Today it is a short blast up the motorway from Barmeath to Gormanston. It’s about twenty miles if you don’t mind paying the toll (my brother does). This was not the case in the 19th century.
My great x3 grandmother, Anna Fermina Mendoza, married to Patrick Bellew, kept a diary and recorded circa 1830 that she had taken the carriage to call on Lady Gormanston but she was out. It was not an entirely wasted journey. The Gormanstons, like the Bellews were, are an old Catholic family. The Gormanstons are the premier Viscounts in the Irish Peerage (1478) and their Irish Barony had already been created in 1370. The Bellews were just James II Irish Baronets (1688). However, in 1848 Anna Fermina’s husband was created Baron Bellew in the Peerage of Ireland (a rung below a Viscount and a new political title to boot). If the Bellews were rich, Mendoza money made a significant contribution. Be that as it may, a union between the Prestons (the Gormanston’s family name) and the Bellews took place in January 1861 when Anna and Patrick’s daughter, Ismay, married Jenico Preston, 14th Viscount Gormanston, as he was to become. He had a varied, sometimes quite distinguished, career.
“He gained the rank of Lieutenant in the 60th Rifles. He fought in the Indian Mutiny. He held the office of High Sheriff of County Dublin in 1865. He was Chamberlain to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland between 1866 and 1868. He held the office of High Sheriff of County Meath in 1871. He was Commissioner of National Education of Ireland between 1875 and 1885. He succeeded as the 2nd Baron Gormanston of Whitewood, co. Meath [U.K., 1868] on 28 September 1876.1 He succeeded as the 17th Lord Preston of Gormanston [I., 1370] on 28 September 1876. He succeeded as the 14th Viscount Gormanston [I., 1478] on 28 September 1876. He held the office of Governor of the Leeward Islands between 1885 and 1887. He was appointed Knight Commander, Order of St. Michael and St. George (K.C.M.G.) in 1887. He held the office of Governor of British Guiana between 1887 and 1893. He held the office of Justice of the Peace (J.P.) for County Cavan. He held the office of Justice of the Peace (J.P.) for County Dublin. He held the office of Deputy Lieutenant (D.L.) of County Dublin. He held the office of Justice of the Peace (J.P.) for County Meath. He held the office of Governor of Tasmania between 1893 and 1900. He was appointed Knight Grand Cross, Order of St. Michael and St. George (G.C.M.G.) in 1897.” thepeerage.com
Well, unfortunately, Ismay never bore him issue and died in 1875, severing the rather promising connection between our families. However, he re-married and had three sons and a daughter, touchingly named Ismay, so although the Gormanstons no longer live in their castle their line is far from extinct.
Tomorrow I will tell you about a strange revival of our family connection that took place in 1940.