The Newmans of Newberry Manor

Introduction

Following Cromwell’s conquest and the resultant confiscations of O Callaghan  and O Mullane land in Kilshannig Parish, Cromwell paid  off his debts to his backers with grants of  confiscated Catholic land. One of his generals Sir Richard Kyrle was knighted and was granted Dromaneen Castle and about 1,000 acres of land for his services. When Kyrle was appointed Governor of the State of Carolina in 1864 the family settled there and sold their Kilshannig estate to the Newnan family who were related. This article will briefly describe the history and influence of the Newmans on the  parish and their legacy  to this very day

Family History

The Newman family that came to Kilshannig originated from Wincanton in Somersetshire in England and had been in Ireland for many years before acquiring Dromaneen. Richard Newman , who purchased Dromaneen from Kyrle in 1687 was living in Cork in 1651, also owned property near Mallow in the early 1600’s and was politically and commercially very active in the county. He brought in yeomen (farmers) from his family home territory of Wincanton as tenants on his new estate. The Newmans purchased a further 5,000 acres of confiscated O Callaghan and O Mullane land in the parish at a knockdown price of just over £1 per acre when tenants were paying that much in annual rent.  This purchase included much of the land from  Drommahane to near Nadd. It would appear that the monarchy in England were rewarding the Newmans for their loyalty and compensating them from their losses under Cromwell. The Newmans were now the wealthiest and most powerful family in the parish. Like most planter landlords they became extremely wealthy on the back of exorbitant rents and slave labour and showed off their wealth in building a great big house and demesne in Dromore in 1784 which they named Dromore House.

Dromaneen Castle. When the Newmans acquired the castle in 1687 it was unoccupied and in a run down state. The British Army had stationed a large company of cavalry there as part of the Williamite war and they made it habitable for soldiers and continued there until the mid 1690’s when they were stood down at the end of that war. The Newmans took up residence at that time and made part of the castle more family friendly. It was not a comfortable family home and lacked a good supply of spring water so they built a new home in 1739 that to-day is known as Kilshannig House and back then as Newberry Manor.

1-Photo Dromaneen Castle

Dromineen Castle

Richard’s son, Richard, married Elizabeth, daughter of James Dillon thus uniting two wealthy families. The Dillons built the first corn mills at Quartertown and Adam Dillon had also purchased the Dromore Estate and the lot became the property of the Newmans when Adam Dillon died without issue, leaving  his estate to his nephew, Adam Dillon Newman.

Richard Newman died in 1694 having left his estate to his son, also Richard, in 1691. This Richard died soon afterwards and his son, Adam Dillon Newman, took over. He had repaired a section of Dromaneen Castle in c 1694 where his family resided until  his death in 1739  when the castle was abandoned and the family took up residence in the newly built Newbury Manor House, now Kilshannig House

2-Photo Kilshannig House

Kilshannig House

Newberry Townland

Having purchased Dromaneen Castle and the 1,000 acre estate the Newmans decided to create a new townland in honour of their ancestors who were killed at the first Battle of Newbury in 1643 when supporting  King Charles 1^st against Cromwell’s Parliamentarians in the English Civil War.. Thus the townland of Newbury was created from land taken mainly from Dromaneen and Kilvealaton townlands.

Manor of Newberry

The family won favour with the restored monarchy in England as they supported them in the English Civil War. The Newmans became the most influential family in the parish soon after arrival when their new estate was elevated to manorial status by a patent granted by King James 11 to become The Manor of Newberry, the only manor house ever in the parish. They were now entitled to elect a manorial judge to hear minor cases, they were allowed to build prison cells and they erected stocks and a whipping post beside the main entrance gate to the protestant church and graveyard at Newberry to dish out corporal punishment for  minor offences. This was the last whipping post in use in North Cork. They were also allowed to establish a deer park.  When the family moved to Dromore House in 1784 that then become Newberry Manor House.

An unfortunate incident took place on 16/11/1816 when the elderly Colonel Charles Newman was murdered in Newberry House, now Kilshannig House. He had been collecting rents that day and two employees were convicted of his murder and were hanged

When recording the gravestone inscriptions for the Historicgraves.com project the committee noted the many non-native surnames on the headstones, a throwback to the early tenants brought in to the area by the Newmans and this is evident on the attached chart  which shows those surnames and their frequency by the size of the surname on the chart.

3-Photo Graveyard names chart

Kilshannig Grave Chart

Dromore House

Adam Dillon Newman built Dromore House in 1784 which then became the Newmans main residence but the family also continued to occupy their former home in Newberry. They remained in their new mansion, Dromore House, until 1929 when they sold out to the Sisters of Nazareth. During the War of Independence, Dromore House was partially burned by the IRA in 1921 but was restored by the Newmans.  Originally the basement windows were above the front lawn, the entrance door was at that level and the roof is also altered. The  amenity  lake in front of the lawn has disappeared and a photo of this original house is attached as also is a photo of the house as it is to-day.

4-Photo Original Dromore House

Original Dromore House

5-Photo Dromore House, now Nazareth House

Nazareth House

Influence in the Parish.

Kilshannig Church. The Newmans were great supporters of the protestant Kilshannig Church and contributed handsomely in financial support, upkeep of the building and graveyard and supplied some fine stained glass windows. They are honoured by plaques erected within the church and on one of the stained glass windows.

Pack Horse Bridge. The Newmans preserved this ancient bridge on their property and it still survives intact. These bridges are unique in that they are too narrow for wheeled traffic and yet much stronger than foot bridges. They were designed to support heavy loads which pack horses carried so were very sturdily built and just wide enough for single horse traffic. Generally they had no side ramparts as these would interfere with creels during transport. The one at Newberry can be seen opposite the small entrance gate and over the boundary wall

6-Photo  Packhorse Bridge

Packhorse Bridge

Education. The Newmans conducted Sunday school in the church and when the local Catholic parish priest found out that Catholic children were also attending, he raided the school and sent the Catholics home.

The Newmans provided the site for the building of Glenogue NS in 1866 and they also paid the full local contribution for the establishment and furnishing of the school.

Scarra protestant school was built by the Newmans in 1892 and this also served as a courthouse for the Newmans in trying minor breaches of the law.

The Newmans also provided the site for Dromore school

There are a couple of graves of the Newmans in Kilshannig Graveyard. Generally the Newmans were regarded in their latter years as accommodating landlords but in their earlier years exercised their power and privilages even when visiting Mallow town.

Donie O Sullivan April 2024