The Man who Bought Ballyshannon

     William Conolly the man who bought Ballyshannon, 300 years ago  was

 born in the vicinity of the town clock in a building long since demolished

 Saturday 25th April 2020. The clear No. 1 in the top ten on Facebook was perhaps a surprise as it is about the man who bought Ballyshannon. This finishes the top ten 
5 Fun Quiz on this blog
1.Conolly was born near what modern public building in Ballyshannon?
2.How much did Conolly pay for Ballyshannon?
3. Where was the Connolly summer house near Ballyshannon?
4. William Conolly's mansion still stands in Celbridge in what county?
5. Why was Conolly called "The Speaker Conolly"?
Monday 27th April 2020. On Monday next 27th April a new blog will be posted on "The Most Famous One Line Comment in Ballyshannon History" Any ideas?

Three hundred years ago the town of Ballyshannon and surrounding areas was bought by William Conolly for £52,000. William Conolly  was born in Ballyshannon in 1662 and went on to become the richest man in Ireland, in the early 18^th century, with widespread estates throughout the country. He also built the largest and grandest Palladian country mansion in the country called Castletown House in Celbridge, County Kildare which still stands today and is open to the public. From 1715-1729 William Conolly was the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons in Dublin.

 His Family Connections in Ballyshannon

We know that his parents Patrick and Jane Conolly owned an inn, which was in the general vicinity of the present town clock. The streetscape is much altered since the Connolly’s had their inn and, indeed, the current building which contains the town clock was built at a much later date in 1878. The location of their inn was very favourable for trade as it was adjacent to the ford and later the bridge on the river, and was also close to the military barracks. William had a brother Patrick and two sisters Jane and Elizabeth.  His sister Elizabeth married Capt. Thomas Dickson of Ballyshannon and Leitrim. How William Conolly came to become a lawyer is the stuff of legend:
 “It happened that there came to Ballyshannon two gentlemen who were sent to secure the return of members to the Irish Parliament. They lodged at Connolly’s inn, and perceiving that William was an unusually smart, and intelligent boy, they induced him to follow them up to Dublin, where they promised to have him educated and started in life. Having availed himself of their generous offer, the young man in due time became an attorney”.

William Conolly a Lawyer, Land Agent, Landlord and Married a Wealthy Lady

William Conolly did practice as a lawyer, but also acted as agent to a number of landlords, including Captain James Hamilton from 1692-1700, and these contacts led him to purchase many estates throughout the country. 
In 1694 William Connolly married Katherine Conyngham, daughter of Sir Albert Conyngham, who was a sister of Henry Conyngham of Mountcharles. She brought with her a marriage settlement of £2,300 an immense sum at the time. His marriage now allied him to some of the most powerful families in the countryside including the Montgomerys, Knoxes, Leslies and Hamiltons.  As a result of the Jacobite-Williamite War, Conolly purchased forfeited estates in Donegal, Derry and Kildare

Secured a Government Position by a Bribe
His first permanent home was at Rodanstown near Kilcock which contained an estate of over 1,400 acres.. In 1692 he succeeded in getting elected to Parliament for the Borough of Donegal and soon learned how to use political advantage. With the appointment of Thomas Lord Wharton as Lord Lieutenant in 1709, Conolly, by a bribe of £3,000, secured for himself the post of Commissioner of the Revenue and was now in a position to advance himself politically and financially. 

His finest political achievement was when he was elected Speaker of the Irish House of Commons despite objections by some in his party, to his humble background as the son of an innkeeper. He was also one of three Lord Justices appointed whenever the Lord Lieutenant was absent from Ireland.

Ballyshannon's William Conolly the richest man in Ireland in his day

Conolly Bought his Hometown of Ballyshannon in 1718

The purchase of the town of Ballyshannon, including all of the Folliott’s estate, by William Conolly in 1718, was surely a case of the local boy making good and returning in triumph to the place of his birth. 

The Folliotts were a military family who had been granted Ballyshannon and surrounding areas, by the English Crown, at the time of the Ulster Plantation.  The Gaelic chieftains the O’Donnells, their historians the Ó Cléirighs and their poets the Mac a Bhairds, who had been in possession of the lands for centuries, were dispossessed following the Battle of Kinsale. 

The Speaker Conolly  purchased the Folliott estate in 1718 for £52,000. The estate had an annual income from rentals of £2,000. This sale also included the fisheries of the river Erne, the yearly income from which was £450. 

Ballyshannon man William Conolly built Castletown House Co. Kildare open to the public at fixed times

Speaker Conolly had earlier bought Castletown House and its estate in Celbridge Co. Kildare in 1709 for £15,000. Conolly’s reputation as a wealthy man was recorded by Jonathan Swift, who was protesting against the introduction of a new copper coinage by William Wood. There had been no consultation about this new currency and William Conolly was the Speaker of the Irish Parliament. Woods Half-Pence as it was called would prove very bulky as the following reference by Swift to Connolly’s wealth indicates: 

“They say Squire Conolly has Sixteen Thousand Pounds a Year; now if he sends for his Rent to Town, as it is likely he does, he must have Two Hundred and Fifty Horses to bring up his Half-Years Rent, and two or three great Cellars in his House for Stowage”.

William Conolly’s health deteriorated in the summer of 1728. He had been leading an extremely busy life with his business interests, his role as Speaker in the Irish House of Commons and two major building projects including the new parliament building and his own mansion at Castletown. 
He resigned as Speaker in October 1729 and died on the 31^st October 1729 at his house in Capel Street in Dublin. His funeral cortege along the Quays in Dublin to his final resting place in Celbridge Co. Kildare was full of pomp and ceremony. 

What became of the Ballyshannon Estate?

The Speaker had no family and to his wife Katherine he left his mansion house in Dublin, his mansion house and manor of Castletown, all his manor lands and tenements in Counties Kildare, Meath, Westmeath and Roscommon and his estate in North and South Wales. After the death of his wife they were to pass to his nephew William, to whom he bequeathed directly, his estates in Donegal, Dublin, Fermanagh, Wexford and Waterford.  

Cliff House between Ballyshannon and Belleek the summer house of the Conolly

family. It was demolished to make way for Cliff Power Station 

Cliff House- A Summer House for the Conollys and a Victoria Cross
The Conolly’s resided for the summer months at Cliff House, their country house near Ballyshannon. In 1831 Colonel Thomas Conolly commenced work on building “Cliff House” overlooking the Erne.  By August 1832 he had moved into his new house. The Conolly’s had resided at Cliff  prior to the building of Cliff House in 1831-1832, and John Augustus Conolly was born at Cliff, on the 30th May 1829. He joined the 49th Princess of Wales’s Hertfordshire Regiment and fought in the Crimean War, where on the 26th October, 1854,  the day after the charge of the  Light Brigade, he  won the Victoria Cross. The Conolly Estate at Ballyshannon was sold in the 1860s.

Major Moore later resided at “Cliff House” and  was involved in the ownership of the Erne Fisheries. He unsuccessfully contested the 1918 General Elections as a Unionist candidate in the East Donegal constituency. 

Cliff House was demolished during the Erne Hydro-Electric Scheme in the late 1940s. 

A  Local History Book suitable for those at Home and Away

"Ballyshannon. Genealogy and History" reveals newly researched history and genealogy of the town, extending as far as the Rossnowlagh, Cashelard, Corlea, Clyhore, Higginstown and Finner areas. Includes the parishes of Kilbarron and Magh Ene. 

• The genealogy material provides detailed guidelines for anyone tracing their roots in the area or anywhere in County Donegal or Ireland. The book contains 500 pages and is richly illustrated with stunning colour, aerial photography, original illustrations and rare photographs of the area not seen before.
• It  includes much new material on the independence struggle which is being remembered throughout Ireland. It also contains the full story of  The Green Lady which  was  performed in Ballyshannon  to great acclaim. 

Available from anthonyrbegley@hotmail.com and local bookshops when things settle.