Cleborne Genealogy, Ballycullatan Branch

18. William[13] Ciallmhar (or “Wise William”) of St. John’s Manor, co. Wexford (third son of Thomas, of Cliburne-Hall and Killerby, 14th Lord of the Manor of Cliburne), came into Ireland with his uncle, Sir Gerard Lowther,[14] and settled in the “City of Kilkenny.” He held the Manor of St. John, Enniscorthy, co. Wexford, of Sir Gerard Lowther (Lord Chief Justice of Ireland), which manor the said Gerard bequeathed to his nephew, Lowther Parsons. In the “Landsdown Census” relating to Wexford (1659), in the List of Tituladres (or persons holding lands at the time of the Survey) “William Cleburne, Gentleman,” occurs; and, under Westmeath, is the name of his kinsman, “John Clibborne, Gentleman” (the Quaker friend of Richard (? Henry) Cromwell, the Lord Deputy of Ireland), who held the lands of Legan and Capiatack, (Lands. Census, Westmeath, 1636-9, R. I. Acad.) in that county, and purchased “Moate[15] Castle” from William Handcock, of Tivy. (Ind. 1680, see Assig. in Chan., 1699. Record Office, Dublin.) Another kinsman, William Cleburne, D.D., Vicar of Nidd, and Dean of Ripon in 1606, Prebendary of St. Patrick’s, 1630, and Dean of Kildare in 1636, also held lands in Ireland, and “lost property in the Rebellion of 1640, to the extent of £977, and his church living worth £186 a year.” (MS. Trin. Coll. Fasti, 2, 3; and Cotton’s Fasti Eccles. Hiber. II. 161.) William, of St. John’s Manor, took an active part in relieving the sufferings of the “transplanted Irish,” and in 1655, specially exerted himself in behalf of Sir Richard Barnwell, the Bellews, and Nettervilles, assisting them (as far as lay in his power) in extending their time, and otherwise diminishing the hardships of them and other distressed Irish. In 1677, he purchased from Capt. Solomon Cambie “the castles, towns and lands of Ballycollitan, the villadge and lands of Bunnadubber and of Killinboy or Knock, Ballycullatan; also that part of Annagh from the Castle of Annagh to the ditch of Kilbulloir, together with all the profits and emoluments from the said castles, towns, villadges and lands,” as by a Deed enrolled in the Public Record Office, Dublin, dated 20th July, 1677. This William was an eccentric[16] character, full of quips and cranks, and of a kindly but contradictory nature. As—

“He was a man of middle age,

In aspect manly, grave, and sage,”

he soon became the arbitrator of all the rural disputes of his neighbourhood, and the friend and adviser of the poor—a veritable “Squire Meldrum” among his tenants. At his castle, he led the life of a recluse, relieving the suffering and distressed, and dabbling so much in Philosophy and Physic, that he obtained the sobriquet of “Wise William,” or the “Seer of Ballycollitan.” So distinguished was he among his neighbours for good works, justice, and unostentatious liberality, that he escaped the enmity of the Rapparees and country people, “who,” says Froude, “hated the English settlers at this period.” (Ireland in the 18th Century.) About 1640, he married “Bridgetta Warde of the City of Kilkenny,” and, dying in 1682 (Admin. granted 21st Feb., 1682. Public Record Office, Dublin), left issue two sons and one daughter:

1. William, of Ballycollitan-Castle, of whom presently.
2. Richard, of Bunadubber.
3. Mary, who married Richard Allen, and had issue Stephen, and others.

Richard (second son of “Wise William” of Ballycullatan) held the lands of “Bannadubber,” and received by the will of his brother William “two parts of the issues and profitts out of St. John’s Manor, co. Wexford, with £10 per annum for life out of the lands of Ballycolliton, my red stone rings, ear-rings, and best black suits of cloathes and perriwigs.” (Will proved at Dublin, 1684.) He was a man of fine personal appearance, and possessed of such infinite tact that be managed to steer clear of all political and religious factions, and thus was enabled to preserve his estate:[17]

“In that dark time of cruel wrong, when on our country’s breast

A dreary load, a ruthless code, with wasting terrors pressed.”

He had issue:

1. William of Ballycullatan Castle, of whom presently.
2. A dau., mar. Cuthbert, of Cork.
3. A dau., mar. Warren, of Warren’s-court.
4. Rebecca, m. Frank (or “Fireball”) Sadleir, of Bellevue.

19. William of Ballycollitan Castle, eldest son of “William the Wise,” was born 14th September, 1642, died 22nd October, 1684. (Will proved, 5th February, 1684-5, Pub. Rec. Off. Dublin.) Though a firm believer in the “Divine right of Kings,” he married the daughter of a Cromwellian officer,—Elizabeth Cambie of Annagh Castle, county Tipperary, by whom he had one child, a daughter Elizabeth, born 22nd May, 1682, and died 4th June, 1682. Having no male issue, all his landed estate in Wexford and Tipperary passed to his nephew William, son of his brother Richard of Bunadubber; with the proviso that, “in default of heirs male of their bodies, all his property was to descend to the heirs general of the said William and Richard.” He was of a weak, unstable nature, “light-hearted, reckless, extravagant, and so much given to hospitality, that he was more than once suspected of ‘ coshering’ the Priests and Tories.” Somewhat haughty and arrogant with his equals, he was affable even to familiarity with his inferiors and dependants; but his was “the pride that apes humility,” for in his will he directs that “my body shall be buried in the Church of Kilbarrow,[18] covering my grave with a plaine marble stone, ingraving thereon my name and coate of Armes.” The tomb of the Cleburnes is still in a fair state of preservation near the chancel of this venerable ruin. Lenihan, the Historian of Limerick, says (N. and Q., 1871, p. 477): “The inscription on the tomb-stone on the vault of Sir William Clebburne, as he is called, is (under a shield of his arms—Argent 3 chevronels braced, a chief sable)

Gulielmus . Cleburne . de . Balliculatan . armiger .

Obit. vigessimo . secundo . die . mensis . Octobris .

Anno . Dom . 1684.”

20. William, son and heir of Richard of Bunadubber, succeeded to the “castles, towns, and lands of Ballycolitan, Bunnadubber, Knockballycolitan, and part of Annagh,” in accordance with the will of his uncle William. He was very popular among his tenants; raced, rode, and lived beyond his means,” and is said to have “suffered a Recovery of his lands, whereby his son John was enabled to alienate the estates from the heirs male of the family.” He mar. (in 1744) Grace, daughter of Perry of Woodroofe, county Tipperary, by whom he left four sons and three daughters:

1. John, of whom presently.
2. Thomas, died unmarried.
3. Richard (of Bunnadubber), who mar. Rebecca Kingsley and had:
   1. Sam of “Rye,” m. Mary Kingsley, d. s. p.
   2. Ellen, m. Sobiesky Kildall.
   3. Anne, m. Christr. Antisell.
   4. Temperance, married James Kildall.
   5. Rebecca, m. Higginbottom.
   6. Eliza, m. Zach. Ledger.
   7. Grace, unm.
4. Edward, of whom presently.

The daughters were: 1.Catharine, m. a Carden of Templemore; 2. Rebecca, d. unm.; 3. Ellen, m. a Perry of Woodroofe, co. Tipperary.

21. John Cawmus (or “Proud John”), eldest son and heir of William Cleburn of Ballyculatan Castle, married Grace, sister of Counsellor Harry Palmer, and had two daughters—co-heiresses, between whom (by some legal “hocus-pocusing,” it is said,) all his lands were divided: 1. Grace, m. Francis Palmer and had issue. 2. Eliza, m. John Palmer, who had a son Thomas (who m. Miss Harding), and a daughter Hannah, m. to William Minnett, Esq.

Edward,[19] of Springmount and Derrinsalla (fourth son of William Cleburne of Ballyculatan Castle), impoverished himself by fruitless legal efforts to recover the estates, which he believed had been improperly alienated from the male heirs of his family. He married Ellen, daughter and heir of Palmer of Derrinsalla, co. Tipperary, and died in 1819, aged 99 years; leaving six sons and six daughters:

1. Joseph, d. unm.
2. William (of Rock Cottage), of whom presently.
3. Micajah, who married Sarah Carrol (vidua Molesworth), and had issue:
   1. Robert, unm.
   2. Edward, unm.
   3. Sarah (d. 1873), who mar. Pym Nevins, s.p.
   4. Honble. Rich. Cleburne of Hobartown (1821) who was twice married: 1st to Mary McGill, and had—1. Wm. Percy; 2. Richard-Micajah, who mar. Sarah Espie, and had: 1. Mary; 2. Richard; 3. Fanny; 4. Margt.-Sarah.

By his second wife Harriet Beauvais, the Honble. Rich. had:

1. 1. Eliza.
   2. Alice, m. Henry R. Walker.
   3. Louisa.
   4. Isabella.
   5. Eleanor-Molesworth.
   6. Elina Cleburne.
4. Samuel, who married Anne Tydd (niece of Sir John Tydd, of Lamberton), and had:
   1. Jane, m. F. Woodward.
   2. Anna, unm.
   3. Eliza, m. Wm. Gibson.
   4. Samuel of Springmount, m. Hannah Minnity, and had two children, ob. inft.
   5. Catherine.
   6. Ellen.
   7. Sam.
   8. Hessy (all died infants).
   9. Edward of Homeville, mar. Margt. Gibson, and had: 1. Samuel, m. Mary Ramsay, and had Mary Cleburne; 2. Robert: 3. Edward, died unmarried; 4. William; 5. Joseph; 6. Mary.
5. Edward, d. unm.
6. Robert, mar. Eliza Phillips, d.s.p.

The daughters were:

7. Ann, mar. Robert Turner, Esq.
8. Ellen, d. unm.
9. Mary, m. Robert Gibson, Esq., and had: 1. William, m. Eliza Cleburne; 2. Margt., m. Edw. Cleburne; 3. Ellen, d. unm.
10. Jane, d. unm.
11. Catharine, d. unm.
12. Hetty, d. unm.

22. William of Rock Cottage, and Annahanarig (second son of Edward of Springmount and Derrinsalla), was twice married: first, to Ellen, sister of Counsellor Kingsley, by whom he had an infant who d. young. By his second wife Phoebe Sharpe (a cousin of Admiral Scott, R.N., and sister of Captain Christopher Sharpe, who was killed in the Maroon war), he had three sons and three daughters:

1. Joseph, of whom presently.
2. Christopher, b. 4th December, 1793; d. 11th Nov., 1848. He mar. Jane (b. 3rd Jan. 1800; d. 3rd Jan., 1862,) second dau. of John Reily, Esq., (and niece of Major Jas. Sweeny, H. M. 62nd Foot, who mar. Elizabeth, dau. of O’Brien, third brother of Sir Wm. Bellingham), and by her had issue seven sons and six daughters:
   1. William, a Doctor in Physic.
   2. Joseph, lost at sea, 20th Oct., 1846.
   3. Robert, in Holy Orders; Rector of Trinity, Cheneyville, La., U.S.A., who mar. first, Susan Sullivan, and had: 1. Roland; 2. Ellen; 3. Walter; 4. William; 5. Mary; 6. Robert, all died young; and one daughter, 7. Rosamond, living in 1886. By his second wife, he had no issue.
   4. Christopher, b. 14th May, 1832; d. 19th May, 1833.
   5. Christopher-James, a Doctor in Physic, and Medical Director of the U. S. Navy; mar. 8th May, 1861, Jane-Elizabeth-Emma (dau. of John Borbridge[20] Parker, Esq., of Philadelphia, and great-niece of the Rev. Bartholomew Lloyd, D.D., Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, 1831-7, and President of the Royal Irish Academy), and had: 1. Arthur; 2. Lucy; 3. Edith; 4. Cuthbert-Lowther, b. 10th July, 1869, d. 31st Jan., 1870; 5. Alice; 6. Ronayne; 7. Cuthbert-John; 8. Alan; and one child “still-born.”
   6. James, a Civil Engineer, C. S. I.; Executive Engineer of the Public Works at Bulandshahr, India.
   7. Sampson, b. 5th June, 1842; d. 22nd June, 1852.
3. The daughters were:
   1. Ellen, mar. James Hunter, Esq., of Kirkton.
   2. Phoebe, d. 1850; buried at Trinity Church, Bristol.
   3. Eliza, d. 20th Oct., 1827.
   4. Mary, d. 3rd June, 1831.
   5. Mary-Jane, of Melville.
   6. Elizabeth.
3. William, b. 3rd Aug., 1798; d. 26th March, 1799.

The three daughters of William of Rock Cottage, to whom he bequeathed “all his right, title, and interest, in his lands of Annahanarig, share and share alike,” were: 1. Phoebe, b. 19th Jan., 1796; d. 6th Dec., 1880; 2. Margaret, b. 31st Oct., 1799; d. 21st Jan., 1884; 3. Eleanor, b. 4th Sept., 1802; d. 28th Nov., 1881.

23. Joseph of The Grange (eldest son of William Cleburne of Rock Cottage and Annahanarig), b. 4th July, 1792; was an eminent Physician at Ballincollig, co. Cork, and known as emphatically “The Poor Man’s Friend.” He was twice mar.: first, to Mary-Ann, dau. of Patrick Ronayne of Annebrook, Esq. (descended from Maurice Ronayne, who obtained from King Edw. IV. “a grant of the Rights of Englishmen”—Her. and Gen. II., 214), by whom he had three sons and one daughter:

1. William, C.E., T. C. D., of whom presently.
2. Patrick-Ronayne, born 17th March, 1828; slain at the battle of Franklin, Tenn., 30th Nov., 1864; d. unm. He was a Counsellor of Law at Helena Ark, in 1861; a Major-General in the Service of the Confederate States, and one of the most distinguished officers in the Confederacy. He commanded the Irish Brigade; was Ipsis Hibernis Hiberniores, and, like his maternal ancestor, was jealous for the rights of his countrymen. Harden considered him “the best soldier in the South;” and his stubborn resistance to the Federals everywhere, earned for him the sobriquet of “The Stone-wall of the West.”
3. Joseph, m. Almira, and had issue Minnie and Laura Cleburne.
4. Anne, m. Jas. Sherlock, Esq., of Cincinnati, and had issue: 1. John; 2. James; 3. Mary Sherlock.

By his second wife, Isabella Stuart (b. 4th Dec., 1793; d. 1883), Dr. Cleburne had:

1. Edward, d. (West Coast of Africa) 1853.
2. Robert, mar. and had Isabella Cleburne.
3. Christopher-Stuart, b. 1843; a Captain, 2nd Kentucky Cavalry, in the Service of the Confederacy; was killed at Battle of Cloyd’s Farm, Virginia, 10th May, 1864.
4. Isabella, unm.

24. William, eldest son of Dr. Joseph Cleburne, of The Grange, studied Civil Engineering under the celebrated Sir John MacNeill and graduated at Trinity College, Dublin. He superintended the construction of several lines of railway in the United States, and is one of the Consulting Engineers of the Great Union Pacific Road. He m. Eliza-Thomasina, daughter of Wellington A. Rose of Foxhall, co. Tipperary (who m. Julia, daughter of Edward O’Grady of Mount Prospect, co. Limerick, niece of Standish O’Grady, first Viscount Guillamore), but has no issue. He is the present representative of the Cleburns of Cliburne, of Killerby, and of Ballycolitan-Castle. He is 24th in descent from Bardolph, A.D. 1076; and on the Spindle side (through the Curwens) 28th, from King Malcolm II. of Scotland (and Ethelred II., “The Unready”) who is No. 98 on the “Stem[21] of the Royal Family of England.”

Notes

[13] William: This William has been confounded with his uncle William, who became Secretary in the Colony of Virginia, in 1626, and who in 1633-4, agreed to furnish 50 planters to Plowden’s “New Albion;” for which he was to receive “5,000 acres and a manor with Royalties in America.”—See Art. of Agreement, in Public Record Office, Dublin, 21st June, 1634.

[14] Lowther: This Sir Gerard (born 21st Dec., 1561; died 14th Oct., 1624, and buried at Christ Church,) must be distinguished from the unprincipled Sir Gerard Lowther (a natural son of Sir Christopher), who was also a Judge in Ireland, in 1628, and who died and was buried at St. Michan’s, Dublin, 10th April, 1660.

[15] Moate: John Clibborn, the Quaker, of Moate, published in London a tract “Protesting against the transplantation of the Irish to Connaught.”

[16] Eccentric: Sir Rowland Threlkeld, a maternal ancestor of the Cleburnes, was just such an oddity, “who lived like a hermit, and would not allow a woman to enter his Castle walls.”—Notes and Queries, 1856, p. 191.

[17] Estate: In these troublous times it was said that “a Cleburne might ride in safety from one end of the county to the other.” Some amusing stories are told of their popularity with the peasantry, and with the Rapparee Chief “Galloping Hogan” and his band. Armistead tells the following, of John Clibborn of Moate Castle, who was such a friend and champion of the Quakers, that he built them a meeting-house (still standing) within his castle grounds. His life was constantly endangered by succouring these people: “On one occasion he was dragged by the hair of his head to the place of execution by some Tories, when fortunately another party of Tyrconnell’s men arrived and inquiring ‘ who have you got there,’ were answered ‘ Clibborn!’ ‘ Clibborn!’ echoed they, ‘ a hair of his head shall not be touched;’ and they bore him off in triumph.”—Select. Miscel. Vol. I., 197. The Cleburnes are not found among “the Adventurers for land in Ireland,” they purchased all their estates, and were so free from “Land-hunger,” that the Irish felt kindly towards them.

[18] Kilbarrow Church: None but members of the family have the prescriptive right of burial within its walls. The title of “Sir” was often used as a mark of respect for priests and learned persons in the 17th century.

[19] Edward: There is a memorial church to this Edward Cleburne (second cousin of William, first Earl of Lonsdale), and to his grandson Christopher Cleburne (third cousin once removed of William and Henry, second and third Earls of Lonsdale), being descended from that house by his great-great-grandmother, Frances Lowther.

[20] Borbridge: Thomas Borbridge, Esq., of Ballinciston, county Wicklow, had, besides several sons, two daughters, 1. Margaret, who married in 1766 Humphrey, son of the Rev. Bartholomew Lloyd of Folly House, New Ross, county Wexford, whose son was the Rev. Bartholomew Lloyd, D.D., of Kilmartin, Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, 1831-7. 2. Elizabeth, married to Robert Parker, Esq., of Dublin, who had John Borbridge Parker of Philadelphia, who married Lucy Chasteney, and had eleven children, of whom survived in 1887, Jane, Margaret, Horatio, Lucy, and Florence.

[21] Stem: The “Lineal Descent of the present Royal Family of England” is carefully traced in pp. 37-41 of Vol. I. of this Edition.