less than half of the rent they had formerly paid to the landlord. As a result of the scheme the lands of all the estates in the parish passed into the hands of the tenants and the era of the landlords was over.

The Johnstons retained Kinlough House and their personal estate of over 200 acres at Oakfield, and the moneys paid to them for the purchase of the tenements was invested. Mr. Jimmy died in 1929, and Mrs. Johnston died in 1935. After the death of his mother Kicky was made a ward of court, and his cousin, Herbert Maude, moved into Kinlough House. Maude, who had served in the army during the First World War and retired with the rank of captain, took easily to the role of local squire, and spent much time fishing on Lough Melvin. He was a member of Manorhamilton-Kinlough and District anglers, and donated a silver cup to the club for an annual competition. During his period in Kinlough House, the financial situation of the remaining estate disimproved and he sold the house and lands to M.H.A.E. Towle of Mullaghmore and moved with Kicky to Marine Lodge, Tullaghan. Maude married Mrs. Matilda Bolster, daughter of Robert Mortain of Moneen in 1952, and died in a Derry nursing home the following year.

Following the death of Maude, Kicky was looked after by Mr. and Mrs. Michael Barnwell of Bundoran. He spent his last days as a tweedy, simple old gentleman who spent most of his time fishing. With his death at the end of the 1950s, the last Johnston family connection with Kinlough was severed.

M.H.A.E. Towle, who bought Kinlough House and Oakfield estate, was the owner of a fishing fleet at Mullaghmore. He set about making some money from the estate by cutting down much of the timber. Kinlough House was too large and expensive to run as a family home, and he auctioned the contents of the house in 1955. The rest of the property was sold to John Foley and Terence Connolly, Kinlough, and the land around the main entrance from the Bundoran road was planted by the Forestry Commission in 1957. The house was unroofed, and its slates and timber sold, as was much of the stone walling. The once stately Kinlough House is now in ruins, and the last of the Johnstons is long gone. Their graves in Kinlough old cemetery are crumbling and overgrown but their legacy remains in the stone walls, family names and in the location of Kinlough Village itself. Sic transit gloria mundi.

Brookhill Estate

The other branch of the Johnston family remained around Cloonawillan, building Brookhill House and becoming minor landlords in the area. John Johnston, the second of the Johnston brothers who had moved to the area from Fermanagh, lived at Brookhill until his death about 1770. He was a Justice of the Peace, and High Sheriff for Leitrim in 1739. He was married to Anne Phibbs of Ballintogher. John was succeeded by his son John Jnr., who was born in 1744. He was married to Jane Weir, and suffered the loss of his eldest son, Hall Craig, who died in battle in Holland in 1798 at the age of 22. John Jnr. was succeeded in Brookhill by his second son, Captain Robert Johnston, who ran the estate until his death in 1839.

Captain Johnston's eldest son, Forbes, was only ten years old at the time of his death, and the estate was administered until he attained his majority. He gained a B.A. degree at Trinity and joined the Leitrim Military, attaining the rank of captain. The Brookhill estate included the townlands of Agharooskey, Cloonawillan and Fertagh, amounting to 1024 acres in all. For much of the time Brookhill was let to tenants. In 1857 the house, together with 25 acres of land, was let to Johnston Sharpe. Forbes died in 1904, aged 75 years, and was buried in Mt. Jerome cemetery, Dublin. James Johnston lived at Brookhill until his death in 1928, and his son Edward, who died in 1952, is the last of the Brookhill Johnstons to be buried in the old cemetery. Unlike Kinlough House, however, the more modest Brookhill House, which was owned for a time by the Fitzgerald family, and later by the O'Donnell-Beevor family, still stands, the last habitable house of the once-powerful Johnston dynasty.

Another member of the Johnston family, Robert St. George of Pornason, Ballyshannon, held 416 acres in Aghadunvane, and a total of 2957 acres in Leitrim. He was educated at Trinity College and called to the bar in 1841. He was due to be High Sheriff when he died suddenly in 1875 at the age of 58. He is buried in the Johnston family plot in Kinlough old cemetery, and was cousin to the Brookhill and Kinlough Johnstons.

Lareen Estate

The lands of this estate passed out of MacClancy hands to Owen McMurrey in the 1620s. In 1641 much of the Loughside belonged to Sir Frederick Hamilton, and, after 1659, to Owen Winn. A number of names crop up during the eighteenth century as owners of Lareen - Hill, Spence, Beresford and Leslie. In 1722 Robert Spence and his sons Robert and Ralph sold the area to Charles Leslie of Kilcraigy, Co. Donegal and Robert Houston of Derry. The sale included lands at Duncarbery, Doobally, Towntallon Edenville, Gobbonemee, Drumboy, Buckode, Mullinaleck and the islands on Lough Melvin, as well as the fairs and markets of Tullaghan and the salmon fishing of Bundrowes. The lands subsequently passed to the Hill, Beresford and Palmer families. In 1766 Roger Palmer of Palmerstown, Co. Mayo sold the lands, including Gubacreeny, Drowishwood, Mullinaleck and the islands on Lough Melvin to David LaTouche of Dublin for £470. The LaTouche family maintained their connection with the area, even after their lands were sold. In the 1850s, William LaTouche, Delgany, Co. Wicklow was landlord of 8,234 acres in Leitrim, including Aghalateeve, Carrowduff, Creevelea, Crumpaun, Erriff, Loughmuirran, and Magheramore. In 1803 William and Elizabeth Thompson sold the lands to Luke White of Kilakee House, Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin. In 1807 Sir George Hill of Brookhill, Co. Derry and John Beresford sold more land to White.

Three families have been associated with the Lareen Estate. Click on a link to find out more.
 

 

The Whites of Lareen

Luke White, the new owner of Lareen, had gained considerable wealth through trade. He acquired a Dublin estate by purchasing Lord Carhampton's property in Luttrelstown, Clonsilla, Co. Dublin. Luttrelstown Castle was his main abode, and Lareen was his sporting estate. He was an active and ambitious man, and at once set his sights on election to the new united parliament in Westminster. He stood for election for Leitrim in October 1806, but was defeated. He was, however, elected High Sheriff for Leitrim that year. He stood again in the 1812 election, only to be defeated once again. Nothing daunted, he stood once more in 1818, and this time he was elected to parliament. Voting in elections at that time was limited to landholders or tenants who held lands with a value of £10 or over. Only 1,200 or so of the total population of 150,000 in County Leitrim were entitled to vote. Voting was public and tenants were supervised by the landlord when voting. This ensured that tenants voted the way their landlord wanted. White was MP from 1818 until his sudden death in 1825. He was married twice, having seven children by his first wife Eliza Maziere, and one son by his second wife Arabella Fortescue. On his death he left his Dublin properties to his two eldest sons, Col. Thomas White and Lieut. Col. Sam White of the Dublin Militia, and property in Rathcline, Co. Longford to his third son, Luke Jnr. His fourth son, Henry, inherited Luttrelstown Castle and was made Lord Annaly in 1863.

Lareen was divided between Col. Sam and Luke Jnr., Sam getting the Duncarbery and Aghavoghil estates, and Luke Jnr. getting Lareen, Mullinaleck and Rossfriar. Sam White inherited the White's ambition, and was High Sheriff for Leitrim in 1809. He stood for election in place of his father in 1825. He was elected and successfully fought subsequent elections in 1826, 1830, 1832, 1834, 1837 and 1841. He retired from politics in 1847, having served in the House of Commons for 22 years. He married Salisbury Anne Rothe of Co. Kilkenny in 1821, but they had no children. He lived at Kilakee, Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin, and divided his time between Dublin and London, being only an occasional visitor to his Duncarbery and Aghavoghil estate. He died in 1854, and his widow died in 1880.

His brother, Luke Jnr., had been MP for Co. Longford for a time, and High Sheriff of that county in 1821, but seems to have lacked the drive of Sam. Having inherited Lareen, Mullinaleck and Rossfriar from his father, he built Lareen House and spent most of his time there. He was unmarried, and seems to have taken his responsibilities as landlord seriously. The 1835 O.S. name book notes that, in Lareen, "the appearance of the houses, gardens &c. speaks in favour of the industry of the inhabitants". Luke died in the same year as his brother Sam - 1854 - and is the only member of the family to be buried locally. The inscription on his tombstone in Kinlough old cemetery reads "To the memory of Luke White Esq. of Lareen in this county who departed this life on 19th August 1854 in the 69th year of his reign. Deeply regretted by his numerous friends."

Tradition has it that the Whites were good landlords, and their tenants were able to negotiate their rents. At its peak, the White estate consisted of the townlands of Aghaderrard East, Agharoo, Aghavohill, Askill, Bomahas, Buckode, Carrowboy, Cordiver, Cornaglagh, Derryherk, Doobally, Edenvella, Gannavagh, Gubacreeny, Gubanummera, Lareen, Rossfriar, Sracummer, Sragarve, Tawnytallan, Tullaghan and the islands of Lough Melvin. Residents of the White estate also had grazing rights on the Dartry Mountain. Sam White, being childless, made a will in 1853 leaving Duncarbery and Aghavoghil to his nephew, John Thomas William Massy. A month before his death, Luke also made a will leaving Lareen, Mullinaleck and Rossfriar to Massy. With the death of both brothers in 1854 the entire estate passed to the Massy family.

Baron Massy

Massy was only 19 years of age when he inherited Lareen from his uncles. He was born in Duntrileague, Co. Limerick, and his family were descended from General Hugh Massy who had been rewarded with estates in Co. Limerick for his part in the suppression of the 1641 rebellion. John Massy's father, Hugh, was the fourth Lord Massy, and married Matilda White in 1826. The Massy family were major landholders in Co. Limerick. John Massy used Lareen as a sporting estate, continuing to live in Limerick and letting Lareen House to sporting gentlemen. He continued to expand his Leitrim estates, amassing 24,751 acres in the county, together with 8,568 acres in Limerick and 1,120 acres in Tipperary. He married Lady Lucy, daughter of the Earl of Carrick, and was High Sheriff for Leitrim in 1863 and Limerick in 1873. In 1874 he succeeded his brother as the sixth Baron Massy. Like his uncles, he was a humane landlord and assisted schools in Askill, Boyney and Buckode. In 1858 he sold thirty acres of land at Tullaghan to Joseph P. Tynte, upon which Tynte Lodge was built. Massy was made a director of the Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway in 1875.

Blacker-Douglass of Lareen

Following the purchase of most of the lands by the tenants, with state aid, Lareen House, the personal estate of 152 acres and part of the Drowes River were sold by Baron Massy to Maxwell Vandelear Blacker-Douglass of Bellevue Park, Killiney, Co. Dublin for £3,500. He also sold him "the bed and soil of Lough Melvin and the waters thereof........to pass and re-pass the banks of the lake .....for fishing". Blacker-Douglass seems to have been anxious to purchase sporting rights in the area, buying, in 1911, the fishing rights of the north bank of the Drowes from Lennox Bridge to the sea, and the recently-built Bundrowes House. He was descended from the Blacker family of Co. Down. His father, St. John Blacker, took the additional name Douglass in 1880 by royal consent when he succeeded to the estate of his uncle, Charles Douglass. Blacker-Douglass had property in Armagh, Kerry, Dublin and Down, and lived in Killiney, Co. Dublin. He was born in 1859, and was High Sheriff of Kerry in 1905 and Dublin in 1909. Having acquired Lareen as a sporting estate, he resold Bundrowes House and the fishing rights on the north bank of the Drowes to Frederick Beart. On his death, Lareen passed to his second son Charles. Charles kept Lareen until 1926, when he sold the house, lands and fishing rights on the Drowes to Maxwell Boyle. Lareen House burned down in 1933, and, four years later, Boyle sold the estate and fishery to Mrs. Sarah Hamilton of the Hamilton Hotel, Bundoran. It was bought in 1965 by Lareen Sporting Estates Ltd. and Tunny Hotels. Finally, in 1977, the estate and fisheries were bought by Thomas and Betty Gallagher of Edenville. When Thomas had worked with his father "Red" John Gallagher at Mullinaleck Mill, he had not been allowed to walk the banks of the river he now owned. So does history turn.

Since then, Thomas Gallagher has developed the Drowes fishery, which regularly yields the first Irish salmon of the season. The lands of Lareen now contain a number of houses which accommodate visiting anglers.

Woodville Estate

The lands around Duncarbery and Tawly first came into the possession of the Dickson family in the middle of the eighteenth century. Over the years, the family would inhabit two residences: Woodville in Tawly and Tullaghan House in Tullaghan. John Dickson was the first of the family in the area. Born in 1718, he lived in Ballyshannon and was married firstly to Frances Eccles of Castletown, Co. Tyrone and then to Mary Lowry. He was High Sheriff in 1720. By his second marriage he had two children, the eldest son Thomas inheriting the estate on his death in 1774.

Major Thomas Dickson, second landlord of Woodville was born in 1741 and was for a time MP for Ballyshannon. He married Hesther Lowry of Armagh in 1775 and shortly afterwards built Woodville House in Tawly. He was High Sheriff for Leitrim in 1777. His eldest son, John, who was born in 1781 would succeed him in Woodville, while his second son, Rev. James Lowry Dickson would become rector of Rossinver parish for a time, and live in The Lodge (now Duncarbery Lodge). Major Dickson was responsible for the erection of Tullaghan Cross in 1778. The cross was discovered on the shore, having been exposed by a storm. It is probable that the cross belonged originally to a monastic settlement near the seashore, and had lain buried and undiscovered until exposed by the storm. Major Dickson's reasons for erecting the cross were far from religious. The cross was originally called the "Market Cross", and he had it erected in the hope that it would form the focal point for the market in Tullaghan, which at the time was in competition with the more popular Ballyshannon market.

John Dickson, the third landlord of Woodville, married Mary Louisa Bodkin of Co. Galway in 1803 and died in 1822. On his death the estate passed to his third son, John Reynolds Dickson, who was born in 1807. John Reynolds was only fifteen when his father died, and the upkeep of Woodville seems to have been neglected at this time, for the 1835 survey notes that there were formerly good outoffices and a well-managed garden attached to the house, but the whole place now had a deserted looking appearance and was altogether falling into decay. John Reynolds married Clara Skene in 1837, and, no doubt thinking Woodville too run-down for his new bride, moved to Tullaghan House on fifty two acres as a new home for the family. He was secretary of Rossinver Parish Famine Relief Committee in 1847, contributing twenty pounds to the fund. He rented out Woodville House and it was in use as a police barracks for a time He died in 1880. The exact date of construction of Tullaghan House is unclear, though it would seem to have been built in the first half of the eighteenth century.

John Reynolds Dickson was succeeded in the Woodville estate by his eldest son, Col. John Dickson. Col. Dickson, who was born in 1842, was for a time colonel of the 4th Battalion Light Infantry, married Marian Devereaux of Northumberland, England in 1885 and died childless in 1899.

At its peak, Woodville estate consisted of over 2,500 acres in the townlands of Cloonty, Doobally, Duncarbery, Tullaghan village, Gargrim, Sheean and Tawly. the lands of the estate were purchased by the tenants under the Land Acts at the beginning of this century, and Tullaghan House, which belonged for many years to the O'Neill family, has recently been opened as a guest house and restaurant.

Wardhouse Estate

The Ellis family first came to the area in the early part of the seventeenth century with Sir Henry Ffolliot, who had been granted lands around Bundoran and Ballyshannon. In 1659 Thomas Ellis was recorded as owning the lands around Duncarbery. Arthur Gore let the lands of Wardhouse to William Ellis for 31 years in 1754. The family became minor landlords in Wardhouse (originally called Wardtown). In 1857 Robert Ellis was landlord of Wardhouse. He also leased the bag net fishery on the Duff from the Bartons. Members of the family also acted as agents for the Barton estate. In 1880 Arthur Ellis was landlord of Wardhouse. He was a solicitor who lived in Ardee, Co. Louth, and had a total of 3,610 acres in Dublin, Cavan and Leitrim. The last Ellis landlord, John Soden Ellis J.P., son of John Ellis, died in 1914 at the age of 79. He had been married to Eleanor Eccles from Moneygold who died the same year.

Mount Prospect Estate

The Connollys leased lands around Aghaderrard from the Johnston estate. Local tradition has it that they were tithe collectors for Lord Massy and for the Dicksons. The family built Mount Prospect House around 1800. In 1835 Terence Connolly was living there. In 1857 the lands at Mount Prospect were held by Glasgon Connolly. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, Mount Prospect was sold to St. George Robert Johnston (1826 - 1911), a brother of William Johnston of Kinlough House. "Sainty" as he was known, held lands in various parts of Ireland, including Drumshanbo, Co. Leitrim; Menlough, Co. Galway and Lanesborough, Co. Longford. He was educated at Trinity College and was a modern farmer for the times. He built some of the finest out-offices in Ireland at Mount Prospect. These included a silage house, glass house, dairies etc. He was also the prime mover behind the establishment of Kinlough Creamery in 1898. He had a wooden leg, known locally as a "cork" leg. He was a Justice of the Peace, High Sheriff for Leitrim in 1897 and lived for a time at Rathcline House, Lanesborough, which he rented from Luke White Jnr. of Laureen. Following his death in 1911 the lands were divided up by the Land Commission. His wife, Annette Tredennick (Fortwilliam, Co. Donegal) sold the house and the land around it to John Myles of Ballyshannon. The property was later sold to John McSharry, Aghaderrard. Like most of the major houses in the area, Mount Prospect was unroofed and, today, both the house and most of the fine out-offices are in ruins.

The Barton Estate

This estate consisted of the townlands of Bunduff, Cloodrevagh, Corbeg, Derryduff, Drumacolla, Knockbrack, Larganavadogue, Lisgool, Mullanyduff and Redbrae, amounting to over 1100 acres, together with the Duff bag net salmon fishery. In 1857 the landlord was Col. Hugh Barton. The Barton family lived at The Waterfoot, Letter in Co. Fermanagh, and the estate was administered by the Ellis family of Wardhouse. In 1866 Col. Barton died, leaving his lands and fishery to his son, Charles Robert Barton, who married Henrietta Richardson. As with all other estates, the lands, with the exception of Bunduff and the fishery on the Duff were distributed to the tenants by the Land Commission in 1905. Henrietta died in 1915 and Charles Barton died in 1918.

Charles left the estate and fishery to his eldest son William Hugh who married Ardyn Patterson in 1917. William died in 1945, leaving Bunduff and the fishery to his wife Ardyn and thereafter to his daughter Ruth Butler. In 1953 Ardyn and Ruth sold Bunduff and "all such fishing rights, several fisheries and salmon fishing in the said Bunduff river, and all such parts of the soil and the bed of the same river and all such rights to a several fishery in the tidal part of the said river and in the open sea and all rights of way and other easements appurtenant thereto" to Charles, Patrick and Hugh McIntyre for £650.