Beech Abbey CARRICK ON SHANNON

Aughrim (Roscommon)

Beech Abbey & Demesne, in the townland of Kilcanoran, was part of the Dalton Begg Estate until the mid-19th-century.

Countess Dalton Begg, otherwise Miss Margaret Elizabeth Mary Dalton Begg, (d.1894) was the only child of the late Count Oliver Dalton Begg, of Mount Dalton, Co Westmeath, and Beech Abbey, Co Roscommon. The title, which has now become extinct, was an Austrian one, conferred in 1770 by the Empress Marie Thereat, the original grantee having been at the time Governor of the Netherlands, and the title was confirmed by King George III. [Dublin Evening Telegraph - Friday 14 June 1895].

In 1830 Luke O'Connor of Beech Abbey, Co Roscommon died on May 21. [Roscommon & Leitrim Gazette - 05 June 1830 ]. Luke O'Connor Jr. held the lease to the house here in 1840, when it was valued at £4.16 shillings. By 1850 Beech Abbey was vacant ...

In 1850, the Begg family estate at Mount Dalton, which included the "Lands of KILCONRAN, otherwise BEECH-ABBEY, in the Barony of Roscommon" aka "the half-quarter at Kilconaran otherwise Beech Abbey" were ordered to be sold by the Encumbered Estates Court.  

The LANDS of KILCONARAN, otherwise BEECH ABBEY, situate in the barony and county aforesaid, and about two miles from Klphin, containing about 112 acres, statute measure. The farm is beautifully planted and of first-rate quality, and excepting a few acres, all grass. It has every convenience of turbary, and water, and has good offices. There are no tenants on this lot, and immediate possession can be given to a purchaser. [The Advocate - 30 October 1850].

Re the Ettate of MargEstate. M. Begg, a Minor. This property the mansion-house and demesne lands of Mount Dalton, and part of the lands of Milltown, situate in the barony of Rathconrath and county of West meath, held in fee, and the lands of Carton Park, and its sub-denominations, the lands of Augbrim, and the lands of KiIconran, otherwise Beech Abbey, in the barony of Roscommon and, county of Roscommon, held in fee-farm grant, which were put and sold in the following order: 

Lot 5 consisted of the lands of Beech Abbey, containing 113 statute acres, untenanted, subject to 39l. 13s. 3d. head rent, and 2/. 4s. 3d. tithe rent-charge. Griffith’s Valuoation of this lot is 71/. 10s. 2d. Mr. James Knaggs was declared the purchaser for 820/., being within a fraction of 21 years’ purchase on the present nett estimated value of 39/. 13s. 4d., or about 12 purchaae on Griffith’s valuation, exclusive of the outgoings. [Dublin Evening Post - 26 April 1851 ]

In 1854, the herdsmen for Kilconran /  Beech Abbey were McGauran and sons.

COUNTY ROSCOMMON. To be LET from the 1st day of November next, for the terms that may be agreed on. Beech abbey, situate on the road between Elphin and Carrick-on- Shannon, under three miles distant from either place. Lands are of first-rate quality, containing about 115 Irisplantation acres. Proposals in writing will be received up to the 19th October by Francis Waldron Esq, Lisnoyle, Drumsna; or Thomas Babington, 72 Lower Bnggot ftreet. McGauran and Sons, the Herds, will show the lands. [General Advertiser for Dublin, and all Ireland - 14 October 1854 ].

 In 1857, at the time of Griffith's Valuation, Beech Abbey was occupied by William Acheson, who was the main tenant of the Babington lands in the parish of Aughrim. The house was by then valued at £2.10 shillings. 

Beech Abbey appears to have fallen into ruin by the 1890s.

[Research by Rua Mac Diarmada]

 

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