Tully

© Donal G. Burke 2013

McTully and its other variant anglicized forms, such as Tully, may derive from the Gaelic family name Mac Mhaoltuile, translated from the Irish language as ‘son of the devotee or follower of the Divine will.’ Edward MacLysaght, in his ‘Irish Families, their Names, Arms and Origins,’ noted that in the mid twentieth century the name was ‘fairly common in Counties Galway and Cavan, but rare elsewhere (except in the city of Dublin where, of course, names from all parts of Ireland are to be found).’ MacLysaght noted that the name was also given in a seventeenth century manuscript as MacTuile, which may have been an abbreviated form of Mac Mhaoltuile and was of the view that the name may originally have been ‘Mac a’ Tuile meaning ‘son of the flood’ (from ‘tuile’, ‘a flood).  In connection with that view he noted the mention in the Elizabethan Fiants of one ‘Dionysius Flood alias Donogh O Miltilly, spelt O Moltolle in another case.’ Their presence in Galway and Cavan may be attributed to members of the name having been hereditary physicians to the O Connors of Connacht and the O Reillys of Breffney.[i]

Of Gaelic origin and based at an early period about the later County Roscommon, MacTully was recorded by a near contemporary as the physician of Cathal crobhdhearg O Connor and present at his inauguration as king of Connacht about the beginning of the thirteenth century.[ii] While the denomination of Lecarrowmactully in the parish of Kilconnell may have been a reference to this family, a senior line of the Tully family was established in east Galway, across the River Suck from Roscommon, in the half barony of Clonmacnowen by the sixteenth century. Mahe McTully was seated at Garowally (modern townland of Garbally demesne), parish of Kilcloony in 1574 on lands claimed by the Church.[iii] The family lands in the early seventeenth century lay about the parishes of Kilcloony and Creagh on either side of the River Suck, about which the modern provincial town of Ballinasloe would later develop.

Ecclesiasts

Like many of the Gaelic and Old English families of the territory, the Tullys, down the centuries, provided ecclesiasts to the diocese of Clonfert and surrounding dioceses.

It was common in the medieval and late medieval period for parishes often to have had their priests or clerics appointed from those families whose ancestral lands lay within that parish, individuals from the family group thereby deriving the income from the benefices of that office. At the time of the Visitation of the Diocese of Clonfert in the late 1560s by the then Bishop, Roland Burke, the vicarage of ‘Suckyn alias Cryck’ was held by one Mycheas McMyltole, while the vicarage of Muynterkenay alias Burgesmcy was held at that time by Thomas Juvenis (‘oge’ or ‘the young’) McMyltole.[iv] The vicarage of Suckyn relates to the modern parish of Creagh on the eastern, Roscommon, side of the Suck. The historian Father P. K. Egan, in his book ‘the Parish of Ballinasloe’ suggests that the now disappeared vicarage of Muynterkenay may have been a small tract of land belonging to the parish of Creagh but isolated from the rest of the parish in being located within the nearby Roscommon parish of Moore.[v] This isolated part of Creagh remained a detached part of the diocese of Clonfert while the surrounding Moore parish was part of the Archdiocese of Tuam.

Finghin buidhe Mac Maoiltuile

‘Fynnen boy (ie. ‘buidhe’, ‘sallow’) McMoeltroly’ served as ‘secretary for the Irish tongue’ to Richard Burke, 2nd Earl of Clanricarde, the most powerful lord in southern Connacht and a man at the centre of the turmoil of the late sixteenth century as the English administration sought to gain control over the province. When the Earl was accused of treason against the Tudor Crown, of supporting his rebellious sons Ulick and John Burke and of sending covert messages to various Irish leaders to persuade them to bring Scots mercenaries into Connacht, at least one witness testified in Dublin that the letters in the Irish language were written for the Earl by Fynnen (or Fineen) boy.[vi] The secretary, when called upon to testify, denied he wrote the letters.

Fynnen boy also appears to have been a follower of the Earl’s son John Burke, who was for most of his adult life at odds with the English administration in Connacht. When the governor of the province of Connacht, Sir Nicholas Malbie, a vigorous opponent of the rebellious Burke brothers, was accused by other members of the provincial administration at the English Court of having illegally sanctioned the spoilation of the O Brien territory of Thomond (County Clare), his accusers cited as evidence claims by Fynin boy, John Burke’s ‘servant’ or follower that he had done so.

When the Earl of Clanricarde died in 1582 and both of his sons vied for the earldom, John Burke sought to ingratiate himself with Malbie, who played an important role in deciding the succession, and attempted to distance himself from their former animosity. As John Burke appeared before the Queen’s Privy Council in September of that year to argue his case for the earldom, Fynin Boy affirmed that he had never told Malbie’s rivals of Malbie’s involvement in the spoilation and that the evidence given by his English accusers before the Queen’s advisors had been false.[vii]

The earldom fell to the eldest of the two Burke brothers; Ulick, but it was decided that the territory of Clanricarde as it was formerly held by their father and predecessors be divided in two and part of it given to Ulick as the 3rd Earl and part given to John, who would acquire the lesser title of Baron of Leitrim. On the 11th November 1582, about a year after the brothers had come to a settlement regarding the succession, Ulick Burke had his brother John killed in a surprise nocturnal attack in the tower house of Ballyfintan in east Galway. Fynin boy was one of a small number of John’s close followers who were with him at the castle and were killed by the same attackers. The Irish annalists in recording the murder described Fynin boy as ‘Finghin buidhe Mac Maoiltuile,’ a prospective physician (‘adhbhar maith legha’), which would appear to be a reference to the known association of that family with the field of medicine.

Others of the name in the late sixteenth century

It is likely that one identified as Molaghlen reoghe McMoyltulle, to whom a pardon was extended by the Crown alongside others such as the prominent rebel Coaghe O Madyn in 1582 was of this family.[viii] Another of the name issued a pardon in that same year alongside many others from east Galway was one ‘Caown mcMaolltullie legh.’[ix] This Caown appears to have been a physician, the word ‘legh’ a variant spelling of the modern Gaelic ‘lia’, a healer or physician. Others of the name pardoned also in that year from across the River Suck in County Roscommon was Thady mcCahill duf McMoeltully ‘of Holfen’ (possibly ‘Elphin’).[x]

Among the many issued pardons by the Crown in 1603 the first year of the reign of King James I were Fynan McMoltully of Cornemuckollagh, William McMoltully of Glinska, William oge Mc William McMoltully of the same and Molmorie mcMoltully of the same and Connor oge McMoyltuly of Cloghstowkin and Mary nin Dermody his wife.[xi]

Kyvas Tully, Protestant Dean of Clonfert

Kyvas Tully, seated at Garbally in the parish of Kilcloony in east Galway embraced Protestantism and in 1601 was appointed Protestant Dean of Clonfert. The genealogy of this Kyvas was given in the records of the office of the Ulster King of Arms as being ‘Kyvas, son of Iollan, son of John, son of William, son of Cormack, son of Connor, son of Cahill, son of Muriertagh, son of Grorha, son of Cuning, son of Congaill, son of Giollabrack, son of Meoltuille, son of Aongusa, son of Conla, son of Muriertagh son of Muriegh son of Donall son of Connor son of Donall son of Teige son of Owen son of Carbre son of Cormacke son of Hugh son of Meoltuille (from whom comes the name) which Meoltuille was son of Meolfirhy and brother of Meolduin from whom are descended O Neil.’[xii]

Kyvas Tully married firstly Katherine, daughter of Shane ne moye O Kelly of Clonigney, head of a sept of the wider O Kelly family based about Creagh, by whom he had at least four children, the eldest son of whom died at a young age. Kyvas had three sons living at the time of his death; Edward, Conla and Nicholas and four daughters, the eldest daughter of whom, Evelyn, married to Daniel O Madden ‘of Derryhowney’ (recte: Derryhiveny). Kyvas married secondly Sheila, daughter of Thomas Kelly, by whom he had five sons and five daughters living at the time of his death. From this second marriage he had sons Matthew, the eldest, Mark, Luke, Conor and John and daughters Sarah, Elizabeth, Mary, Una and Bridget, all of whom were unmarried at the death of their father.[xiii]

Kyvas served as dean at a time when there were few within the diocese of Clonfert who embraced Protestantism but he was noted at the Regal Visitation of the diocese in 1615 for having ‘a house in good repair and his hospitality there is commended by the testimony of many. The dean’s predecessors by unfavourable lettings had reduced the value of this dignity, but he contested with the farmers and has now increased the value of the deanery.’[xiv] Of his sons, at least two, Matthew and Connor pursued a career in the Protestant Church, with Matthew being assigned the prebend of ‘Kilboyne’ or ‘Kilaryne’ in what may have been the Archdiocese of Tuam about 1638.[xv] Connor Tully was ordained a deacon in April 1617 and the following year a priest. Described as ‘a native and a good reader,’ he was installed as a praecentor and was admitted as a provost in 1618, both offices in the diocese of Elphin.[xvi]

‘Miagh Tully of Garvally (recte: Garbally) in Co. Galway, gentleman’ held one cartron of Garvally, a fourth part of a cartron of Kealraghleh (ie. ‘Caltreleagh’, the modern townlands of Deerpark and Eskerroe) and a fifth part of a cartron of Meakny, all in the parish of Kilcloony in 1618.[xvii] No mention is made at that time to a tower house or castle at Garbally. At an inquisition taken in 1586 Shane ne moye O Kelly of Kyllen was found to hold three parts of a quarter ‘of the town or hamlet and lands of Garvally’, which was the greater portion of the quarter of Garbally.[xviii] By the late 1630s Dean Kyvas Tully was proprietor of the quarter of Garbally in its entirety.[xix]

In the 1630s, prior to the Cromwellian confiscations, Dean Kyvas Tully held Garbally, together with a portion of lands immediately thereabout in Curragh, Grange, Loughbown and Caltraleagh, all also in the parish of Kilcloony, which Rev. P. K. Egan believed may have formed part of the lands attached to the deanery of Clonfert in the medieval period.[xx] He died on the last day of the year 1637. His contemporary Funeral Entry in the records of the Ulster King of Arms described him as ‘Kyvas Tully alias Mulltully, late Dean of Clonfert’ suggesting that the Irish version of the name was also still commonly in use at that time.

Edward Tully of Garbally was second son of Kyvas Tully but, following the death of Edward’s elder brother, Edward became the heir to the estate of Kyvas and it was as ‘eldest sonne and heire’ that he provided details of his father’s death to the office of the Ulster King of Arms. This Edward married Susanna, daughter of an Englishman, one William Collins of Kent, by whom he had one son, whom he named Kyvas. Edward died at a relatively young age on the 25th May 1637 and was survived by his widow and by his infant son and was buried at Kilconnell. His brother-in-law, Daniel O Madden, provided the office of the Ulster King of Arms with the funeral and marriage details.[xxi]

Other lines of the name in east Galway in the early seventeenth century

William Tully of Cleymore (modern townland of Cleaghmore in the parish of Kilcloony, adjacent to Garbally Demesne) died in September 1635. His estate, located for the most part adjacent to Garbally, comprised lands at Derrinvilly (modern townland of Derrymullen), Glowne and Glenduffe, Cowillagh, Gortnemona, Nelassanoe, Cleymore (where he held one cartron), Corragh, Grangy and Knockroe. By a deed of 1629 Donnell McRory O Kelly of Clonigny, eldest grandson of Shane na moye O Kelly, made over his property of one cartron of Clymore (Cleaghmore) to William Tully of Cleymore, his heirs and assigns, without obtaining proper licence.[xxii] William Tully was survived by his wife Christina and son and heir Edward, who was born about 1619 and who, at the death of his father, was still unmarried.[xxiii] As the property of this William was confined for the most part to the parish of Kilclooney, adjacent to those of Kyvas Tully, it would appear that he was a near relative of the latter.

There would appear to have been at least another landholder named William Tully at about this time, as Malby Brabazon was found, in an inquisition of 1627, to have transferred lands at Ardneglogge (in the parish of Creagh in the seventeenth century but now in the adjacent Roscommon parish of Moore) to William Tully and Evelina his wife, on condition of redemption sometime previous to the inquisition.[xxiv]

One William Tully of Cleighmore served as a juror at an inquisition into the extent of property and dues of one Nicholas Blake, merchant, in 1629, held at Loughrea before Malby Brabazon, Terence Coughlan and Robert Bathe, gentlemen.[xxv]

Seventeenth century landholders in County Galway

In the early and mid seventeenth century landowning branches of the name were located in three areas of County Galway; the family of Dean Kyvas Tully about Garbally and Ballinasloe, a family based about the parish of Moylough, in the north east of the county and landholders in the centre and south west of the county about the parishes of Kilconickny, Kilchreest and Ardrahan.

William Tully of Srahellagh in County Galway, gentleman, appears to have been the senior-most member of a family settled in the parish of Moylough in the barony of Tiaquin. About 1617 he was among those Galway landholders who surrendered their lands ‘in order to obtain a re-grant thereof’ from the Crown.[xxvi] In 1618 he was confirmed in the possession of the cartron of Knockahnnesinnagh and two thirds of the cartron of Knockaningen in the barony of Tiaquin in east Galway.[xxvii] About the late 1630s he was proprietor of over a cartron in ‘Strasellagh’ in the parish of Moylough, while one Thomas Tully held almost a half of the quarter of Gileagh (modern townland of Gilkagh) in that same parish.[xxviii]

A family of Tullys were also established on the borders of the two Galway baronies of Loughrea and Dunkellin, wherein, in the seventeenth year of the reign of King James I, one Dermott McMiltully of Kilconickny held ‘the parcels of Kilconicky and Dukillin.’[xxix]  One Ferbissy Tully of Kilconickny in Galway County also held one half cartron of Cahirnemile in the barony of Loughrea in the seventeenth year of the reign of King James I.[xxx] This would appear to be the same ffearebissy Tully Mc Dermott Mc Shane who, in the late 1630s, was proprietor of almost one cartron which comprised the lands of Killconickney in the parish of that name and a cartron about Carrhownamill, also in the same parish.[xxxi] It would appear that this Ferbissy was son of that Dermott who earlier held lands in ‘Kilconicky and Dukillin’ as Dugarrane (modern townland of Doogarraun) in which Ferbissy Tully held lands appears to equate to ‘Dukillin.’ These denominations lay to the immediate north-west of the town of Loughrea and may have included the lands about which the church of Kilconickny stood, near Doogarraun.

Nearby, to the south, in the late 1630s one Kyvas Tully son of Florence son of Kyvas held small denominations of land in the parishes of Kilchreest and Killinan, to the south west of the modern village of Kilchreest, in what would appear to be the general vicinity of the modern townland of Roxborough.[xxxii]

Also in the late 1630s one Conly Tully and his wife Mary held lands about the parish of Ardrahan, in the modern townland of Ballymaquiff and Rathbaun and in a denomination known at that time as Carromorrogh. They also held a small portion of land called Carrnanthomas in the parish of Killora, about the modern village of Craughwell.[xxxiii]

One Hillary Tully served as guardian at the Franciscan friary at Kilconnell in 1629.[xxxiv]

One Michael Tully had a silver chalice made in 1634, inscribed to his memory, which would later in the seventeenth century be among the valuables of the Franciscan friars at Meelick dispersed among members of the local gentry for safe keeping.[xxxv]

Cromwellian Period and the arrival of the Trenches

Following the insurrection in Ireland of many of the Roman Catholic landholders in 1641 during a time of conflict between the King and Parliament and the arrival in Ireland of Parliamentarian forces under Oliver Cromwell to quell the unrest, much of the land in Connacht was allocated for the transplantation into Connacht of Roman Catholic landholders from elsewhere whose estates were confiscated by the Cromwellians and to make provision for those Connacht landholders whose estates were confiscated in whole or in part to facilitate the transplantations.

One Captain Matthew Tully appears to have been instrumental in the forcible taking of an English ship which arrived at the port of Galway from France in March of 1642 while tension was high between the townsmen, sympathetic towards the rebels and the soldiers of the nearby English garrison. The ship, the ‘Elizabeth and Francis’, under the command of Captain Robert Clarke, was laden with a quantity of arms and ammunition in a cargo of salt which the townspeople feared may have been acquired by the garrison at St. Augustine’s fort outside the town. The Master’s Mate and several sailors were killed by the attackers, who succeeded in gaining control of the vessel. The ordnance and ammunition taken from the ship was thereafter brought into the town and used against the fort. The act appears to have been carried out with the consent of the civic authorities on behalf of the town but Tully himself did not take part in the attack itself. After the fall of Galway town to the Cromwellian forces in 1652, those involved in the attack on the ship were specifically excluded from pardon in the articles of surrender. Stephen Lynch fitzAndrew, a merchant of Galway, was one of those involved in the attack and when questioned in January of that year in the presence of the Cromwellian Colonel Peter Stubber and Captain Charles Holcroft, he named Captain Matthew Tully and Walter oge Martin as two who incited him to attack the ship on behalf of the town. Lynch claimed he was one of five townspeople consulted by Captain Tully in the house of Walter oge Martin’s for that purpose.[xxxvi]

The McTullys in Kilconickny appear to have lost possession of their lands in this area as a result of the Cromwellian confiscations and transplantations in the mid seventeenth century. Following the turmoil of that period and the restoration of the monarchy in the person of King Charles II in 1660, an Act of Settlement was passed in Parliament, in an attempt to address the complaints of those whose lands had been taken or divided by the Cromwellians and to placate those who had acquired lands at that time. Under the Act of Settlement the lands of Ferbissy McTully were confirmed in the possession of Sir Henry Waddington, who was the recipient of much of that parish.[xxxvii]

Similarly Tully lands about Moylough were also allocated to others in the Cromwellian period, as were those of the Tullys about Ardrahan and Kichreest.

In the redistribution of lands by the Cromwellian authorities one Katherine Tully was allocated fourteen profitable Irish acres in Annaghbeg in the parish of Ahascragh, north of Ballinasloe, from the former lands there of the Earl of Clanricarde. This Katherine appeared in the records as ‘Katherine Tully alias Griffe, relict of Matthew Tully of Lisconly in County Galway and her don Finnin.’ Also reallocated lands was one Dermot Tully, who was apportioned lands of Rathvilledown and Gortivoher in the parish of Beagh, in south-west Galway, near the border with County Clare, formerly part of the extensive estate of Sir Roger O Shaughnessy. He appears to have been Dermot Tully ‘of Ballymaccuffe’ who had been decreed 47 profitable Iirish acres by the Cromwellians as a transplanted person in 1656 and of the same family as Conly and Mary Tully who held lands in the parish of Ardrahan about 1641.

Others of the name transplanted were one ‘James Tully of Cloondahamher of Co. Galway,’ ‘William Tully of Onagh in Co. Roscommon’ and ‘Matthew Tullye of Co. Galway, orphan’ allocated 23 acres, 21 acres and 624 profitable Irish acres respectively.

The loss of the Tully lands about Garbally

The estate of Edward Tully of Garbally was confiscated in whole or in part by the Cromwellians and he was allocated lands amounting to 217 profitable Irish acres in the parish of Killoran in the barony of Longford in east Galway.[xxxviii]

Miagh Tully of Garbally, who held lands in Garbally, Deerpark, Eskerroe and Mackney about 1618 during his father’s lifetime appears to have been Matthew, eldest son by his first wife of Dean Kyvas Tully.[xxxix] Matthew Tully had lost part of his family estate during the Cromwellian confiscations in the mid seventeenth century but retained other lands in that parish. Those lands lay in the denominations of Kilcloony, Derrymullen, Lisacapell, Clunsayle and Caltreleagh.[xl] Part of the former Tully lands at Garbally, wherein lay their residence, was granted by the Cromwellians to one Marcus Laffan and Laurence Hammon.[xli]

About the time of the Cromwellian land redistributions in the late 1650s Frederick Trench, a Protestant of Huguenot origin, appears to have acquired an interest through mortgage on lands held by the Tully family in the parish of Kilclooney. About 1661 or 1669 Frederick Trench died and was succeeded by his son, also named Frederick.[xlii]

Restoration of the monarchy

Following the turmoil of the Cromwellian period and the restoration of the monarchy in the person of King Charles II in 1660, an Act of Settlement was passed in Parliament, in an attempt to address the complaints of those whose lands had been taken or divided by the Cromwellians and to placate those who had acquired lands at that time. Under the Act of Settlement the Tully’s former lands at Garbally were confirmed upon Colonel Carey Dillon, while others were confirmed in possession of other parts of their former estate.

The Tully estate about Kilcloony under the Act of Settlement

Under the Act of Settlement Frederick Trench was confirmed in possession of the greater part of the lands previously left to Tully by the Cromwellians. Trench was confirmed in possession of lands in Lisacapall, Kilcloony and Derrymullen that appear to have previously been Tullys and the vast majority of their lands in the modern townlands of Deerpark and Eskerroe. It would appear that Trench appears to have purchased part of these lands from Tully after the Cromwellian allocation of lands and extended loans to Tully with much of his lands as security.[xliii] He thereby acquired an interest in most of the remainder of Tully’s lands by mortgage. Matthew Tully was seated at Cleaghmore, adjacent to Garbally about this time and despite Trench’s grant under the Act of Settlement would remain in possession of a small acreage in Kilcloony and the entire denomination of Derrymullen.[xliv]

Trench was also confirmed in possession of other lands in the parish of Kilcooney, previously granted to either an O Kelly or Egans and acquired other lands there by mortgage. In addition, Fr. Egan suggested that Trench purchased Tully’s former residence and lands at Garbally from Colonel Dillon.[xlv]

The aftermath of the Jacobite-Williamite war

Matthew Tully supported the cause of the Roman Catholic King James II in the late seventeenth century against the claims of the Protestant William of Orange and his wife Mary and the lands that the family had retained after the Cromwellian period, ten acres in Kilcloony and one hundred and eighty-eight in Direnwillon (the modern townland of Derrymullen, about the town of Ballinasloe) were declared forfeit by the Williamite authorities. He was given as Matthew Tully of Clymore, gentleman, when listed among those Jacobites indicted and outlawed for high treason against the crown of King William and Queen Mary, which would suggest that his then residence was located in the townland of Cleaghmore, adjacent to Garbally.[xlvi] With his estates pursued by the Williamite Frederick Trench, Matthew Tully was among the relatively few Jacobites outlawed after the war. As such his estates were declared forfeit.

Matthew Tully died before the end of the century as about 1700 Agnes Tully ‘relict of Matthew Tully’ petitioned the Trustees for the Sale of Forfeited Estates, seeking to have her lands saved from forfeiture. She presented her petition ‘on behalf of herself and Edward, William, James and Matthias and Mary and Agnes, her sons and daughters by the said Matthew,’ claiming the property formerly held by Matthew Tully in ‘Derrivolline, Kaltraheigh and other lands’ based on a deed of 1671 and claimed a mortgage for 160l. dated 1684 on lands formerly held by Peter Martin of the ‘half quarter of land of Derrywillin and other lands.’[xlvii] Trench, however, finally purchased the Tully lands in Kilcloony and Derrymullen before 1703 and his descendants would go on to build their principal seat at Garbally and form an extensive estate in east Galway, centred about the town of Ballinasloe and the former lands held by the Tullys.[xlviii]

Other claims made before the Trustees for the Sale of Forfeited Estates

Among those others of the name who presented their case before the Trustees for the Sale of Forfeited Estates was Keaius (ie. Kyvas) Tully, who claimed a rent charge of 6l. per annum for 27 years, commencing on the 1st May 1682, based on a deed of that date, on lands in the 4 quarters of Castlegare in the half barony of ‘Killyhane’ (recte: Killian) in the north east of County Galway, previously the property of Col. Lord Galway.[xlix] Both Colonel Lord Galway and his brother Lord Bophin were the Jacobite sons of William Burke, 7th Earl of Clanricarde. Both had fought at the battle of Aughrim where the former was killed and the latter taken prisoner. Their estates had been declared forfeit by the Williamites, forcing many of their tenants to present a case to the Trustees for the Sale of Forfeited estates in defence of their own landed interests in those estates. Another of the name, Dr. Michael Tully, claimed the remainder of term of 31 years, which commenced from the date of the deed 14 April 1693, on lands of Rapharin and Cahergal in the barony of Kiltartan, County Galway, formerly held by Lord Bophin.[l] This Rapharin may have been the modern townland of Rakerin in the parish of Kilbeacanty, east of the town of Gort in the south west of the county.

Marcus Tully, gentleman, was listed as claimant before the Trustees to the separate sums of 50l. and 100l. and interest since 1699, by two separate mortgages, the one dated in February 1682, the other August 1683 on lands at ‘Gortfadda, half a cartron, a fifth part of the cartron of land of Castlebin’ in Co. Galway, formerly the property of Peter Martin, Esq.[li] These lands lay in the parish of Killaan in the barony of Kilconnell in east Galway, near the modern village of New Inn, between the towns of Ballinasloe and Athenry.

In addition to the families of Tully of Garbally and of Moylough, Kilchreest and Ardrahan, a family of the name appears to have been associated with the town of Galway by the mid seventeenth century. The armorial bearings of Tully appear in the bottom right hand corner of a mid seventeenth century Pictorial Map of Galway town, suggesting that they held some degree of prominence in or about the town at that time. The arms are shown alongside a number of those such as Fallon, Nolan and others whom Hardiman in his ‘History of the town and county of the town of Galway’ states settled, like Tully, in Galway town during the reigns of Henry VI or Edward IV.[lii] A verse written in Latin below the arms of Fallone, Labarth, Nolan, Quinne, Tully and Porte differentiate these families from the fourteen principal families long-established in the town itself, describing these six as ‘late enfranchised,’ who ‘claim a kindred through a connubial love.’ In February of 1627 John Blake fitzNicholas of Galway, merchant, mortgaged a stone house in the town of Galway to Iriell Tully of Galway, physician and two other individuals. Tully was joined in the financial venture by Dominick Skerrett of Galway and Peter Browne fitzStephen of Athenry, both merchants.[liii] Marcus Tully, described as ‘of Galway’, applied to benefit from the terms of the articles for the capitulation of the town of Galway at the end of the Jacobite-Williamite war, his claim being thereafter admitted on 24th June 1698.[liv] It is unclear, however, if this latter individual was established in the town or county of Galway.

For the arms associated with the Tully family of Galway, refer to ‘Tully’ under ‘Heraldry.’


 

[i] Egan, Rev. P.K., The Parish of Ballinasloe, its history from the earliest times to the present century, Clonmore & Reynolds, Dublin, 1960, p. 45; MacLysaght, E., Irish Families, Their Names, Arms and Origins, Fourth Edition, Irish Academic Press, Dublin, 1985, p. 154.

[ii] O Daly, J. and O Donovan, J., Inauguration of Cathal Crobhdhearg O Conor, King of Connaught, Transactions of the Kilkenny Archaeological Society, Vol. 2, No. 2, 1853, p. 347.

[iii] Nolan, J.P., Galway Castles and owners in 1574, J.G.A.H.S., Vol. I (1900-1901), No. II, pp. 109-123.

[iv] McNicholls, K.W., Visitations of the Dioceses of Clonfert, Tuam and Kilmacduagh, c. 1565-67, Analecta Hibernica, No. 26, 1970, pp. 144-157.

[v] Egan, Rev. P.K., The Parish of Ballinasloe, its history from the earliest times to the present century, Clonmore & Reynolds, Dublin, 1960, p. 24.

[vi] Hamilton, H.C. (ed.), Calendar of State Papers relating to Ireland of the reign of Elizabeth, 1574-1585, London, Longman, Green, Reader & Dyer, 1867, pp. 107-110.

[vii] Hamilton, H.C. (ed.), Calendar of the State Papers relating to Ireland of the reign of Elizabeth 1574-1585, London, Longman, Green, Reader and Dyer, 1867, p. 397. Dated 12th September 1582.

[viii] Calendar of Fiants Queen Elizabeth I, The thirteenth Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records in Ireland, 12 March 1881, Dublin, A. Thom & Co., 1881, Appendix IV, Fiants Eliz. I, p. 191.

[ix] Calendar of Fiants Queen Elizabeth I, The thirteenth Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records in Ireland, 12 March 1881, Dublin, A. Thom & Co., 1881, Appendix IV, Fiants Eliz. I, p. 194.

[x] Calendar of Fiants Queen Elizabeth I, The thirteenth Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records in Ireland, 12 March 1881, Dublin, A. Thom & Co., 1881, Appendix IV, Fiants Eliz. I, pp. 192-3.

[xi] Calendar of the Patent Rolls of the Chancery of Ireland, 1800, I James I, Part I, pp. 18-20.

[xii] NLI Dublin, G.O., Ms. 70, p. 321. Funeral Entry of ‘Kyvas Tully alias Mulltully late Dean of Cloonfert in the County of Gallway.’ Fr. Egan erroneously gives his descent in his book on the history of the Parish of Ballinasloe as Kyvas being the son of Iollan son of William.

[xiii] NLI Dublin, G.O., Ms. 70, p. 321. Funeral Entry of ‘Kyvas Tully alias Mulltully late Dean of Cloonfert in the County of Gallway.’ While Fr. Egan gives Sheila Kelly as his first wife and Katherine as his second, the account given in his Funeral Entry would appear to be the more correct given its contemporary compilation.

[xiv] Egan, Rev. P.K., The Parish of Ballinasloe, its history from the earliest times to the present century, Clonmore & Reynolds, Dublin, 1960, p. 68-9.

[xv] Cotton, H., Fasti Ecclesiae Hibernicae. The Succession of the Prelates and Members of the Cathedral Bodies in Ireland, Vol. IV, The Province of Connaught, Dublin, Hodge and Smith, 1850, p. 46.

[xvi] Cotton, H., Fasti Ecclesiae Hibernicae. The Succession of the Prelates and Members of the Cathedral Bodies in Ireland, Vol. IV, The Province of Connaught, Dublin, Hodge and Smith, 1850, p. 137, 144.

[xvii]  Cal. Pat. 16 James I, p. 417.

[xviii] Egan, Rev. P.K., The Parish of Ballinasloe, its history from the earliest times to the present century, Clonmore & Reynolds, Dublin, 1960, p. 301. Exchequer Inquisition post mortem taken at the hill called Le Lurge near Ballinasloe, 24 February 1586 before Sir John Crofton. Shane ne moye O Kelly also held a portion of land in the half quarter of Le Lurge, suggesting the hill upon which the Inquisition was taken was on or near O Kellys estate. Another inquisition, taken in 1604, into the property of Anthony Brabazon, was taken at a hill called Backe.

[xix] Egan, Rev. P.K., The Parish of Ballinasloe, its history from the earliest times to the present century, Clonmore & Reynolds, Dublin, 1960, p. 308.

[xx] Egan, Rev. P.K., The Parish of Ballinasloe, its history from the earliest times to the present century, Clonmore & Reynolds, Dublin, 1960, p. 44.

[xxi] NLI Dublin, G.O., Ms. 71, p.45. Funeral Entry of ‘Edward Tully of Garbally.’

[xxii] Egan, Rev. P.K., The Parish of Ballinasloe, its history from the earliest times to the present century, Clonmore & Reynolds, Dublin, 1960, p. 302. Chancery Inquisition taken at Athenry 17 April 1633 before Richard Blake and others regarding property of Donnell McRory O Kelly of Clownigny.

[xxiii] Egan, Rev. P.K., The Parish of Ballinasloe, its history from the earliest times to the present century, Clonmore & Reynolds, Dublin, 1960, p. 304. ‘Chancery Inquisition taken at St. Francis’ Abbey, 23 April 1636 before Henry Bringhurst and others.’

[xxiv] Egan, Rev. P.K., The Parish of Ballinasloe, its history from the earliest times to the present century, Clonmore & Reynolds, Dublin, 1960, p. 305.

[xxv] Blake, M. J., Blake Family Records 1600-1700, Second series, London, Elliot Stock, 1905, pp. 36-7.

[xxvi] Calendar of the Patent Rolls of the Chancery of Ireland, 1800, 15 James I, p. 357.

[xxvii] Cal. Pat. 16 James I, p. 415.

[xxviii] MacGiolla Choille, B. (ed.), Books of Survey and Distribution, Vol. III, County of Galway, Dublin, Stationary Office for the I.M.C., 1962, pp. 270-1.

[xxix] Cal. Pat. 17 James I, p. 439.

[xxx] Cal. Pat. 17 James I, p. 438.

[xxxi] MacGiolla Choille, B. (ed.), Books of Survey and Distribution, Vol. III, County of Galway, Dublin, Stationary Office for the I.M.C., 1962, pp. 337-8. The denomination of Killconvickney comprised only one cartron and ffearebissy Tully about 1641 held it in its entirety with the exception of one sixth of the cartron, called Gortnecloghy alias Gortneshishreagh, which was in the possession of one John Lenan.

[xxxii] MacGiolla Choille, B. (ed.), Books of Survey and Distribution, Vol. III, County of Galway, Dublin, Stationary Office for the I.M.C., 1962, pp. 245, 332.

[xxxiii] MacGiolla Choille, B. (ed.), Books of Survey and Distribution, Vol. III, County of Galway, Dublin, Stationary Office for the I.M.C., 1962, pp. 246-252.

[xxxiv] Bigger, F.J., The Franciscan Friary of Kilconnell (continued), J.G.A.H.S., Vol. 2, 1902, p. 14.

[xxxv] ‘Orate pro anima Michaelis Tully qui me fieri fecit 16 Augusti 1634.’

[xxxvi] TCD, Ms. 830, 1641 Depositions, fols. 209r-210v. Examination of Steeven Lynch.

[xxxvii] MacGiolla Choille, B. (ed.), Books of Survey and Distribution, Vol. III, County of Galway, Dublin, Stationary Office for the I.M.C., 1962, pp. 337-8.

[xxxviii] Simington, R.C., The Transplantation to Connacht 1654-58, Shannon, Irish University Press, for the I.M.C., 1970, p. 160; Calendar of the Manuscripts of the Marquess of Ormonde K.P., Presented at Kilkenny Castle, Vols. I, II, III, Historical Manuscripts Commissions, Fourteenth Report, Appendix, Part VII, London, Eyre and Spottiswode for Her Majesty’s Stationary Office, 1895, pp. 160, 161. ‘List of Transplanted Irish 1655-1659, No. 1, ‘An account of lands set out to the Transplanted Irish in Connaught.’

[xxxix]  Cal. Pat. 16 James I, p. 417.

[xl] Fr. Egan equates Clunsaile with the modern denominations of Gorteen, Derradda, Knockglass and Ballynamokagh in the parish of Kilclooney, while Caltreleagh is those of Deerpark and Eskerroe. (Egan, Rev. P.K., The Parish of Ballinasloe, its history from the earliest times to the present century, Clonmore & Reynolds, Dublin, 1960, p. 315, Appendix V.

[xli] Egan, Rev. P.K., The Parish of Ballinasloe, its history from the earliest times to the present century, Clonmore & Reynolds, Dublin, 1960, pp. 309-310.

[xlii] Egan, Rev. P.K., The Parish of Ballinasloe, its history from the earliest times to the present century, Clonmore & Reynolds, Dublin, 1960, p. 133.

[xliii] Egan, Rev. P.K., The Parish of Ballinasloe, its history from the earliest times to the present century, Clonmore & Reynolds, Dublin, 1960, pp. 95, 109.

[xliv] Analecta Hibernica No. 22, IMC, Dublin, 1960, p. 72. Cleaghmore would later form part of the town of Ballinasloe as it expanded over later years.

[xlv] Egan, Rev. P.K., The Parish of Ballinasloe, its history from the earliest times to the present century, Clonmore & Reynolds, Dublin, 1960, p. 107.

[xlvi] Analecta Hibernica No. 22, IMC, Dublin, 1960, p. 72. Cleaghmore would later form part of the town of Ballinasloe as it expanded over later years.

[xlvii] Trustees for the sale of the forfeited estates in Ireland, ‘A list of the claims as they were entered with the Trustees, at Chichester-House on College Green, Dublin on or before the tenth of August 1700,’ J. Ray, Dublin, 1701, p. 345. Entry no. 3005.

[xlviii] Egan, Rev. P.K., The Parish of Ballinasloe, its history from the earliest times to the present century, Clonmore & Reynolds, Dublin, 1960, p. 109.

[xlix] Trustees for the sale of the forfeited estates in Ireland, ‘A list of the claims as they were entered with the Trustees, at Chichester-House on College Green, Dublin on or before the tenth of August 1700,’ J. Ray, Dublin, 1701, p. 147. Entry no. 1365.

[l] Trustees for the sale of the forfeited estates in Ireland, ‘A list of the claims as they were entered with the Trustees, at Chichester-House on College Green, Dublin on or before the tenth of August 1700,’ J. Ray, Dublin, 1701, p. 209. Entry no. 1852.

[li] Trustees for the sale of the forfeited estates in Ireland, ‘A list of the claims as they were entered with the Trustees, at Chichester-House on College Green, Dublin on or before the tenth of August 1700,’ J. Ray, Dublin, 1701, p. 98.

[lii] Hardiman, J., The history of the town and county of the town of Galway, from the earliest period to the present time, W. Folds and sons, Dublin, 1820, p. 65-66.

[liii] Blake, M.J., Blake Family Records 1600-1700, second series, London, E. Stock, 1905, p. 35.

[liv] Analecta Hibernica No. 22, IMC, Dublin, 1960, p. 120.