Following the deeds, buildings and living memories to uncover the history of Lotabeg House
This investigation takes a different approach to a longstanding problem.
Why the Names Became Confused
Two different mansions on the old Lotabeg estate were known as “Lotabeg”.
The older was historic Lotabeg House, the Galwey family’s country residence, which still stands above Lower Glanmire Road.
The other stood on Lotabeg Farm. Historical maps identify it as “Silver Spring House”, but contemporary newspapers frequently called the property simply “Lotabeg”, and occasionally “Lotabeg House”. To distinguish the two buildings, we refer to this second residence as the Lotabeg Farm mansion.
There was also a separate house known as Silverspring at Tivoli, while Fort William was a fourth residence associated with the estate.
The University of Galway’s Landed Estates Database places the Callaghan, Hickman and Mahony families, together with the £87 valuation, under “Lotabeg”, while the Cummins and Thomson history appears under “Silver Spring”.
Our research suggests that these histories have become attached to the wrong houses.
By following the deeds and comparing them with historical maps, contemporary advertisements and surviving evidence, we can begin to establish which houses these records actually describe.
The Three Residences at the Centre of the Confusion
Historic Lotabeg House – the estate house
The oldest of these residences is historic Lotabeg House, which stands above Lower Glanmire Road. Built in the seventeenth century as the Galwey family’s country residence, it stands within approximately 37 acres of heavily wooded demesne.
Its distinctive architecture includes a rounded bow, domed entrance hall, cantilevered staircase and ornamental gateway. Unlike the neighbouring agricultural properties, its grounds were principally those of a country residence rather than a working farm.
Although the house survives today, its individual history has become obscured by the histories of neighbouring properties.
Historic Lotabeg House, Tivoli, Cork. The surviving Galwey country residence, with its distinctive rounded bow, ornamental entrance, monumental gateway and wooded demesne. Its architectural character and setting provide important clues to its separate history.
The Lotabeg Farm Mansion—also called “Lotabeg”
Further north stood another substantial mansion on the approximately 34-acre holding known as Lotabeg Farm. An additional parcel of about 11 acres at Lotamore was also associated with the property.
On historical maps, this mansion is identified as “Silver Spring House”. However, contemporary newspaper advertisements frequently called the property simply “Lotabeg” or “Lota Beg”, and occasionally “Lotabeg House”.
These advertisements describe an impressive residence with extensive reception rooms, a grand marble portico, stabling for twelve horses, coach houses, walled gardens, orchards and productive grazing land.
The descriptions reveal a substantial house surrounded by a working agricultural estate, quite different in character from the wooded demesne of the original Galwey residence.
Silverspring at Tivoli — A Separate Residence
A third residence, known as Silverspring, had its own history associated with the Cummins, Thomson, Barrett and later Murphy families.
Nineteenth-century property records and newspaper references identify this house as Silverspring, sometimes with the additional address Tivoli.
Although its precise location has not yet been established, documentary evidence, a surviving historical photograph and local recollections support its existence as a separate residence.
The evidence points to Silverspring at Tivoli being a separate residence from the Lotabeg Farm mansion, which is labelled “Silver Spring House” on historical maps.
Following the Deeds — Where Do They Lead?
Much of the accepted history of Lotabeg House begins with the Galwey family’s lease to Sir Richard Kellett in 1789 and the subsequent conveyance to Daniel Callaghan in 1811.
The earlier lease concerned approximately 80 acres at Lota or Lotabeg, including an existing dwelling. However, it does not establish that the grand mansion described in later records already existed.
By 1841, court proceedings concerning the Callaghan property described two parts of the holding. One was Fort William, with its own house and approximately 40 acres, occupied by the Baker family under a separate lease.
The other portion included a mansion described as Lota or Lotabeg, together with its “gardens and pleasure grounds”.
But which mansion was being described?
The accepted interpretation identifies it as historic Lotabeg House. Yet another substantial mansion stood on Lotabeg Farm, and contemporary records frequently used the same name for both properties.
The name alone cannot establish which building the documents describe.
Rather than assume the answer, we have followed the property through its later conveyances, comparing the deeds with historical maps, landholdings and surviving evidence.
Our purpose is not to challenge the authenticity of the early documents, but to establish whether the mansion described in them has been correctly identified.
The Deeds Lead Us to Vincent Hart
An important link appears in the 1898 conveyance from Barry Michael Egan to Elizabeth Maraquita Jackson. It describes two former demesnes, those of Godfrey Thomas Baker and Charlotte Perrier, each with its own mansion house and buildings.
The Baker property was Fort William. The other mansion was associated with Perrier, whose substantial residence was repeatedly advertised in contemporary newspapers as “Lotabeg”.
The subsequent deeds allow us to follow this property interest through successive conveyances:
- 1902: Jackson to Martin Mahony.
- 1919: Mahony to General Edward Langford Sullivan.
- 1928: Sullivan to William Alfred Johnstone.
- 1935: Johnstone to Vincent Hart.
The 1935 conveyance continued to refer to the earlier fee-farm arrangements associated with the Baker and Perrier properties, connecting these later transactions to the same historical holdings.
Following Vincent Hart’s death in 1939, his widow Evelyne transferred the property to their daughter Alycia in December 1947.
The Hart family transfer, 1947. Registry of Deeds search record confirming the conveyance from Evelyne Hart to Alycia, with reference to the earlier 1856 sub-fee-farm grant concerning lands at Lotabeg.
These deeds allow us to trace the Baker and Perrier properties into the twentieth century, when later land transactions and historical maps help us identify their locations.
Following the 1947 transfer, Alycia Hart (later Donovan) conveyed portions of the lands at Lota and Lotabeg.
This brings us to the central question: Where did the mansion described in the earlier deeds actually stand?
Where the Deeds Become Visible
Vincent Hart’s 1935 purchase brought together two former holdings: Fort William, associated with the Baker family (approximately 46 acres), and the Perrier property at Lotabeg (approximately 34 acres).
In 1958, a newspaper report of Hart family court proceedings referred to “a large house and 34 acres at Lotabeg”. Historical maps identify a substantial mansion on Lotabeg Farm as “Silver Spring House”.
Together, the deeds, acreage and mapped location point towards the Lotabeg Farm mansion as the property associated with the Callaghan–Perrier–Hart succession, rather than the surviving Galwey residence known as historic Lotabeg House.
Lotabeg Farm and surrounding lands, aerial photography 2001–2005 collection.
The identification can now be tested against something equally revealing: the physical character and practical use of the two properties.
The Evidence on the Ground — Two Very Different Properties
Contemporary newspaper advertisements describe the mansion called “Lotabeg” as an impressive residence, with an ornamental limestone porch, extensive reception rooms, a billiard room, wine cellar and servants’ accommodation.
Its grounds were equally substantial, with grazing fields, stabling for twelve horses, coach houses, a forge, dairy buildings, orchards, glasshouses, walled gardens and a market garden.
At Lotabeg Farm, surviving stone walls, cottages and agricultural buildings provide physical evidence of this working landscape.
Historic Lotabeg House presents a different picture. The surviving Galwey residence stands within approximately 37 acres of wooded demesne. We have not found a comparable concentration of agricultural buildings within its immediate grounds.
These differences support our identification of the advertised mansion with the Lotabeg Farm mansion, although the physical evidence alone cannot establish its identity conclusively.
The Evidence Still Lives in Local Memory
Local memories provide another valuable source of evidence.
Máire recalls visiting a large house at Lotabeg around 1960. She describes entering from Silverspring Lane (now North Ring Road), following a tree-lined avenue past the gate lodge where Mrs Flannery lived. She remembers being given apples at the house.
Other residents recall walled orchards, glasshouses and enormous oak trees. Barry, whose family knew the Donovans, remembers the Lotabeg Farm mansion becoming derelict by the late 1960s. His photographs record surviving stone walls and farm cottages in the surrounding area.
These recollections cannot establish ownership, but they help us understand where the buildings stood and how the property was remembered before modern development transformed the landscape.
The Other Silverspring — A House Still to Be Located
Another residence, known as Silverspring at Tivoli, appears in records associated with the Cummins, Thomson, Barrett and Murphy families.
A photograph from the T. J. Murphy family archive, kindly shared by his relative Ruairí Lynch, is identified as showing this house. Its precise location remains uncertain, although historical references place it at Tivoli, possibly near Lower Glanmire Road.
The University of Galway’s Landed Estates Database associates the Cummins and Thomson families with the mansion labelled “Silver Spring House” on maps of Lotabeg Farm. But the name on a map does not establish that these were the same building.
Our examination of the deeds, advertisements and landholdings instead points towards the Lotabeg Farm mansion as the property associated with the Callaghan–Hickman–Perrier–Hart succession.
The evidence therefore calls for four separate residences to be distinguished: historic Lotabeg House, the Lotabeg Farm mansion, Silverspring at Tivoli, and Fort William.
Recovering the History of Lotabeg House
Our examination of the deeds, historical maps, newspaper advertisements, surviving buildings and local memories points towards the Lotabeg Farm mansion as the property associated with the Callaghan–Hickman–Perrier–Hart succession, rather than the surviving historic Lotabeg House.
The original Galwey residence has a separate history. It remained associated with the Galwey and Galwey–Kellett families throughout the nineteenth century, before passing to Charles Cavanagh Murphy, grandson and heir of Edward Galwey of Lota.
We have not yet established when or how historic Lotabeg House subsequently passed from Murphy or his estate into later ownership. That important question remains unresolved.
We believe the University of Galway’s Landed Estates Database should reconsider its identification of these properties in light of the evidence presented here.
The historical records have not changed. What needs reconsideration is which houses they describe.
The Lotabeg Farm mansion may have disappeared, but its history survives in the records. And historic Lotabeg House, still standing after centuries, deserves to have its own history recognised and restored.
Sources and Historical Evidence
Deeds and Property Records
- Registry of Deeds, Dublin, Memorial 408.479.271527, 29 October 1789. Galwey to Sir Richard Kellett. Early lease relating to the lands and dwelling at Lota.
- Cork City and County Archives, U681/61/13, 1 July 1811. Conveyance to Daniel Callaghan, connecting the property with the earlier Kellett interest.
- Callaghan v. Callaghan, House of Lords, 1841. Proceedings describing the division of the approximately 80-acre holding between Fort William and the remaining mansion and grounds of Lota or Lotabeg.
- Encumbered Estates Court Rental, 15 June 1854, Vol. 29 (20), MRGS 39/013. Documentation concerning the separate Silverspring residence and lands.
- Registry of Deeds, Memorial 1898.69.207, 18 October 1898. Barry Michael Egan to Elizabeth Maraquita Jackson. Describes the former Baker and Perrier demesnes, their mansion houses, and the associated fee-farm arrangements.
- Registry of Deeds, Memorial 1935.7.55, 25 January 1935. Johnstone to Vincent Hart. Records the later property succession and its connection with the earlier fee-farm title.
- Registry of Deeds, official search S2026RD069337B, registration reference 1948037048. Conveyance dated 19 December 1947, Evelyne Hart to Alycia C. M. Hart, registered 9 August 1948.
- Registry of Deeds, official search S2026RD060074B. Later conveyances by Alycia Donovan affecting lands at Lota and Lotabeg.
Contemporary Newspapers
- Limerick Chronicle, 25 May 1842. Advertisement for the mansion and demesne of Lotabeg, describing its extensive buildings, gardens and stabling.
- Limerick Chronicle, 24 October 1891, p. 4. Advertisement for the substantial mansion called Lotabeg, including its grounds, entrance avenue, agricultural buildings and relationship with Fort William.
- Cork Examiner, 6 April 1895, p. 3. Advertisement concerning property at Lotabeg.
- Irish Independent, 13 November 1958, p. 4, “Widow Loses Her Action”. Reports the Hart family property as a large house and approximately 34 acres at Lotabeg, and discusses the earlier transfer to Alycia.
Maps and Architectural Evidence
- Ordnance Survey historical maps of Lotabeg, Rathcooney and Tivoli. Used to compare the locations of the houses, their entrances, surrounding land and subsequent development.
- Griffith’s Valuation and Valuation Office Revision Books. Consulted as historical taxation records, with their property identifications examined against independent evidence.
- Historical aerial photographs, c.1985 and 2001–2005. Used to examine changes to Lotabeg Farm and the development of the surrounding agricultural lands.
Historical Photographs and Local Recollections
- T. J. Murphy family archive. Historical photograph of Silverspring, kindly shared by Ruairí Lynch, a relative of the Murphy family.
- Máire — personal recollections. Childhood memories of visiting a large house at Lotabeg around 1960, including its entrance avenue, gate lodge, gardens and household.
- Barry — photographs and personal recollections. Memories of the Lotabeg Farm mansion (labelled “Silver Spring House” on historical maps), its condition in the late 1960s, the Donovan family and surviving structures around Lotabeg Farm.
These personal accounts provide valuable geographical and historical clues. Where possible, they are compared with contemporary records, maps and surviving physical evidence.
Historical and Modern Reference Works
- C. J. B. Bennett, The Galweys of Lota (1909).
- Sir Henry Blackall, “The Galweys of Lota”, Parts I and II, Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society (1966 and 1972).
- University of Galway, Landed Estates Database, “Lotabeg” and “Silver Spring”. The published historical identifications examined in this article.
The purpose of this investigation is not to replace one untested identification with another, but to establish the identities of the houses through the combined evidence of deeds, geography, buildings and living memory.
For further reading about Lotabeg:
- Two Houses Called “Lotabeg”
- Lotabeg: The Four Houses on the Estate
- Hart of the Matter – The Lotabeg Auction 2016
- Callaghan’s Gate – Fact or Fiction