The Luttrells of Courtwood

My ancestors were born in Courtwood, County Laois, ( a.k.a. Queens County, Laoighis or Leix ), Ireland.

THE LUTTRELLS OF COURTWOOD

My family tree revolves around three brothers among whom the farm in Courtwood was split in the early 1800's. Here are details of the three brothers.

John Luttrell

Family lore tells of John being one of three brothers among whom the farm in Courtwood was divided by Johns father prior to his passing. Indeed it is said that some of those markings are said to be still visible today on the land in Courtwood. After the division of the farm John built his house in the field, after which his branch of Luttrells were known as "The Luttrells of the Field".

John, my great great grandfather was born about 1805 in Courtwood, Co. Laois. John married Bridget Cassidy in 1828 and they had a family of 8 children. I have just added a page with some more details about the Luttrell and Cassidy Brothers

1) John, the oldest, was born in 1829 and appears not to have married and died tragically in his early 30's near Knocknabrar in Stradbally.
2) Catherine was born in 1831 and we only know of her today through her baptism record.
3-5) Three boys became Brothers in religion and served in Clara, Co. Offaly and Farragher, Co. Roscommon Monasteries. Brother Patrick appears to have been born William Luttrell in 1833. The second, Brother Paul was born Edward Luttrell in 1845 while Brother Anthony was the third. We have no record of the birth of an Anthony Luttrell and wonder if like his brothers his religious name was not his birth name, which f true would lead me to beleive that he was christened Thomas Luttrell in 1835. Further research in the Religious archives amy clarify this matter
6) Michael who was born in 1838 is said to have married Lena McDermott and had a daughter Mary in 1856. Nothing more is known of this family.
7) Margaret, born 1840, married Thomas Dunne of Moyanna. They had one son, Martin Dunne, born in 1871 who married Elizabeth Shorthall of Kilrory and had a family of four, Tom (Captain), Margaret, Martin and Michael all now deceased without descendants.
8) The other child Simon (b.1842) was my great grandfather who married Julia O'Meara of Inchacooley, Lea parish. Simon and Julia had twelve children and seven of these have living descendants today.

Children of Simon Luttrell and Julia O'Meara.
A. Mary Luttrell, b. 1872 married Charles Feeney and had a family of seven.
B. John Luttrell, b. 1873 married Peggy Hughes and had a family of three.
C. Bridget Luttrell, b. 1875 married Jim Freeman and had one child in U.S.A.
D. Daniel Luttrell, b. 1877 married Elizabeth Donoher and had one son Simon. Simon married Anna Fitzpatrick and lived in Fisherstown
E. Margaret, b. 1879 became Sr. Tarsella in Religion and is buried in Tralee Co. Kerry.
F. Edward, b. 1881 emigrated to England and possibly further afield. He was in the military and served in India. It is not known where he lived out his last years.
G. William, b. 1883 emigrated to Reno, Nevada and did not marry.
H. Catherine, b. 1885 emigrated to Connecticut and married Martin Moore of Emo. They had no family and are buried in Hartford.
I. Christina b. 1887 married John Scully of Vicarstown and had two children, Jimmy and Una.
J. Thomas, b. 1889 married Lily McDonnell and had six children. Their children included Tommy, Simon, Joan and Nina
K. Michael, b. 1891 married Mary Scully of Ballyrider, Vicarstown and had twelve children ; Simon, Martin, Sean, Jimmy, Phyllis, Daniel, Breda, Micheal Thomas, Anthony, William and Margaret. Sadly both Anthony and William died in infancy.
L. Simon, b. 1895 was the last born and died after two months.

As already stated my grandfather was Daniel Luttrell and his only child Simon was born in Fisherstown in 1923, where his mother Elizabeth Donoher was also born. For more detailis on my family click on the link above or below.
Dan had died the year before I was born so almost all that I know of him has been from other peoples memories of him. The 1901 Census of Ireland shows him living in Courtwood with his parents Simon and Julia and siblings, John (Carpenter), William (Yardman), Kate (House worker), Crissie,Thomas and Michael (at school ). Dan was listed as a Ploughman. Indeed I heard this from older brothers, he was said to be a master ploughman behind his horses. He hated the advent of tractors and had no time for them at all. In this and many ways he was said to be "old school". He wore his hard hat and caped jacket, made by Paddy Malone of Courtwood, to all local events. Like all marriages at the time a little bit of matchmaking was involved in him marrying Elizabeth Donoher of Fisherstown. Local folk say that his Sister Christina and her First cousin Kate Donoher(later Flood) arranged it all.

Alexander Luttrell

The second brother, Alexander or Sandy as he was better known as, built his house by the road and similarily his family became know as "The Luttrells of the Road". Alexander married Mary Dunne and they had a family of nine. We now know that Alexander died in 1877 aged 93 while his wife Mary died in 1880 aged 80. Alexanders would have been born in 1784 and as of now this is the only birth year that we have for the three brothers.

1-3) Nothing more is known of Mary, born 1820, William, born 1827,or Michael, born 1835, 4) James born 1836 joined the RIC and served in Tipperary for over 30 years. He married Julia Maher and had a daughter Margaret who married Michael Connor and had a family. They lived in Killaghy, Co. Kilkenny.
5) Margaret, born 1822 married Mark Behan of Clonad, Courtwood, and their children included Jack Behan who worked the farm and Pat Behan who emigrated to the States.
6) Patrick served in the RIC for 6 years in Kilkenny and Tipperary before he emigrated to Australia where in 1886 he married Mary Mulhall, also of Lea parish and their two girls Mary Christine and Evelene were both born in Brisbane. Mary Chridstine died in infancy and Evelene died in 1935 and appears not to have married. Patrick died in 1913.
7) Thomas married Catherine Weir and lived in Ballintogher. Two of their five children emigrated ; William to Melbourne where he married Martha Jane Rowe and had 8 children, while Kitty emigrated to Cleveland Ohio, married Thomas Gilmore of Mayo and had a family of five. I am in contact with descendants of both William and Kitty.
8) Alexander emigrated to America and after some initial letters was never heard of again
9) One of the eldest children Simon, born 1829 married Lucy Dempsey of the Woodenbridge, and they had eight children as follows:

A. Mary, born 1873, married Thomas O'Mara of Inchacooley and had eight children
B. Patrick, or Pad, born 1876, married Bridget Hughes and had four children
C. John, born 1877, died before he was one year old.
D. Rose, born 1878, married Michael Mulhall of Tay Lane
E. Peter, born 1880, married Elizabeth Behan of Ballyaddin, and had eight children.
F. Nora, born 1882, married Peter Coleman of Ballintogher and after the birth of their first child emigrated to America.
G. Brigid, born 1884, married Mark Donnelly of Fisherstown, and had seven children.
H. Lucy, born 1887, married Stephen Hughes and had a family of thirteen.
There are living descendants of Mary, Pad, Peter, Nora, Bridget and Lucy living locally and in America.

William Luttrell

The third brother William Luttrell married Ann Dowling and rebuilt the old dwelling house. I am unaware of any nickname for this branch of the Luttrells. William and Ann had five children.

1) Margaret was born in 1828 and nothing more is known of her.
2) Patrick was born in 1830 and he is also unknown.
3) John was born in 1837 and like Margaret and Patrick I only have records of his birth.
4) Anne was born in 1840 and married Richard Mansworth of Grange, Stradbally in 1868 and had a family of 7 with Mansworth Descendants living today in Grange, Stradbally.
4) Catherine was born in 1844 and married John Mansworth of Oakvale,Stradbally in 1870 and had a family of at least five
6) Alexander, also known as Sandy was born in 1833 and married Bridget O'Connell of Coolroe in 1871 and they had nine children. Here are some details

A. William, born 1872 moved to Cork and married Anna Sheehan and they had seven children. One of their daughters Ellen emigrated to America. There are many descendants of William and Anna living today in Cork.
B. Maria, born 1874, married Paddy Kelly of Crettyard and had three children, Tom, Alex and May Kelly in Athy.
C. Thomas, born 1876, married Bridget Kelly of Crettyard and had one daughter who has descendants living today in newbridge, Co. Kildare. Thomas died in 1906.
D. Anne (Nan) was born in 1877 and married Bernard McNally of Stradbally.
E. James was born in 1880 and died before he was one year old.
F. Bernard (Bernie) was born 1881 and had two children by his first wife who included John Luttrell of Athy, a noted musician. Bernard married twice thereafter.
G. John (Jack) was born in 1883 and married Catherine Tynan and they had one son Alex, who farmed in Courtwood until recently.
H. Ellen (Nel) was born in 1886, married a Kelly in Ballinasloe Co. Galway and had children Annie and Paddy.
I. Frank was born in 1886 and emigrated to Liverpool where he married Mary. He died in 1958 and is buried in West Derby Liverpool.

I am actively seeking information on descendants of William and am interested in contacting any descendants or relations of the above.

Other brothers ?

My research of the Luttrells has led me to believe, without absolute proof, that the three brothers had one or more siblings. A fellow Luttrell researcher, Leonard Luttrell, contacted me over two years ago looking for info on his ancestor Simon Luttrell, born Co. Laois who married Betty Ryan and emigrated to Prince Edward Island, Canada in the mid 1820's. We subsequently found their marriage record in Vicarstown along with the record of the birth of their first two children. Witnesses to these events were John and William Luttrell. Recently I took a DNA test to examine some markers on my Y Chromosome (this Chromosome which is passed from Father to Son, mostly unchanged). Leonard Luttrell in Maine, USA, a fourth generation descendant of Simon the emigrant, also took the test and we matched all 23 markers tested. This proves a link betweeen us and our ancestors and it is more than probable that Simon Luttrell was a brother of my Ancestor John and his brothers William and Alexander.

Click here to view Simon and Elizabeth Luttrell's family page as written by Leonard Luttrell.

When did the Luttrells arrive in Courtwood and from where?
I do not have the answer to that and would be happy to hear from anyone who has information. My information which is " family lore" backed up by information from local connections is that our Luttrells are in Courtwood for near 300 years which would take us back to 1700. It is said that they came over with King James army and were then granted land in Laois. It has been said that these Luttrells were Church of England/Ireland originally and at some point the Courtwood branch changed over to Catholicism. This may well be true and resulted in Catholic Luttrells in Courtwood and Church of Ireland Luttrells in Coolbangher. It is not my wish to offend any one regarding religion as I am merely trying to understand the possible reason for different branches of possibly the same family. Not wishing to confuse things here I mention that there is another line of Luttrells living in Kilkenny and Tipperary which I have not yet linked to us but who DNA Analyis suggests are more distantly related. See my link on the top of this page for more information on these lines.
I am seeking more information on these lines and ask you to contact me if you can help me build on what is listed.

Roman Catholic parish records for baptisms and marriages for the parish of Lea go back to 1820 and as a result it has not yet been possible to find more information about John, William and Alexander. Who was their father and wnen exactly were they born ? There are no answers yet. However I recently examined a manuscript in the Heraldic Museum called " MAPS OF THE COURTWOOD ESTATE". Dating back to 1775 this shows maps of the 25 or so farms on Courtwood estate as adminisered by Charles Bowen and Family. Hoping to find an earlier family name I was dissapointed to find no Luttrells mentioned among the other tenants which included Clears, Tynans, Devoys, Carrolls, Stacks and Rochforts. However closer examination showed the land which was later farmed by the Luttrells to be in possession of a Dennis Kelly. It was further noted that "the land was now occupied by under-tenants". These under-tenants may have included the Luttrells but....

To view the tenants on the Bowen Estate Courtwood at three different points in time : 1775, 1825 and 1851

I am actively seeking more information on all of the Luttrells listed on this page and ask you to please contact me if you can help me build on what is listed.

This link, courtesy of the Dowling Family website, shows a map of Laois Roman Catholic parishes

Photo Gallery

Michael Luttrell of The Fields Courtwood.

My Godmother, Julia Feeney of Vicarstown, daughter of James Feeeny and Mary Luttrell

William Luttrell and Family in Australia. William is believed to be a son of Thomas Luttrell of Courtwood and Catherine Weir/Monaher and was born in 1863 in Ballintogher. Photograph Courtesy of Garry Mullins in Australia.

Photo including John, Esther and Annie Luttrell

The Luttrell Hotel in Rathdrum, once owned by Bernard Luttrell of Courtwood.

Joe Luttrell of Castlemitchell, (brother of my Grandfather Dan) and his daughter Sheila (Headen).

To view a family tree of the Luttrells of Courtwood please go to The Luttrells of Courtwood Family tree

Last updated 23 May 2008