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THORNCLIFFE

Monkstown,
Co.Cork

Monkstown, Co.Cork

Monkstown, Co.Cork

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The Perrott Family - builders of Thorncliffe.

The Perrott coat-of-arms       It is believed that the first Perrots came to the UK from France after the Battle of Hastings (1066) and that the name Perrot is a derivation of the French name "Pierre" or Little Pierre "Pierrot". With pears in the coat-of-arms perhaps the name derives from the french word "poire". The name is first recorded in the Pembrokeshire area of Wales.

 

       Sir John Perrot (1528 -1592) was of the Welsh gentry who served as Lord Deputy of Ireland under Queen Elizabeth I in 1584. Born near Haverfordwest in Wales, John Perrot was a figure of unusual power and influence in Tudor Britain and Ireland. He inherited his wealth and power and added to it by ingratiating himself with the English court. 

 

      Queen Elizabeth I initially posted him to Ireland in 1571 as President of Munster to suppress a rebellion there. His methods, though often extremely violent, ultimately failed in the task and he resigned from the post.

 

      However, Sir John Perrot returned to Ireland in 1584, this time as Lord Deputy of Ireland with the task of crushing the Irish. Again he failed and on his return to England he was falsely accused of treason by his many enemies, and died in the Tower of London in 1592, possibly of poisoning. It was formerly speculated that he was an illegitimate son of King Henry VIII, although the idea is rejected by modern historians. 

 

      On appointment as Lord Deputy of Ireland, Sir John Perrot had made a deed of settlement entailing his estates on his sons and their male descendants, and in default on his cousin. Probably a wise precaution given the hazards of office in Ireland.

 

 

      Samuel Perrott (1768 - 1855) was a great-grandson of Sir John Perrot.  Samuel Perrott held an estate in the parishes of Castlelyons and Rathcormack, barony of Barrymore, County Cork, at the time of Griffith's Valuation, including the town of Castlelyons itself. Lewis writes in 1837 that Perrott had recently purchased the manor and was resident at Uplands in the parish.  At the time of his death in 1855 Samuel Perrott was a resident of Cleve Hill (Blackrock, Cork?) and Castlelyons.  Samuel Perrott married Anne Walker of Richmond, Fermoy, and they had a number of children including John Walker Perrott

 

      John Walker Perrott (1814 - 1886) married Isabella Susan Poole (1832 - 1908). Isabella was born Mayfield, Knockavilla,  just west of Bandon. Her mother was Joanna Meade Townsend (15/Mar/1786 - 19/May/1867) of Roscarbery.

 

      In the 1870s John Walker Perrott of Monkstown, Cork, owned 2,262 acres in county Cork. At the time of his death in Thorncliffe on 23/Dec/1886, John Walker Perrot, (B.A. 1836 T.C.D.),  is listed as being a resident of both Thorncliffe and also The Manor House, Castlelyons, Co.Cork. In his will his widow Isabella was the sole executrix of his estates.

 

      John Walker Perrott built THORNCLIFFE in 1865. A stream runs through the property and exits on Monkstown's Strand Road (R610) at what is still known locally as "Perrott's Spout". The water from the spout poured into a stone horse trough that bore the inscription:-

 

"In memory of John and Isabella Perrott who built the above house, also of Captain Willie Perrott, R.A., and Commander H.B. Rooper, RN"

 

 

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