Lady Emily Alfreda Julia Bury was the youngest daughter of the 3rd earl of Charleville. She became heir to the estates at Charleville Forest when her uncle Alfred Bury, 5th earl of Charleville died leaving no male heirs. The title became extinct at this point. She married Captain Kenneth Howard an army officer, in 1881, and he assumed the additional surname Bury by royal license after their marriage. She had two children, Marjorie who died at 22 years of age, and a son, Charles Kenneth Howard-Bury, the famous mountaineer and explorer.
Reginald Digby was the fifth son of Rev Kenelm Henry Digby, rector of Tittleshall in Norfolk, younger brother of Edward, 9th Lord Digby. Reginald was born in 1847 and married Caroline Grace, daughter of Rev Thomas Fremeaux Boddington in 1872. They had three daughters and one son, Lionel Kenelm Digby, rector of Tittleshall, who was killed in action in 1918. He became resident agent on the Geashill Estate in 1871 following the resignation of Thomas Weldon Trench and sole agent in 1872 on the death of William Steuart Trench. He retired in 1923, having served as agent for nearly fifty years, although by this time he had more or less transferred the agency to Lewis Goodbody of A & L Goodbody, solicitors, Tullamore, who continued as agents for the Digby family. Like the previous resident agents before him, he lived at Geashill Castle. In 1922, he needed to go to London for an operation, but was unwilling to leave the house unattended, knowing that an empty house would be a target for burning. Eventually, he could wait no longer, and the house was burned down in his absence. He died in 1927.
Frank O’Brennan was born in Tullamore c.1985, the younger brother of Séamus and Alo O’Brennan. He was active in the Tullamore Volunteers from 1913 and is listed on the charge sheet of those present during the Tullamore Incident of March 1916, after which he was arrested and court-martialled in relation to the wounding of RIC Sergeant Ahearn. After his release in June 1916, he rejoined the Irish Volunteers and took part in the usual activities. In 1919 he watched the movement of British forces and carried dispatches. In June 1920 he was in charge of road blocking during attacks on Geashill and Clara Barracks, and was involved in an armed attack on British forces at Ballycommon Bridge in which a civilian was killed. He took part in three raids for mail. In the autumn of 1920 he brought Seán McGuinness and members of his Active Service Unit (Flying Column) from Kilbeggan to Geashill where they killed an RIC Head Constable, but O’Brennan took no part in the shooting. He died in 1964.
The grand juries were among the most important organs of local administration at county level until the passing of the Local Government Act of 1898. Although originating in Norman times, the first mention of grand juries on Irish Statute books is in 1634. King’s County, which was shired in 1556, and like all other counties was used as a unit for the administration of justice, although over time, its administrative function increased and it became responsible for public works such as road construction and later for construction of infirmaries, bridewells and other institutions of local governance.
The jurors originally comprised ten in number but this was raised to twenty-three. Members of the grand jury were selected by the high sheriff from the leading property owners in the county, the order in which the jurors stood on the list being an indication of their social standing. The sheriff’s discretion in the nomination of the grand jury was total. The sheriff was a political appointment and it frequently happened that he filled the list with his friends and supporters. Catholics were prohibited from serving on grand juries until 1793 but even after this date, jury lists were predominately Protestant due to the concentration of property in Protestant hands.
Over time the administrative function increased. The 1634 and subsequent acts authorized the justices of the assizes with the consent of the grand jury to levy the costs of roads and bridges on the county or barony. This rate was called the county cess. By 1705 the grand juries were authorised to make presentments or propose works.
The grand juries met twice yearly at the Spring (or Lent) Assizes and the Summer Assizes. The King’s County Grand Jury held its assizes at Philipstown (Daingean) until 1835 when the administration of the county moved to Tullamore. The presentment sessions dealt with the expenses of each barony and then for the county-at-large. They were conducted by the justices of the peace and from 1833 included five to twelve cess payers.
The Local Government Act of 1898 abolished the administrative functions of the grand juries, these functions transferring to the newly formed county councils in 1899. The judicial functions ceased in 1924.
Lord William Clere Leonard Brendan Parsons, 7th Earl of Rosse, Baron of Oxmantown, 10th Baronet of Birr Castle, was born 21 October 1936 to Lord Laurence Parsons, 6th Earl of Rosse, and Anne Messel. Lord Brendan Parsons attended Eton College, Aiglon College, University of Grenoble, and Christ Church, Oxford. He served as an officer in the Irish Guards from 1955-57 and worked for the United Nations from 1963-80. On 15 October 1966 he married Alison Margaret Cooke-Hurle. He succeeded his father as the 7th Earl of Rosse in 1979. During hias first thirty years as earl, Lord and Lady Rosse facilitated research by A.P.W. Malcomson resulting in the production of a comprehensive Calendar of the Rosse Papers in 2008. Lord Rosse lives at the family home of Birr Castle, County Offaly, with the Countess of Rosse. They have three children: Lawrence Patrick Parsons, Lord Oxmantown (b.1969), Lady Alicia Parsons (b.1971), and the Honourable Michael Parsons (b.1981).
Tenant in Killurin on the Geashill Estate who entered into a dispute with land agents W. S. and T. W. Trench. His cause was supported by local Ribbonmen but he ultimately yielded possession of his own farm and that of his deceased brother to the Trenchs in 1860.
John Townsend Trench was born on 17 February 1834. He was the second son of William Steuart Trench (1808-1872). His mother, Elizabeth Susanna, was a daughter of John Sealy Townsend, of Myross Wood, Co. Cork. Like his father, John Trench was a land-agent. He became assistant agent to the Lansdowne estates in Co. Kerry at the age of 19. He replaced his father as chairman of the Kenmare Board of Guardians in 1862 and on the death of his father in August 1872 he became sole agent on the Lansdowne estate. He was also agent to the Stradbally estate in Queen's County. While not directly involved in the running of the Digby estate in Geashill he was called upon regularly by his father for advice and is responsible for the many detailed sketches and illustrations sent on an annual basis from the estate to Lord Digby. His talents as an artist are also evident in the first edition of his father’s work 'Realities of Irish Life'.
Not only was Trench a talented artist but he displayed skills in agricultural improvement, accounting, administration, architecture, town planning, while also acting as a judge and amateur physician during his agency on the Lansdowne estate. Known locally as ‘Master Towney’, his time in Kenmare was marked by the transformation of the town, including the regeneration of the Market Square, with the erection of a public clock on the market house. He was also responsible for the establishment of a successful fisheries industry. He was talented as athlete, oarsman and cyclist. He was involved in the invention of a tubeless tyre which resulted in a litigation, and in him borrowing large sums of money to cover his debts.
During the Land war and the agricultural crash of 1879 Trench denied that any problems existed on either the Lansdowne or Luggacurren estates (Queen's County). This led the Marquess of Lansdowne to turn to Townsend’s successor, William Rochfort for advice. He eventually resigned eight years later. He was married twice, firstly to Agnes Merivale (1870), daughter of Herman Merivale, Under Secretary for India, and secondly to Leonora, daughter of George Cecil Gore Wray, of Ardnamona, Co. Donegal (1874). He had five children. He died on 9 August 1909
James Dillon was born in Clara in 1788 to Simon and Catherine Dillon. His father, Simon, was involved in property and his mother ran a shop and also had extensive property on New St. In the 1820s and 1830s he was politically active in opposing tithes, supporting Daniel O'Connell and the cause of Catholic Emancipation. He was appointed coroner for King's County in July 1836. In 1847, the county was split into two districts and he was assigned the Tullamore district serving the northern half of the county. He had married Alice Kelly in the 1820s and they had 10 children, 6 daughters and 4 sons. He died at the age of 71 in 1859 while on the way to Edenderry to undertake another inquest. He was succeeded in the post by William A. Gowing of Tullamore.