The Langford Raes in Ireland

The Langford Rae family – that is, a family called Rae among whom "Langford" repeatedly appears as a first or middle name – originated in southern Ireland: there are numerous references to the name in Irish records, nearly all clearly associated with the area of County Kerry on or near the Dingle Peninsula, or with neighbouring areas of County Limerick. It is difficult to sort out their exact relationships, since so many of the Irish geneaology records were destroyed in The Troubles, but the fact that the family were significant landowners means that there is more information available for them than for most Irish families of the period. NUI Galway's Landed Estates section records that "Members of the Rae family, whose estate was centred on Keel House, Castlemaine, held over 5000 acres in county Kerry in the 1870s".

Keel is tucked in on the south side of the landward end of the Dingle peninsula, on low-lying land deep in the inlet that separates the Dingle and Iveragh peninsulas and less than a mile north of the mouth of the River Maine where it flows into Castlemaine Harbour, and where a matched pair of piers north and south of the Maine reduce its width to 200 yards. In the heyday of the Raes of Keel, there was a ferry. Dingle itself, the northernmost of the fingers of land which project farther south-westwards into the sea from the south-west corner of Ireland, is an area of spectacular scenery and of outstanding Iron Age and early Mediaeval ruins, such as the stone-built "beehive huts" used by Celtic monks.

An article on Keel House by Valerie McK. Bary, which appeared in Issue #1 of the Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society Magazine in 1989, says of the family:

Their names rarely appear on County Rolls and they never achieved the honour of holding office as High Sherriff. They seem to have lived a quiet life, politically. This is not surprising as, during these years, this corner of Kerry remained remarkably free from the unrest and troubles of many other parts of Kerry – notably the areas around Killarney.

In the 19th century, the widespread Rae family made many fashionable marriages ... Keel House was host, therefore, to many of the gayest of the Kerry gentry. They seemed content with their quiet, country life and married into the families of Fitzgerald, Meredith, Collis, Day, Meade, Godfrey, Rochfort, Moore, Rowan, Chute, Blennerhassett, Curry and Waters. A letter from the widow of Colonel Conway-O'Connor is extant, written from Keel House where she was then living. She, also, must have been one of the family.

Back issues of the very informative and high-powered magazine and journal of the Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society can be obtained from their website.

Although they may not have featured largely in the County Rolls, some of the Raes played a very active role in local life, as magistrates and as prominent members of important local clubs and committees. Consequently they are frequently mentioned in the Irish press, especially in the main local paper, the Tralee Chronicle and Killarney Echo, which ran twice a week from 1843 to at least 1875. Unfortunately only the issues for 1870 and 1875 have been digitized, but more than half the issues from those two years mention the Raes, sometimes several times.

Another branch of the family settled at Boolteens, about a mile and a half north-east of Keel. Both branches of the family feature frequently in local sections of The Schools' Collection of oral history, local recollections collected by schoolchildren across Ireland in the late 1930s. Relevant extracts from the collection can be found at the bottom of this page. Most relate to a period from about 1840–1910, although a few are from the 1920s, and a few are folk memories of local events and marriages going back to the 16^thC, although their accuracy is hard to assess.

Two partial family trees, completed probably around 1925, exist on microfilm #: 596417 (not yet digitized) held by the Latter-Day Saints' FamilySearch organisation, but their purpose is to show the transfer of lands rather than bloodlines, and the putative marriages and children of family members who did not inherit land have been omitted. Some can be filled in from e.g. baptismal records, but only a small proportion of these have as yet been digitized; and except for a few areas, no census survives for Ireland prior to 1901. Also, early baptismal records don't include the date of birth, so the child could easily have been over a year old when it was baptised. Some details can be gleaned from newspaper reports and even from local oral history, but there are still a lot of gaps. Transcriptions of the original 1920s trees, and of the much fuller versions which I have been able to reconstruct for the Raes in both Ireland and the East, can be viewed here.

Unfortunately my semi great-great-grandfather (the grandfather of my father's adoptive father) Francis Langford Rae is one of those who is not shown on the inheritance tree, and whose baptismal record is also not available, although we know he was born around 1822. He must have belonged to that family: although he is reported to have been born in Dublin he is known to have been a Kerry man, most of his male descendants had Langford as a first or middle name and there are only two Rae families in the world for whom that is known to have been the case – the descendants of Francis Langford Rae in the East, and the Raes of the Dingle/Castlemaine area of County Kerry. However, at present I can only make an educated guess as to which of the Langford Raes on that family tree was the father or grandfather of my great-great-grandfather Francis.

The 1920s inheritance-tree for the Kerry Raes begins in the late 17^thC with a marriage to the daughter of an Anglican minister, and most of the Raes of Keel House were Protestants, whereas the Langford Raes at Boolteens and in the East were Catholics. My father, Rory Langford-Rae, a staunch if unorthodox Catholic himself, did a lot of geneaology research and he reportedly found evidence that his adoptive father's Rae ancestors went to Ireland with Cromwell, 1649–1650, and were rewarded with land, meaning that they would have to be Protestants, so he certainly thought it feasible that his Catholic family had descended from a Protestant base.

This is just about compatible with the oral history in The Schools' Collection, although it's pushing it a bit. They assert that the first member of a local familly named Blennerhassett arrived in the area "during the reign of Queen Elizabeth", by which presumably Elizabeth I is meant, so no later than 1603. He then "divided some of his property amongst his daughters who married 1. Kennedy, 2. De Molyns, 3. Rae". It's just about possible that Blennerhassett arrived as a young man in about 1600, and about twenty years later he fathered a daughter who went on to marry a Cromwellian Rae when she was thirty-ish. The first Rae recorded on Tree I, Edward Rae, was born in 1660 and could conceivably be the result of such a marriage, so this lineage works if we assume that Blennerhassett arrived only at the very end of Elizabeth's reign, was a young man when he did so, married a wife who was younger than he was and continued to have children when he himself was in his forties or fifties.

The inheritance trees show that the first Edward had a grandson, another Edward, who married Anne Langford in around 1765. Their descendants began the tradition of having Langford as a first or middle name. From here we have three sets of brothers (I'm ignoring the girls for present purposes as they're not likely to have passed on their full surname) born to the Kerry Raes in the late 18^th or early 19^th C, each set including individuals having Langford as a first or middle name. Any of these brothers could in theory have given rise to the Langford Raes in the East.

Edward and Anne had four sons, Robert Langford Rae, born circa 1773, Langford Rae, born circa 1775, Giles Rae, born 1777 and John Rae, born 1779. Robert's notes on the family tree show him to have died without issue, so he is unlikely as a progenitor for the Raes in the East. Not impossible, though, because the dates allow him to have been as much as thirty-six when he died, and these early trees do not include wives and children if the children didn't inherit land.

John had children but he married a Rochfort and his branch of the family took Rochfort as a middle name, not Langford. They are extensively recorded and there seems to be no room there for the Langford Raes in the East. But the middle two brothers both passed on the Langford name.

Giles married another Langford, Deborah Langford, and they had four sons, Edward Rae, John Langford Rae, Langford Rae and Francis Drew Rae, born respectively in 1814, 1817, circa 1819 and 1820/21, but all are on record as having died unmarried, and there's no suggestion of illegitimate children.

Langford is also not shown on the 1920s trees as having a wife or any children, but we know from baptismal records that he did in fact marry an Ellen Long and have at least two children, Mary Langford Rae, born 1804, and John Langford Rae, born 1807, and there was also a somewhat older Rae Domenic Langford kicking around who was probably his. There may well have been others. The fact that Langford married a Catholic and became a lawyer in Dublin means that he is extremely likely to have been either the father or grandfather of Francis Langford Rae, a Catholic policeman born in Dublin of a Kerry family when Langford was around forty-seven.

The fact that Langford did have a wife and children, even though they aren't shown on the tree, raises the possibility that his brother Robert might also have had children who are not shown. However, we don't know of any reason why any putative children of Robert would have been excluded from inheriting, whereas we do know that Langford's children were baptised as Catholics, at a time when that would still have been problematic. Robert was in any case dead by 1809, so could not have been the father of Francis Langford Rae who was born in 1822, although if he had any unrecorded sons he could have been Francis's grandfather.

From 1607 onwards a series of increasingly restrictive "Penal Laws" were introduced in Ireland, which by the 18^th C prevented Catholics from getting an education or a professional career, living within five miles of a corporate town (which interfered with their ability to trade in goods), inheriting land from a Protestant, serving in the army, holding public office or having any say in their country's government. These rules were only repealed in 1793, and ofen continued to be applied, unofficially, for decades afterwards. The fact that Langford Rae was having children baptised in a Catholic church at least as early as 1804, and very possibly some years earlier, is highly significant. If he was a Catholic himself he may well have become one before the Penal Laws were repealed, which would explain why his children were not shown as inheriting, and argues both courage and conviction – and would also make him one of the first Catholics of his period in Ireland to be allowed to practise law. Even if he merely married a Catholic bride a few years after the Penal Laws were reformed, and allowed her to pick their children's religion, that would still have been a brave act which showed both broad-mindedness and a certain carelessness about public opinion. A hundred years later his almost certain grandson or great-grandson Denis Wilmot Rae would show the same courage and carelessness by marrying an indigenous girl in Burma, at a time when most senior white officials regarded native women as suitable only for mistresses or prostitutes.

If indeed the Raes first got their land from Cromwell they probably came to Kerry directly from Great Britain (that is, the British mainland) in the mid 17^thC. Families of Co. Kerry, Ireland by Michael O'Laughlin, which reprints entries from the archives of the Irish Genealogical Foundation, states that "Rae is given in one instance as the name of a family settling in Co. Kerry, subsequent to the 1641–42 rebellion" which may explain where Rory got the reasonable idea that they came over with Cromwell from. This places them in Ireland about eight years earlier than if they arrived with Cromwell, and so would put a bit less of a strain on the Blennerhassett timeline, and make Edward Rae born in 1660 probably the grandson rather than the son of the Rae who married the late-Elizabethan Blennerhassett's daughter.

O'Laughlin suggests that Rae may be a corruption of Rael, the name of a family from Rail in Essex. There were or are several families with the name Rael in Kerry.

Page 530 of The County Families of the United Kingdom or Royal Manual of the Titled & Untitled Aristocracy of Great Britain & Ireland by Edward Walford, published 1860, says that "This family was formerly of co. Caithness, and have been settled in the south of Ireland 250 years." although it doesn't cite sources. That would have them settling in the Kerry area circa 1610, well before Cromwell and about fifty years prior to the birth of the first Edward Rae mentioned by Bary, although she may be correct that they didn't own land at this point. Either way the author certainly believed them to have arrived in the area from Scotland (albeit from Caithness, which is about a hundred miles north-east of Kintail), and therefore to be Raes of the Macrae variety.

Macrae means Son of Grace, probably indicating a person in holy orders, or the son of such a person, and an account of the clan's history suggests that the founders of the clan were Irish missionaries who came to Scotland from Ireland in or before the 13^th century. Certainly the clan are widely believed to have come from Ireland and to be an offshoot of the Irish family MacRath, itself said to have produced many bishops and poets. Even O'Laughlin says that "Mac Rait and O'Riabaig are two possible family roots of the name of Rae given by J. King" although "From his listings we are given to believe that Rael has been simply shortened to Rae at times".

If the Kerry Raes started out as Macraes, then, as they themselves believed, they were doubly Scots-Irish. Memories and stories can drift with time, but Rory's half-brother Peter reckons he clearly remembers my father Rory in the 1950s telling him – several times, from the sound of it – that he had learned that in 901AD the MacRaes almost died out as a family, and were saved only because a monk who was a MacRae quit his monastery in order to have lots of children. This would make perfectly sound cultural sense, since the MacRaes would still have been in Ireland at that point, and there were probably still some monasteries left which adhered to the Celtic Church system which allowed monks to marry: the putative Macrae ancestor would not have had to have become an apostate, he would simply have been a monk who now lived among laymen – and that only if his bride was not herself a nun.

I have not been able to confirm this story from any other source, but as I understand it, after he was made redundant from his job as Executive Secretary to the State War Executive Committe in Negeri Sembilan in the late 1940s, following the end of the Malayan Emergency and Malaysia's gaining of independence from British rule, my father carried out extensive genealogical research which included travelling around Ireland to look at parish records. Bary, writing in 1989, spoke of the Raes of Keel as having a current family tradition about their origin in Scotland, so it may well be that Rory met with his cousins at Keel circa 1950 and that this story comes from them. I wonder, though, if a step has been missed out from Peter's memory of it, and whether the monk's family were not called Macrae until after he left the church. It sounds as if it could very easily be an origin-myth (which doesn't necessarily mean "not true"!) about how the Macrae/MacRath clan came to be called sons of clerics.

I have been told by his half-brothers that Rory traced his Irish family back to County Waterford. This may refer to the fact that in the distant past the MacRaths, although mainly based in Tipperary, had a castle at Dungarvan in Waterford – a six-storey tower-house which sadly collapsed in 1916 – or it may relate to the Walsh family, the antecedents of his mother's grandmother Caroline Ellen Walsh. The Walshes were big in Waterford, whilst the Langford Raes were almost entirely located in Kerry. However, a David and Joanna Rae had three children, Ann, David and Isabella, baptised respectively on 23^rd April 1753, 20^th February 1758 and 22^nd August 1756 in Kill St Nicholas, Waterford, and it may be that Rory had traced a connection between this family and the Raes who ended up in Kerry.

A typed-out version of the 1920s family trees, along with my improved versions with additional details from other sources, can be found here. On this current page, below, I will write up what is contained on the original trees in text form, with notes and additional information if any, and then finish by listing those Irish Langford Raes and other Kerry-based Raes who are known to have existed but whose position on the family tree is uncertain. "Tree I" refers to the major family tree, near the start of the microfilm (not numbered, but appearing next after an item numbered 3658), which goes all the way back to a couple who married in 1691 and covers nearly a hundred individuals. "Tree II" is a tree much further along on the microfilm (n° 3690), which duplicates a small section of the first tree and goes into more detail regarding some of the lands owned by the family. "Foster" refers to Joseph Foster's The Royal Lineage of our Noble and Gentle Families together with their Paternal Ancestry, an excerpt from which, dealing with the marriages of the Day [O'Dea] family with the Raes of Keel House, appears hand-copied on the same microfilm (n° 3717): a transcription can be viewed farther down this page. I have obtained the relevant page (n° 446 from the Library Edition) from the original book, so have access to more information than is on the microfilm.

The notes in the hand-written trees are rather short on punctuation, with line-breaks or double spaces often being used to separate ideas, instead of full stops and capitalization. In transcribing these trees I have used the "//" notation to indicate a line break where that line break has been used in the original to indicate a change of theme, but not when it occurs mid-sentence.

You will see many references to "townlands". A townland is a block of Irish farmland probably containing one large farm with farmhouse and several smallholdings with cottages, obviously related to the "farmtouns" of north-east Scotland. According to The Workhouse: the story of an institution townlands were traditionally 120 Irish acres in size. Ordnance Survey Ireland states that an Irish acre is 7,840 square yards, making it just over 1.6 times the size of a standard or "statute" acre, which is 4,840 square yards: a townland of 120 Irish acres is just under a third of a square mile. According to Ireland 1603–1702, Society and History by Desmond Keenan, the Irish or "plantation" acre was also used in Yorkshire and in areas around the Solway Firth.

In most cases I have only followed the Raes in Ireland from the 17^thC up to the start of the 20^thC, as by that point there were already so many of them that the task was becoming unmanageable, and also from about 1900 on it should be fairly easy for anyone who wants to do so to track the different branches of the family through the normal registers.

First generation: Edward Rae & Joyce Giles

Edward Rae is described on Tree I as "Edward Rae // b[orn] c[irca] 1660" who married "Joyce dau[ghter] of Rev Stephen Giles, Treasurer of Ardfert" in 1691.

We know from Bary that the Raes of Keel House were connected by marriage to the Blennerhassetts, a family from Cumberland who had settled in Kerry and who were later made baronets in 1809. According to the Schools' Collection of oral history, Edward was probably the son or grandson of a Rae who married the youngest daughter of the first Blennerhassett in the area, probably in or near Killorglin.

Only one immediate descendent is shown on the tree for this couple, a Giles Rae who may be a son or possibly a grandson. Church records also show the existence of a possible daughter Mary.

Second generation: the children of Edward Rae & Joyce Giles

Church records show that a Mary Rea [sic] married Thomas Blennerhassett on 6^th February 1731 [Irish Genealogy: Book N° P; Page 35; Entry N° N/R; Record_Identifier KY-CI-MA-1095], meaning that she was probably born around 1706. The marriage took place at a Church of Ireland church in Ballyseedy, which was in the diocese of Ardfert and Aghadoe, linking this family to the father of Joyce Giles who was Treasurer of Ardfert. Mary was "of Annagh" and we know that Giles (below), the undoubted son or (possibly) grandson of Edward and Joyce, was associated with the parish of Annagh, so it seems very likely that Mary was Giles's sister.

The only immediate descendant of this couple who is shown on the trees is a Giles Rae, whose descent from Edward Rae is slightly ambiguous. Tree I shows a dotted line leading from Edward and Joyce to "Giles Rae // of Derrymore, Co Kerry // grantee of deed dated 13 Nov. 1781", married to "Katherine Day // deed dated 13 Nov. 1781" – although other sources seem to agree that his wife was called Ellen Day. Tree II gives the date of this deed as 13 Nov. 1751 for both Giles and Katherine/Ellen but this is probably an error, as on both trees a deed dated 13 Nov. 1781 occurs with reference to the couple's eldest son, who wasn't even born in 1751. There is more than one Derrymore in Kerry, but because of the concentration of Raes in the Castlemaine/Tralee area this almost certainly refers to the twin townlands of Derrymore East and Derrymore West, in the parish of Annagh and the barony of Corkaguiny, on the north side of the Dingle Peninsula about six miles from Tralee.

No dates are given for Giles Rae, other than the granting of this deed of land, but his eldest child is listed as born circa 1738 so it's unlikely Giles himself was born any later than 1721, and more probably around 1710–1713. That would still make him born around twenty years after the marriage of Edward and Joyce, when Edward was fifty-plus. Joyce may have been considerably younger than her husband, but even so there is room there for another generation between the Edward Rae who married in 1691 and the Giles Rae who married Katherine or Ellen Day, which would fit in with that dotted line.

Foster lists members of the Day family who married into the Kerry Raes, including "Ellen, married to Giles Rae of Derrymore, Co Kerry (son of Edward Rae, by a daughter of Rev Stephen Giles, treasurer of Ardfert etc) and had with 4 dau[ghter]s, 2 sons". Again, this information raises as many questions as it answers. According to the inheritance trees Giles Rae and his wife Katherine Day had six children: four daughters – Margaret, Elizabeth and two who are recorded only by their married surnames, Mrs Meade and Mrs Langford – and on the face of it three sons, although this may be an error. That is, they have three sons shown on the trees as Robert, Edward and John, but there are reasons (of which more anon) to think that either Robert was the same person as Edward under another name, or he was the couple's grandson, not their son.

It could be that there were two Giles Raes of Derrymore: one who was the son of Edward Rae, and who married Ellen Day; one who was the grandson of Edward Rae (either the son or nephew of the older Giles) and who married Katherine Day; and both of whom had four daughters. If in fact there were two generations of Giles Raes at this point, and Katherine and Ellen were different people, it's probable that the two women were closely related. Irish Families reports that the Days are rarely found outside of a specific area of Co. Clare around the townland called Dysart O'Dea, so it is very likely that two Day women living outside their home county and so close together as to marry father and son, or uncle and nephew, would be from the same immediate family.

On the other hand, Foster provides a supposedly complete list of Days who married Raes, and there's no Katherine Day there. That suggests that Katherine Day and Ellen Day were the same person, who sometimes used her first and sometimes her middle name (or either Foster or the author of the inheritance trees simply got her name wrong). Families of Co. Kerry, Ireland by Michael O'Laughlin supports this, saying "Edw. Rae m. a dau. of Rev. Stephen Giles, having Giles of Derrymore who m. Ellen Day of Lohercannon, having John of Derry who m. Sarah Day and Edw., who m. Anne Langford of Keel..." – i.e. there was only one generation in between the Edward who married Joyce Giles and the Edward who married Anne Langford. Bary also speaks of Edward Rae who married the daughter of Stephen Giles, Treasurer of Ardfert, and says "These early Raes seem to have held the lands of Derrymore, near Castlegregory and their eldest son, Giles, called 'of Derrymore', married [a] daughter of the Reverend Edward Day of Lohercannon". Although Bary adds to the confusion by calling Giles's wife Sarah Day, conflating her with her own daughter-in-law, it seems fairly certain there was only the one Giles of Derrymore, and Katherine and Ellen Day were the same person.

The cause of the mix-up may be the existence of a Giles Rae at Keel who was married to a Catherine Kelly and had a child Mary Rae in 1804, meaning that he was probably born around seventy years after the original Giles. The timing suggests that he may be the Giles Rae who was born in 1777 and married Deborah Langford, with whom he had children from 1814 on, and that he may have had a first wife Catherine who died young. Since he too was Giles Rae "of Derrymore" the author of the inheritance trees may have conflated them, and thought that the earlier Giles was married to a Katherine instead of an Ellen.

If the Giles Rae whose eldest child was born circa 1738 was the direct son of the Edward Rae who married in 1691, as seems virtually certain, then either he was quite old when his first child was born, or he was born a long time after his parents' marriage. The fact that he was the one with the land suggests that he was his parents' eldest surviving son but that doesn't necessarily mean he was the eldest child, or anything like it: he could have been a late-born, youngest child of a fifty-year-old husband and forty-three-year-old wife who had had a string of daughters first, or of sons who died in childhood.

One thing which is certain is that the Raes married into the Day family at least twice around this time, to Ellen (or Katherine) and then to Sarah Day. Day is an Anglicization of O'Dea or Ó Deághaidh, a small, ancient clan from County Clare, whose history is explained in more detail nearer the foot of the page.

There may have been other sons of Edward Rae and Joyce Giles who were not listed, and who gave rise to some of the Raes in the area whose relationships are not explained. Any unexplained Langford Raes, however, must slot in further down the tree, after Giles' son Edward had married into the Langfords.

Third generation: the children of Giles Rae & Ellen Day

In both Trees I and II the children of this couple begin with a conundrum. It is normal for family trees to show the oldest child at far left, then the next oldest and so on. The children of Giles Rae and Ellen (or Katherine) Day begin with two entries: first and left-most is Robert Rae, described as being the eldest son in 1781, and then Edward Rae, described as the eldest son in 1777.

My first thought was that the two brothers had been listed out of order, and that Edward was born first and died between 1777 and 1781, leaving the second brother, Robert, as the eldest survivor. However, the entry clearly states that Edward didn't die until 1786. I can think of seven possibilities here.

1) Robert was first-born but he was born (or at least conceived) before his parents' marriage and wasn't accepted as a legitimate heir until some time between 1777 and 1781.

2) Robert was first-born but he disappeared for some reason and as at 1777 he was presumed dead, but he then returned prior to 1781.

3) Edward was first-born but he disappeared for some reason and as at 1781 he was presumed dead, but he then returned prior to 1786.

4) Edward was first-born but he quarrelled with his family and was disowned by them, or disowned them, some time between 1777 and 1781.

5) Robert and Edward were twins, and there was some debate about which of them was born first.

6) Robert and Edward were the same person, who for some reason was calling himself (or being called by the family lawyer) Edward in 1777 and Robert in 1781.

7) The person who drew up the chart, or their source, has made an error and has wrongly listed Giles and Ellen's eldest grandson Robert Langford Rae, born circa 1773, as their eldest son.

Any of these except (5) might explain the discrepancy between the hand-drawn trees, which show Giles Rae and Katherine Day as having four daughters and three sons, and Foster who says that Giles Rae and Ellen Day had four daughters and two sons.

Robert Rae's entry on both trees reads: "Robert Rae // eld[est] son in 1781 of Newcastle, Co Limerick // One of the lives in deed dated 13 Nov. 1781 // b[orn] c[irca] 1738".

Property leases were often granted for three lives (ie the lifetime of three named individuals), such as husband, wife and eldest son. It was obviously in the tenants' interests to choose the people who were expected to live longest, though in view of child mortality, very young children wouldn't usually be named. I've also seen examples where one of the lives was the Prince of Wales, or someone of similar status.

That explains why the same deed dated 13^th November 1781 crops up in references to Robert, an eldest child, and to his parents. It also makes it likely that Robert was in fact Giles and Ellen's eldest grandson Robert Langford Rae, not their son, as the younger Robert would have been around eight when the deed was drawn up in 1781: old enough to be fairly sure he was going to live, but young enough to extend the lease as far into the future as possible.

At any rate, we know that at this point, in November 1781, the families were renting land.

There is no indication that Robert (either Robert) ever married – unless he is the same person as Edward (below) under another name.

Edward Rae, described as the eldest son in 1777, was probably born around 1740 – unless he is really the firstborn, or Robert's twin, in which case he was born circa 1738. Bary describes him (without specifying a date) as his parents' eldest son. His entry on Tree I says "Edward Rae // eld[est] son in 1777 // of Keele and Gardenfield and Tralee, Co Kerry // grantor of deed dated 24 March 1786 d[ied] 1786". Tralee is of course a major town in County Kerry.

Page 7 of The Irish Times (Dublin) of 29^th May 1877 carries a notice of the sale of Rae family lands in County Limerick which were to be offered for sale on 26^th June. These lands are described as: "Part of the lands of Gorteengarie, Rossykreenigh and Teerekreenigh, now known as Gardenfield, situate in the barony of Upper Connelloe, and Co of Limerick, called in the Tenement Valuation thereof Gardenfield West ..." so we know that the Raes' lands at Gardenfield included (but may not have been limited to) Gardenfield West. The land was "held, with other part of said lands, for the residue of a term of 1,500 years, under lease dated 1st October, 1637, subject to the yearly rent of 3s ..."

Five hundred yards east of Gardenfield East lies a farm called Waterville, and two family members would later be associated with a Waterville, so that might mean that the Raes' Gardenfield was the one near Dromcollogher, and their Waterville was the one next to Gardenfield East. However, in both cases the Waterville in question seems to be the one which is a town on the Iveragh Peninsula, about thirty-five miles south-west of Tralee, so the question of whether Gardenfield East was included in the Raes' lands is open.

Tree II expands on the list of lands and refers to "Edward Rae // eld[est] son in 1777 // of Tralee, Co Kerry // farmer of Gardenfield (and of Clasheenanierin) barony of Corkaguiny Co Kerry // of Keelegarrylander Co Kerry // d[ied] in 1786". It originally said that he died "before 1788" but this has been crossed out. Clasheenanierin is a townland in County Waterford, while Killgarrylander is the parish in which Keel is situated.

I'm not sure why the barony of Corkaguiny (which covers much of the Dingle and Tralee area) has been mentioned, since none of the locations is in Corkaguiny. There are two townlands called Keel in County Kerry, one just at the start of the south side of the Dingle Peninsula, in the parish of Kilgarrylander; the other a couple of miles south of Portmagee in the parish of Glanbehy. It is the former which is meant here, as shown by repeated references to Killgarrylander in relation to the Raes. It falls within the barony of Trughanacmy, as does Tralee. Gardenfield proper is in the barony of Glenquin in Co. Limerick and the townlands of Gardenfields East, South and West are in the barony of Connello Upper, and Clasheenanierin is in the barony of Clashmore and Clashbride in Co. Waterford. The reference to Corkaguiny may just mean that Edward grew up on his father's land at Derrymore, which is in that barony.

According to the inheritance trees, the Keel estate came to Edward through his marriage to Anne Langford, and it is from this marriage that the Langford Raes derive. With the estate came Keel House, a rather grand farmhouse three miles west of the village of Castlemaine, previously the property of the Langfords and now to become the central and defining seat of the Langford Raes. NUI Galway's Landed Estates section has this to say:

Edward Rae [one of the grandsons of the original Edward and Anne] was in possession of Keel House at the time of Griffith's Valuation [1848–1864]. Lewis records it as the seat of Giles Rae [one of the sons of Edward and Anne, and father of the younger Edward] in 1837. Bary states this was originally a Langford House, possibly built as far back as the 1680s but with later modifications. Wilson refers to it as the seat of Mr. Langford in 1786. It passed by marriage to the Rae family with whom it remained until the twentieth century. It was sold but later re-purchased by the family and is still extant.

Bary says "Keel House which is situated in the Parish of Kilgarrylander, barony of Trughanacmy, built in 1680, by a Mr. Langford, a large tenant, holding considerable lands under the Mullins' family of Ventry, the landlords of the greater part of the Dingle Peninsula". She describes the house as "a moderate-sized house of the most particular charm" with an "atmosphere of peace and tranquility. The house has great character and remains as a prized example of a lost age". It is, she says, probably the oldest still-inhabited house in all Kerry. It passed from the Langfords to the Raes and thence in 1928 to a family called O'Brien to whom they were related by marriage, before being sold in 1979 to a Dutch family named Van Hagan, who restored it: it was apparently re-purchased by the Raes or their relations (as per NUI Galway) some time after 1989 when Bary's article was published.

The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage page has links to an aerial view and an early Ordnance Survey map of the area around Keel House, on which it can be seen that the road near the house has shifted position. In the mid 19^th C the main road ran north of the house but it now follows a former field boundary just to the south of it: a spur of the original road remains as a dead end which terminates in the private lane to Keel House. I say "main road" but in fact all of these roads seem to be single-track. The only major road in the area is the R561 which runs east nor' east to west sou' west in a straight line from Boolteens to the southern edge of the Dingle Peninsula, passing through White Gate where there is a turning leading to Keel House. Beyond Boolteens the road kinks slightly to the south and continues to Castlemaine, the nearest sizeable village.

The road from White Gate heads sou' sou' east towards Keel (a) before turning sou' sou' west on the new route (b), from which a side-turning runs south-east (c) and follows an old field-boundary to the south of Keel House, before cutting across a pre-existing field (d) and joining back into the curve of the original road (e). Meanwhile the original road continues sou' sou' east (f) in a straight line all the way from White Gate until it reaches a low, ancient stone wall which runs along the edge of the ruins of Killgarrylander Catholic church and its graveyard: this church was already in ruins when The Antient and Present State of the County of Kerry by Charles Smith was published in 1756. The road then runs due east along the edge of the churchyard (g) for a short distance before turning briefly to the south-east, still following the wall.

There used to be a long cottage known as the Glebe House on the far side of the wall, close to the turning up to Keel House and at right-angles to the road, but it seems to have been pulled down recently and re-developed. The road past Kilgarrylander church used to run along the north and east sides of the block of fields surrounding Keel House and then join into the curving road (e) but it now terminates about fifty yards past the churchyard, where low stone gates mark the start of the lane to Keel House, which bends away to sou' sou' west (right) along a track beside a narrow copse leading up to the house. Bary says that the track up to the house passes "an interesting Ogham stone, upright and clearly marked. It is believed that the stone once stood on a nearby fort and was brought up to the garden of the house when the fort was ploughed".

Ogham was a Dark Ages British runic script built up from short straight strokes arranged along a line (in this case, the edge of a stone). The fort must be the ringfort about 350 yards almost due east from Keel House and labelled Gortalassa on old maps (not to be confused with the more famous ringfort at Gortalassa in County Clare), on the border between Keel and Corkaboy. It is still visible as a faint mark on the ground and must have been a proper "fairy fort" before it was destroyed, for the old maps show a substantial ring about 70 yards across surrounded by a grove of trees, with the entrance to a cave shown within the ring and just west of centre. According to Megalithic Monuments of Ireland this cave was a subterranean chamber and the Keel stone, which dates from some time between 466 and 700 AD, formed part of its roof. It is the same as the Ogham stone at Corkaboy which was described in the 1916–17 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy VOLUME XXXIII, Section C (Archaeology, Linguistic and Literature), as bearing the inscription "CATTUVVIRR MAQI RITTAVVECAS MUCOI ALLATO".

According to Wikipedia: Ogham inscription this means "Cattuvvirr son of Rittavvecas of the tribe Allatos". Cattuvvirr means "man of battle", and Allatos relates to a tribe called the Altraige of North Kerry. This tribal name Allatos occurs on at least three other Ogham stones in Co. Kerry. The Dingle and Iveragh Peninsulas and the land between them once formed an ancient kingdom called Corca Dhuibhne, and many of the 400 surviving Ogham inscriptions – of which the Keel/Corkaboy stone is officially n° 250 – hail from there.

Making Christian Landscapes: Settlement, Society and Regionality in Early Mediaeval Ireland (a 2009 report for the Heritage Council) reports that Corca Dhuibhne means "seed of Dovinia", where Dovinia is a local goddess (or perhaps a local queen), that Rittavvecus is a form of Ráthach, the name of one of the early founders of the Corca Dhuibhne, and that the Uíbh Ráthach or "grandsons of Ráthach" formed a distinct group and region within the Corca Dhuibhne. "Dh" in Gaelic is a gutteral sound similar to a throat-clearing "g", so I suppose that the name of the local barony of Corcaguiny is a corruption of Corca Dhuibhne, and that the "Cork" in "Corkaboy", where the stone was originally sited, also has something to do with the Corca Dhuibhne.

The similarity between the "grandsons of Ráthach" and the MacRath or MacRait family, the sons of Rath, is intriguing and leads me to wonder whether the interpretation of MacRait/MacRae as "sons of grace" is a later rationalisation, and they were really an offshoot of the Uíbh Ráthach – in which case the ancestors of the Kerry Raes may have deliberately returned from Caithness to an area of Ireland where they already had family connections.

The first view of the house is most pleasing. It was added to three times, the family believe, but this is not now apparent, as it presents a typically 18th-century facade. A later addition is certainly the impressive stone wing which joins the northern gable-end of the house ... a 19th century necessity, with its large kitchens and storerooms. From the back of the main house, it can be seen quite clearly that one-third of the roof slopes down from the second storey to the ground floor storey, in a fashion typical of the 17th century ... This must have been the original part of the house.

Keel House in 2004, from main1941's Photostream, which includes other good photographs from the Keel area

Keel House is a typical 18th-century farmhouse with pretensions of gentility. It is flat-faced, of two stories and without a basement. Its front door is in the centre of the facade, over which is a fanlight and it has wide, small-paned windows on each side of the door. Its roof is steep and there are two large chimneys, one at each gable end – the house having been added to, however, beyond the northern gable-end to meet the stone wing.

Inside, the small hall still retains its original features. There are two panelled doors immediately facing the front door, with their simple, curved fanlights still intact. These lead one to the narrow, main stairs and the other to the back regions of the house, with small halls from which the back stairs once rose. Two more doors, of beautiful panelling, lead firstly from the right to a room which must once have been, from its inserted and carved cupboard, with glass over-doors, the dining-room. Secondly, the last door, on the left of the hall, leads to a larger room which would have been the parlour. From this room leads another room which appears to come under the low, one-storey roof of the original 1680 building.

In all these rooms the panelling of the doors and shutters is of a high order and more elaborate than is normal in Georgian houses. They perhaps date to the original house. Upstairs there are four rooms. The first, a small one on the turn of the stairs and now a bathroom, was said to be the butler's room; the other three, at the top of the stairs, are commodious – one being quite large. One of these was once reached by the back stairs which have now been removed.

Other than the butler's room there are no servants' quarters, the assumption being that cooks, cleaners, gardeners etc. as well as farmhands would have come in during the day from cottages in the surrounding countryside. South of the house there is a jumble of farm buildings and, nowadays, at least two more modern cottages and a second lane which connects all the buildings to the new road on the south side of them.

The same Architectural Heritage refers to Keel House having been shown on the second and revised editions of the 1" Ordnance Survey maps as a constabulary – an interesting coincidence, given that the branch of the family who settled in India and Burma were strongly linked to the police force. Bary says that "The kitchen wing, in the stone building, would once have been the busiest and is the most modern part of Keel House. Stories are told that it was used, early in the [20^th] century, to house a detachment of R.I.C. [Royal Irish Constabulary, an armed police force in operation 1814–1922] men, while one of the storerooms was said to have been used as a jail. Sometime around 1912, the detachment was moved to Bolteens. No-one now knows why they were billeted on Keel House." Meanwhile, a family named Rae who ran a hotel in Boolteens a mile from Keel House, and who may or may not have been relatives, were busily batting for the I.R.A..

Detached three-bay two-storey house, built c. 1725, originally thatched. Renovated and extended, c. 1800, with two-bay single-storey rubble stone-built wing added at right angles to north-east, wing subsequently in use as jail, c. 1825. Pitched intersecting slate roofs with rubble stone gable chimneystack. Painted rendered walls with exposed rubble stone to rear and to north west wing. Stone sills and moulded render reveals to window openings, with tripartite windows at ground floor and timber multiple paned late nineteenth century sliding sash windows to first floor. Round-headed door opening with timber glazed and panelled door having spoked timber fanlight above. Retaining interior features. Detached three-bay single-storey outbuilding, built c. 1800, to south-west with corrugated-iron roof and two-bay single-storey lower range to north-west. Gateway, built c. 1800, to south comprising pair of stone piers with wrought-iron gates.

The fact that these sources say that Keel House was the seat of Mr Langford in 1786, the year that Edward Rae died, raises the possibility that Keel came to the Raes not from Anne Langford to her husband Edward but from Anne to her son Giles, or to Giles from his wife Deborah Langford (of whom more anon), and that Edward was "of Keele" in the sense that he was living there with his in-laws. An entry in the Schools' Collection, written down in the late 1930s, says that "The Rae family formerly lived at Annagh Castlemaine and the property came into the ownership of Giles Rae by being bequeathed to him by a friend of his wife whose name was Langford." Annagh is a few hundred yards north-west of Castlemaine. The context makes it clear that the Giles who married Deborah Langford is meant. On the other hand Edward is described as "grantor" of a deed in March 1786, so it may well be that Mr Langford died, Edward inherited the Keel estate and began to rent out land and Edward then died, all in 1786. Supplementary information on the Langford family can be found at the foot of this page.

Anne's entry on Tree I says "Anne Langford // dau[ghter] of Robert Langford of Keele and Anne Meredyth // of Anna, Co Kerry in 1816 // grantor of deed d[ated] 24 March 1786. Prer[ogative] Will proved 1832". Anna must be one of two places in the area called Annagh (rather than the much more remote Annagh on Achill Island), one immediately west of Castlemaine, the other a townland on the north side of the Dingle Peninsula around four miles west of Tralee and five miles north of Keel House.

Where someone left property in more than one diocese, probate had to be granted by the Prerogative Court, and for Ireland this would be Armagh. However, if there were assets in England as well, it could possibly refer to the Prerogative Court of Canterbury.

Tree II says "Anne Langford // d[aughter] of Robert Langford, of Keele and Anne Meredyth // widow in 1788 // of Kellgarrylander in 1788 // m[arriage] s[ettlement] d[ated] 2 Nov. 1736 of Robert Langford and Anne Meredyth". The phrase "of Kellgarrylander in 1788" means that's where she was living as at that date. The marriage settlement in 1736 must refer to Anne's parents, not Anne herself, since her husband was born no earlier than 1738.

Foster says "Edward Rae, married Anne, daughter and co heir of Robert Langford Esq of Keel, Co Kerry (by his wife Anne, dau of Richard Meredith Esq of Dick's Grove, Co Kerry) and had 2 sons and a daughter". Dicksgrove is another Kerry townland, and it isn't in Corkaguiny either. As (possibly) with Edward's parents, Foster is mistaken about the number of children: according to the tree charts Edward and Anne had one daughter, Anne Rae, and four sons – Robert, Langford, Giles and John.

If I am reading the writer's dodgy handwriting correctly, Giles was named as executor of his mother's will on 8^th May 1816, which probably means she was dead by then – even though her will wasn't proved until sixteen years later.

Also note that one of Edward's sisters, not named on the trees, married a Mr Langford who was presumably a relation of Anne's.

John Rae was probably born around 1742, assuming an average two-year gap between siblings. He appears on Tree I as "John Rae // of Knockglass, Co Kerry, 2^d son. Grantor of deeds d[ated] 1 Dec 1777 and 9 Oct 1811 // and of Derrymore, Co Kerry // died before 1832". The description of him as the second son supports the idea that Robert and Edward may have been the same person, or that Robert was John's nephew, not his brother. Knockglass must be the twin townlands of Knockglass Beg ("small" in Gaelic) and Knockglass More ("big"), on the north shore of the Dingle Peninsula, a mile west of Derrymore and about eight miles from Tralee – not the Knockglass in County Mayo, with the rather grand house on it. The Kerry Knockglass is in the parish of Kilgobban and the barony of Corkaguiny.

The Tithe Applotment Books (see note below) show John Rae at Derrimore in the parish of Annagh in 1824 holding a total of 187 acres, 1 rood and 18 perches, comprising 83:3:6 acres of 2^nd Class land; 17:1:39 acres of 3^rd Class land; 21:1:38 acres of 4^th Class land and 64:2:15 acres of 5^th Class land. His name appears in a column headed "Tenants' names" – which I suspect doesn't rule out his having owned the land, since there's no column for landowners.

John married Sarah Day, described in the trees as "Sarah Day // dau[ghter] of Rev Edward Day // marr[ied] 1782". Families of Co. Kerry, Ireland by Michael O'Laughlin calls him "John of Derry who m. Sarah Day". Foster has this to say: "Sarah, married to John Rae of Derrymore ... John Rae of Derrymore, married his cousin, Sarah Day, above named, and had issue."

John and Sarah had four children, Catherine, Giles, Edward and Mary, and were the progenitors of a minor branch of Day and later Curry Raes, who used the surnames Day and Curry as first or middle names in the same way that the Langford Raes used Langford.

Rev Edward Day, John Rae's father-in-law and uncle, was the rector at the Church of Ireland church at Kilgobbin, immediately west of Derrymore. Papers Relating to the State of the Established Church of Ireland shows him at Kilgobbin where he "has cure of souls; resides, and performs the duty."

Sarah's brothers were also in holy orders. Her brother James, rector of Tralee, vicar-general of Ardfert and Aghadoe, married Margaret (also of royal descent), the daughter of Cornelius, who was "the M'Gillycuddy of the Reeks" for that time.

The McGillycuddy of the Reeks is one of the "chiefs of the name", the ancient clan chiefs of Ireland, and is descended from Mogh Nuaghad, who was king of Munster in around 125 AD, and his son Prince Olioll Olum. He is also traditionally believed to be directly descended from Milesius, a legendary Spanish warrior from 1,284 BC, said to be the founding father of the modern Irish people. Milesius is a corruption of Míl Espáine, which just means "Spanish soldier", so the legend could be a confused memory of settlement by Roman soldiers, many of whom were Hispanic. On the other hand, there really was a strong Celtic presence in Northern Spain dating from around 700 BC, so it could be that there's a substantial amount of truth in the Milesius story, although his antiquity has been exaggerated.

The inheritance tree always shows daughters to the right of their brothers, but you would expect that within each gender they would be shown with the eldest at farthest left. However, this seems not always to be the case. Margaret Rae, the first-listed daughter of Giles and Katherine, probably really was younger than her brothers, but if she really was the eldest daughter, born around 1744, then she married quite late (or perhaps married twice). She is described as "Margaret Rae // of Derrymore, mar[riage] set[tlement] dated 13 June 1784". She married Thomas Fitzgerald, described as "Tho^s Fitzgerald // of Newcastle, Co Limerick". There is no mention of children, but this does not prove that there weren't any, since family lines which did not inherit land have usually been omitted. If she really was around forty when she married, however, she may no longer have been fertile.

Elizabeth Rae, born probably around 1746, is described as "Elizabeth Rae // 2^d dau[ghter] // mar[riage] set[llement] dated 30 April 1767". She married Henry Upton, described as "Henry Upton // of Ashgrove, Co Limerick". Again there is no mention of children. The name "Henry" is actually illegible on Tree I but clear on Tree II.

The third-listed daughter, born probably around 1748, is not named, except as "M^rs Meade".

The fourth-listed daughter, born probably around 1750, is not named, except as "M^rs Langford". Presumably she married a relative of her sister-in-law Anne Langford. Bary says that it was one of Giles and Ellen's daughters "who married a Langford son and so began the close connection between the two families", suggesting that she married before her brother Edward did so.

Fourth generation: the children of Edward Rae & Anne Langford

Anne Rae has been shown at the far right of the list of siblings, but given that her third brother was born in 1777 and Anne supposedly married in 1788, unless the writer has made a serious mistake with the date of her marriage she must in fact have been the eldest or near-eldest, born no later than 1772 and more probably around 1768 or earlier. In many (but not all) cases the writer seems to have just shoved the girls off to the right, in some cases literally marginalizing them, regardless of their actual ages.

Anne's entry on Tree I just reads "Anne Rae // mar[riage] set[tlement] d[ated] 2 Aug 1788", with "1788" written in again over the marker for marriage, so there's no doubt about the year. She married the Reverend Samuel Collis who is written in as "Rev Sam^P Collis // of Keelegarrylander and Fortwilliam Co Kerry". Tree II spells his name out as Samuel – I'm not sure what the superscripted "P" signifies, unless it's an "l" which went wrong. Fortwilliam in this context is a townland seven miles north of Tralee.

The couple are shown with a forked line descending from their marriage, showing that they definitely had a child or children, probably more than one. The only one I know about for reasonably certain is called Robert, but there is a possibility of a William as well. Samuel Collis may well have been related to the Robert Collis who married Elizabeth Day, the sister of Anne's mother Ellen Day.

Robert Langford Rae's birth year is not given, but from the ages of some of his brothers we can estimate it as around 1773. Some sort of survey of the family must have been done in 1809 because Tree II has "in 1809" written under Robert and each of his brothers, and specifically says that Robert was "of Curranmore and Derrymore // in 1809";

There is no note as to whether Robert married or not or had children or not. On the face of it this suggests that the answer to both questions is "no", but the several Langford Raes whose parentage is not noted really have to descend either from Robert or from his brother Langford, whose marital status is also not noted on the trees but who was certainly married. We do not know, however, how long before 1809 Robert died, so he may have died too young to marry.

There is a distinct possibility that he is the same person as the anomalous Robert Rae who is one of two people who are both listed as being the eldest son of Giles Rae and Ellen Day. If he is, then he had links with Newcastle West in Co. Limerick, and was one of the lives cited in a deed dated 13^th November 1781, when he would have been around eight years old.

Langford Rae's birth year is not given, but from the ages of some of his brothers we can estimate it as around 1775. His Tree I entry says "Langford Rae // of Keelgarrylander and Gardenfield, Co Limerick. Attorney // of Dublin. Grantor of deed of mortgage d[ated] 8 May 1816".

Again there is no note as to whether Langford married or not or had children or not. On the face of it this suggests that the answer to both questions is "no", but parish records show that a couple called Langford (surname not specified) and Ellen Long had children called Mary Langford Rae, born 1804 at White Gate immediately north of Keel, and John Langford Rae, born 1807 at Keel, both christened at the Catholic church in Castlemaine. [This church was presumably the old chapel in the village of Boolteens on the south-west side of the Castlemaine–Anascaul road: it was replaced by a new building in 1873 and has since fallen into ruins.] Unless there was another, unlisted child of Edward Rae and Joyce Giles, who married a Langford wife and started a quite separate group of Langford Raes who lived at Keel but do not appear on the inheritance trees – which, whilst not totally impossible, is highly unlikely – the Langford who married Ellen Long and had children whose surname was Rae must have been the Langford Rae who was later an attorney in Dublin. We can also say that Langford Rae was a Catholic – or, if not, that his wife was and he was willing to bow to her wishes concerning baptism etc.. This was only a few years after the reform of the anti-Catholic Penal Laws in 1793, at a time when it must still have taken some courage for a professional man to be, or marry, a Catholic.

There is also a Rae Domenic Langford who was a Catholic living in Castlemaine in the early 1820s and probably born in or before 1800, and who may have been Langford and Ellen's eldest child or may really have been a Langford; and my semi great-great-grandfather Francis Langford Rae, also a Catholic, who was born in Dublin (where we know Langford Rae ended up) in 1822.

Domenic of course could have been the son of Robert Langford Rae, but we have no evidence Robert was a Catholic. He was also dead by 1809 and could not have been Francis's father. On balance, it seems more likely both were Langford's children. The age gap is such that Francis could have been a much younger child of Langford and Ellen, born when his parents were in their forties, or a first-born son of Domenic: but the fact that he emigrated to India suggests a younger son with no inheritance, and the fact that he became a policeman would fit with his being the son of an attorney.

If Francis was the son of Langford and Ellen then there is a very long gap between the births of John in 1807 and Francis in 1922 – especially as the parents were Catholics and so probably not using contraception. Of course it's possible Ellen had a string of miscarriages, but the records for Ireland at this time are so incomplete that there may have been several intervening children whose birth records are lost, and if they were surnamed Rae rather than Langford Rae they'd be very hard to identify.

There was a William Langford Rae, a significant landowner in Kerry, who was born in 1845 and must have been a descendant of Robert Langford Rae, or of Langford Rae and Ellen via either Domenic, John or an unknown son, because those are the only places on the tree where he could fit. Aside from Robert and Langford, every other child of Edward Rae and Anne Langford, or of Giles Rae and Deborah Langford, either died unmarried, or was female and married away from the Rae surname, or gave rise to a line of Rochfort rather than Langford Raes.

Giles Rae's Tree I entry reads "Giles Rae // of Curranmore and Derrymore. b[orn] 1777 // entered T.C.D. 2 April 1792 aged 15 years // of Keelgarrylander // Executor of his mother d[ated] 8 May 1816". {It actually looks more like "aged 18 years", but if he was born in 1777 entered the college in 1792 it must be 15.] T.C.D. is Trinity College Dublin, a very well-regarded university. His Tree II entry contains less information but it spells his surname "Ray". As he is the only family member for whom this is the case, this may mean that he peferred that spelling. The final line of the entry could be "d[ied] 8 May 1816" but if so this is the date of his mother's death, not Giles's – since Giles had at least one child born in the 1820s.

Giles married Deborah Langford, presumably some sort of cousin. Her entry reads "Deborah Langford // dau[ghter] of John Langford // of Killorglin Castle // d[ied] 18 May 1843 at Lack[a], Co Kerry".

The Limerick General Advertiser or Gazette for 21^st June 1811 carried the following Marriage Notice: "REA [sic] Giles Esq At Newcastle, by the Rev Thos LOCKE, Giles REA, of Anna, in the co Kerry, Esq, to Deborah, youngest daughter of the late John LANGFORD, of Castle Langford, in said co."

Bary adds more detail, saying that Giles "married Deborah Langford, daughter of Catherine Godfrey and grand-daughter of the first Sir William Godfrey. This Giles is stated, in 1812, to be 'Giles Rae, Esq., of Annagh, near Milltown'. // Annagh was part of the Godfrey estate and so must have been leased to him by the Godfreys. It is not clear whether they eventually moved to Keel House, but most certainly their eldest son, another Edward, did inherit the house and lands and went to live there."

This must be the Giles Rae of whom NUI Galway's Landed Estates section Says "Lewis records [Keel House] as the seat of Giles Rae in 1837", for the only other candidate was dead by that point. If it was close to Milltown this must be the Annagh which is immediately west of Castlemaine, not the one near Derrymore. Because of the proximity of Annagh to Derrymore, he may also be the Giles of whom it is said "Sir William Godfrey was leasing [a property named Ann at Annagh, Kiltallagh, Tralee] to Cornelius Murphy at the time of Griffith's Valuation when it was valued at £10 5s. Lewis records it as the residence of Rev. O'Connor, PP, in 1837. In 1814 Leet shows Annagh as the seat of Giles Rae. Bary writes that it was built by the Godfreys in the eighteenth century and was lived in by various members of that family until the early nineteenth century when it was occupied by tenants. It was tragically burnt to the ground in the late twentieth century. Sir William was leasing a second property in this townland to Willam R. Burke, valued at £8 10s". However Knockglass, where the other Giles was based, is only a couple of miles further west.

This is surely also the Giles Rae at Derrimore in the parish of Annagh who appears in the Tithe Applotment Books (see note below) in 1824 holding a total of 61 acres, 0 roods and 12 perches, comprising 39:3:38 acres of 1^st Class land; 4:3:10 acres of 2

Giles and Deborah had five children, Edward, John, Langford, Francis and Sarah, but all their children died childless. Foster says "Giles Rae of Keel married Deborah Langford and had 4 sons and a dau[ghter]. Edward J.P. John Langford, Langford, Francis and Sarah all died unmarried." The fact that their son Francis and daughter Sarah both had the middle name Drew suggests that that was the surname of Deborah's mother. The Drews were a family who appear in the Valuation Rolls as owning or renting land close to the Raes.

The Schools' Collection includes three passages, collected in the late 1930s, which discuss this Giles Rae. One describes his arrival in the Keel area, stating that he initially lived in Annagh in a house belonging to John Daly. When he came to Castlemaine the family owned Shanahill West, Shanahill East, Caherfealane, Gortaneden, Keel and Laghtacallow. Another entry says that "Giles Ray was the father of Edward and Langford. He had two other sons Frank and John and one daughter Sally. Giles Rae came from the County Clare. He lived at Keel House about a quarter of a mile to the south of the Whitegate. He owned about five square miles of land in this parish that is from Shanabeale to Annagh. Any of the family never married. They are all buried in a large tomb which is in the centre of the Keel graveyard." It goes on the repeat the claim that Giles had previously lived in John Daly's house in Annagh: I think that it may mean that this was a house that now belonged to John Daly in the 1930s. It names the house but it's hard to read: something like "Crùdean". It says that "His wife got the property from two old ladies named Langford. They lived in Keel House." Another entry says that "The Rae family formerly lived at Annagh Castlemaine and the property came into the ownership of Giles Rae by being bequeathed to him by a friend of his wife whose name was Langford." The context makes it clear that the Giles who married Deborah Langford is meant.

Note the existence of a Giles Rae at Keel who had a child named Mary Rae with a Catherine Kelly in 1804. The timing suggests that it might be this Giles, who was thirty-four when he married Deborah Langford, and that he was previously married at twenty-six or earlier to a first wife Catherine who then died young. It would explain why there seems to be some confusion over whether the first Giles Rae of Derrymore was married to an Ellen or a Katherine.

But then, a Giles Rae at Keel also had a child named Ellen Rae with a Mary Connor, also in 1804 and less than a month before Mary. Perhaps this relates to the union between thr Raes and the O'Connors to which Bary refers. Both children were baptised by the same priest, at the Catholic church at Castlemaine, a few months apart &0150; although of course these are dates of baptism, not birth.

Where there really up to five Giles Raes at the base of the Dingle Peninsula at the same time: Giles the process-server at Castlegregory; Giles the husband of Ursula Curry at Knockglass, born circa 1786; Giles the husband of Deborah Langford at Keel, born 1777; Giles the partner of Mary Connor at Keel; and Giles the partner of Catherine Kelly at Keel? Or was there one Giles Rae at Keel who was differently abled in the keeping-his-flies-buttoned department?

John Rae's Tree I entry reads "John Rae // of Keelgarrylander and Gardenfield. Capt[ain] 72^d Highlanders // b[orn] 1779 at Kiltallagh Co Kerry, inherited Gardenfield jointly with his 2 first cousins M^rs Susannah Jones & M^rs Sarah Drew also Langford". Again the reference to a cousin called Drew shows a close relationship between the families. Kiltallagh is a townland two miles north-east of Castlemaine.

The 72^nd Highlanders were The Duke of Albany's Own Highlanders, who in 1881 would merge with the 78^th Highlanders to form the Seaforth Highlanders. Going by his age John was presumably with them round about 1800, and indeed (according to Wiki's timeline for them) the Regiment was sent to Ireland in 1800 to serve as "police troops". It was probably at this time that John joined up. In 1805 they were sent out to Africa and captured the Cape of Good Hope from the Dutch. In 1806 they garrisoned Cape Town at Wineburg and in 1809 they were re-designated as the 72^nd Regiment of Foot and ceased to wear Highland dress. In 1810 they were involved in the capture of Mauritius from the French and remained for four years to garrison the island. The fact that John had a child born in 1802, when his regiment was still in Ireland, and then not another child until 1812 suggests he was probably in the regiment for ten years, roughly 1801–1811 – or at least that he was posted back to Ireland in 1811. A family source says "Capt J Rae was Paymaster in 2 regiments and a military specialist tells me that he would have needed to place a large surety against absconding with all the men's pay", so the family were probably quite wealthy.

However, he may not have been with the 72^nd when he first enlisted. Page 4 of The Leinster Journal of Wednesday 1^st July 1801 shows a statement from the War-Office, Dublin Castle, dated July 1^st which lists a number of officers who have just been promoted, including Ensign John Rae of the Devon and Cornwall Fencibles, newly upgraded to Lieutenant. An Ensign was the equivalent of a modern Second Lieutenant. The Devon and Cornwall Fencibles were a home-guard-type unit who had been stationed in Ireland during the 1798 Rebellion and were evidently still there in summer 1801, since their promotions were being overseen from Dublin. It looks as though John probably joined the Devon and Cornwall Fencibles around 1798, when he was nineteen, and then transferred to the 72^nd Highlanders when the Fencibles returned to England.

FamilySearch shows that John married Catherine Rochfort on 16^th June 1801 at Kill St Nicholas, Co. Waterford – just a fortnight before his promotion was announced in the press, if he is the same Lieutenant John Rae who was in the Fencibles. This couple were the originators of a major branch of the family tree, the Rochfort Raes. Her entry reads "Catherine // eld[est] dau[ghter] of Major Henry Rochfort 28^th Reg^t, mar[ried] at St Nicholas Church Co Waterford".

The couple had six children, Henry, Henrietta, Robert, Anne, Catherine and John. With Caroline, the name Gustavus came into the family, although it didn't appear until her grandsons. Gustavus was a common name in the Rochfort family, as can be seen here.

Henrietta seems to have been baptised in a Catholic church at Creagh, Ballinasloe in 1812, so John and/or Catherine may have been Catholics. According to a family source John was stationed at Ballinasloe at the time.

Yet they are probably also the John and Catherine Rae whose son John was baptised on 29^th March 1819 at the Church of Ireland parish church of Kilnaughtin. He is described as "of Tieraclea" which must have been where his parents where living, and his dates suggest he was at least three months old when he was baptised – perhaps the result of a family argument about denominations, or perhaps just because John was posted elsewhere and the baptism was put on hold until he could get leave. Teiraclea is adjacent to Tarbert in the parish of Kilnaughtin, Co. Kerry, on the southern shore of the River Shannon about twenty-five miles nor' nor' east of Tralee and ten miles nor' nor' east of Listowel. The Raes might have lived at Teiraclea House itself.

Family history records that John died in 1830. His will was drawn up in June 1830 and proved in August 1830, so he must have died in between – and have known that he was probably dying. For some reason, although he leaves money to his daughters his twelve-year-old son John Rochfort Rae has been ommitted from his will. This was probably not an act of hostility: young John would later show that he was already extremely wealthy at age twenty-one, so evidently some other financial provision had been made for him.

Fourth generation: the children of John Rae & Sarah Day

Catherine Rae was probably the eldest child and born around 1784, judging from her early marriage-date, even though her entry has been shoved to the right because she was female. It just says "Catherine // mar[riage] set[tlement] d[ated] 24 May 1806". Her partner, William Bowles, is listed as "W Bowles // of Limerick // manufacturer". No children are listed, although that doesn't necessarily prove there weren't any.

Giles Rae's birthdate can only be approximated to around 1786, based on the fact that his parents married in 1782 and he himself married in 1814. His note says "Giles Rae // of Knockglass and of Rae Street Kerry eld[est] son".

Giles married Ursula Curry, described as "Ursula Curry // youngest dau[ghter] of John Curry of Milltown, Co Kerry // mar[riage] set[tlement] d[ated] 5 Feb 1814".

Their marriage record calls them Giles Rae of Kilellin and Ursula Curry of Kilcolman. It says they married on 9^th February 1814, not the 5^th, at the Church of Ireland church in Kilcolman. The baptismal records of their oldest child Ursula show that they were living at Derrymore in 1817.

The couple had four children, Ursula, Curry, Edward and Gilesetta. There used to be a habit in the north-east of Scotland of choosing a male name for an unborn baby and then bunging "ina" on the end if it turned out to be a girl, which explains why I had a relative in New Pitsligo circa 1920 named Harveyina. The parents of Gilesetta obviously did something similar – but her tree entry says that she was born after her father's death, so it looks as if Ursula was determined to commemorate her husband by calling his posthumous child after him, one way or another. This in turn suggests that theirs was a very loving marriage. Gilesetta's baptismal records show she was born in early July 1824 so she was probably conceived round about October 1823, and her father Giles died some time in the intervening months.

NUI Galway's Landed Estates section says that "Edward F. Day was leasing [a property called Knockglass, Knockglass More, Kilgobban, Tyree] to Ursula Rae at the time of Griffith's Valuation, when it was valued at £11. Lewis refers to it as the home of Mrs. Rae in 1837. Bary states that it later passed by marriage to the McIntosh family but that the house is now ruinous". It was Gilesetta who married a Robert Macintosh, so the house must have gone to her.

This confirms that Giles was dead by 1837, but Ursula was still alive, so this cannot be the Giles Rae of whom NUI Galway's Landed Estates section Says "Lewis records [Keel House] as the seat of Giles Rae in 1837". He may however be the Giles referred to in this passage: "Sir William Godfrey was leasing [a property named Ann at Annagh, Kiltallagh, Tralee] to Cornelius Murphy at the time of Griffith's Valuation when it was valued at £10 5s. Lewis records it as the residence of Rev. O'Connor, PP, in 1837. In 1814 Leet shows Annagh as the seat of Giles Rae. Bary writes that it was built by the Godfreys in the eighteenth century and was lived in by various members of that family until the early nineteenth century when it was occupied by tenants. It was tragically burnt to the ground in the late twentieth century. Sir William was leasing a second property in this townland to Willam R. Burke, valued at £8 10s". However Derrymore, where the other Giles was based, is a couple of miles closer to Annagh than Knockglass is.

This is surely the same Ursula Rae of Camp who died and was buried at the Church of Ireland parish church in Tralee on 27^th January 1879, giving her a birthdate in 1794 or 1795. This must be the Camp which is two or three miles west of Derrymore.

It is possible that this Giles Rae was the unpopular "process-server" (somebody who formally informed tenants that they were being evicted) at Castlegregory, described in the Schools' Report. Castlegregory is about five and a half miles west north-west of Camp and Knockglass. If so his family did well out of it, for he is the father of the Curry Rae described here as building a great house at Derrymore before moving to Camp, and whose family were landlords at Derrymore. The dating must be a bit off, though: the piece in the Schools' Report says that Curry Rae built his great house "over one hundred years ago" – but in 1837, Curry Rae was only nineteen.

There are also two mystery children, Ellen Rae and Mary Rae, both born in 1804 with a father named Giles Rae and different mothers, but they were both listed as from Keel, so their father was probably not this Giles.

One thing we do know is that Giles was a skilled horseman. The Schools' Collection records a dramatic horse-race at O'Brennan in 1842. The four Rae brothers from Keel, Edward, John, Langford and Frank, had a horse running named Steel Grey, and normally John would have ridden him, but John's eyesight was failing so their cousin Giles Rae from Camp rode Steel Grey to victory. That tends to suggest that he wasn't Giles Rae the unpopular process-server, because in Ireland, if he could ride a winning race-horse he would have been popular whatever else he did.

Edward Day Rae was probably born around 1788. His entry says "Edward Day Rae // of Knockglass and Derry Quay // 2^d son". The only Derry Quay I can find is in County Mayo, on the shores of Loch Corrib, ninety miles to the north of Tralee.

Edward married Margaret Sullivan, described as "Marg^t Sullivan // dau[ghter] of John Ja^s Sullivan of Camas, Co Limerick // mar[riage] set[tlement] dated 28 Aug 1813". Camas probably refers to Camas House, two and a half miles south of Newcastle West. No children are listed on the inheritance trees but there is one possible child for the couple, a John son of Edward and Margaret born in the right sort of time and place, but whose surname is given as Ray.

There were two Edward Day Raes alive at the same time: this one, and his nephew, born circa 1820. The name Edward Day Rae – or more properly Edw^d D. Rae – turns up twice in the Tithe Applotment Books (see note below). Because the applotment survey was conducted between 1823 and 1837, finishing when the younger Edward must still have been less than twenty-one, it's likely that both these references to land-occupancy relate to the older Edward, holding land in two distinct plots. However, there's a possibility that one or both relate to the younger Edward.

The Edw^d D. Rae Esq. and a M'Carthy at Rock in the parish of Ballynahaglish held 20 acres some time between 1823 and 1837. The column is headed "Owners and Occupiers" so it may be that Edward Day Rae was the owner, and M'Carthy the tenant.

Edw^d D. Rae Esq. at Rock in the parish of Ballynahaglish held 9 acres some time between 1823 and 1837.

Mary Rae was probably born around 1790. Her entry just says "Mary Rae // mar[riage] set[tlement] d[ated] 9 Oct 1811". She married before her brothers, but as the difference is slight that need not mean she was older, since women tended to marry younger than men. Her partner, Giles Upton, is listed as "Giles Upton // of Ashgrove Co Limerick". This may refer to Ashgrove House, which is in the actual town of Limerick. Again, no children are listed.

Curiously, church records show a Giles Upton of Newcastle marrying a Mary Rae of Knockglosmore at Kilgobbin parish church in the diocesan area of Ardfert and Aghadoe, with an assumed date of 19^th October 1850. It could be that this is a different couple and the matching names, and the similar dates of 9^th and 19^th October, are just coincidence. It could also be that for some reason their marriage ended up listed on a later page in the records, resulting in a falsely-assumed date of 1850, or it could be that either the Mary Rae or the Mary Langford Rae who were both born in 1804 married another Giles Upton. But it's most likely that it refers to this Mary, since her grandfather the Rev Edward Day was the rector at the Church of Ireland church at Kilgobbin.

Fifth generation: the children of Anne Rae & Samuel Collis

Tree I shows a branched line descending from the marriage of this couple, indicating that they had at least one child and probably more than one, although it does not name them.

Robert Collis is mentioned by Foster as marring an Elizabeth Day, viz.: "Elizabeth Day married to Robert Collis Esq." Since the context is marriages between the Day and Rae families, it's a resonable presumption that he was the son of Anne and Samuel, but his year of birth can only be very roughly guessed at as around 1790, especially as we don't know whether he was the eldest child.

The existence of a William Collis in this family is hinted at by the fact that a William Collis of Tralee evidently loaned money to John Langford Rae, being listed as one of his creditors after John's death. If this William Collis was the son of Anne Rae and Samuel Collis then he was John's first cousin. If he existed and was the younger son he was probably born around 1792.

Fifth generation: the children of Langford Rae & Ellen Long

Rae Domenic Langford, the wild card, was a witness at two weddings at the Catholic parish church in Castlemaine in County Kerry, one on 15^th July 1821 (David Hurly to Honora McCarthy of Laharn) and one on 18^th May 1822 (Joseph Lyne to Mary Sullivan of Castledrum), so probably he too was a Catholic. [Irish Genealogy: Book N° 1; Page 42; Entry N° 3; Record_Identifier KY-RC-MA-25911; Irish Genealogy: Book N° 1; Page 45; Entry N° 3; Record_Identifier KY-RC-MA-25937] Presumably he was at least twelve, to be acting as somebody's witness, and probably a lot older, so we can say he was born no later than the first half of 1809, and more likely considerably earlier. If he really was a Langford, he must have been some cousin of the Raes, criss-crossing over the surname-as-first-name thing. If he was a Langford Rae who got written down funny in the church records, it seems likely that he was the son of Langford Rae (the only member of the previous generation of Langford Raes who is known either to have been a Catholic or to have had descendants who are not set out on the inheritance trees), who himself was born around 1775, so Domenic was probably born around 1800.

Mary Langford Rae was baptised on 13^th September 1804 at the Catholic parish church in Castlemaine in County Kerry. She had been born, probably a week or two earlier, at "White Gate, Keel". This is a cluster of houses on the modern R561, immediately north of the Keel farmtoun. The father's name seems to be given just as Langford, and the mother as Ellen Long, but since the child's surname is Rae presumably the father's was as well. [Irish Genealogy: Book N° 1; Page 8; Entry N° 12; Record_Identifier KY-RC-BA-143018]

Catholic or not, she could be the Mary Rae of Knockglosmore who married a Giles Upton of Newcastle at the Church of Ireland parish church in Kilgobbin in the diocesan area of Ardfert and Aghadoe, with an assumed date of 19^th October 1850. It's more likely however that it's a misdated reference to the marriage of her father's first cousin Mary, who was the granddaughter of the rector of Kilgobbin.

John Langford Rae was baptised on 3^rd December 1807 at the Catholic parish church in Castlemaine in County Kerry. Born, probably a week or two earlier, at Keel. Again the father's name is given just as Mr Langford, and the mother as Ellen Long. [Irish Genealogy: Book N° 1; Page 41; Entry N° 13; Record_Identifier KY-RC-BA-143518]

It is likely that he is the John Rae who married Ellen Emperor (although her family were originally called Moriarty) and was the father of Dermot [Catholic Parish Registers at the NLI: Keel: Microfilm 04273/09], William [] and probably John [], born, or at least baptised, in 1854, 1856 and circa 1857 respectively. More on this very complicated side branch below.

There were two John Langford Raes associated with the Keel area at the same time, this one and his first cousin, the son of Giles Rae and Deborah Langford. John the son of Giles is not the John Rae who married Ellen Emperor, because Joseph Foster's The Royal Lineage of our Noble and Gentle Families together with their Paternal Ancestry says that he died unmarried, and in an entry in The Schools’ Collection, William Emperor Rae himself, one of the sons of John Rae and Ellen Emperor, says that "Giles Ray was the father of Edward and Langford. He had two other sons Frank and John and one daughter Sally. [cut] Any of the family never married.", with no suggestion that John son of Giles might have been his own father.

There are a number of newspaper and other references to a John Langford Rae, without making it clear which John is meant. However, since John who was the son of Giles and Deborah is on the inheritance trees and this John the son of Langford and Ellen is not, I am assuming that any stories which appear to refer to a wealthy landowner relate to John the son of Giles and Deborah, and those which don't, don't. But it may be worth jumping back and forth from one John to the other and bearing in mind that these stories could potentially refer to either of them.

A person who may or may not have been called John Langford Rae, and who may or may not have been this John Langford Rae, turns up in Bath, England in 1861.

Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, 19^th September 1861, page 8, column 1
Headed "BATH POLICE."

SATURDAY.
(Before T. Gill, Esq., Capt. Ford, and Dr. Falconer.)
John Langford Gray was charged with being drunk and improperly conducting himself in a railway carriage, on the journey from Warminster to Bath,—Detective Berry said he received the prisoner into his custody last evening upon a charge of being drunk, exposing his person, and smoking in a railway carriage. Prisoner admitted that he was drunk, but denied the second part of the charge.—The offence was proved by Thomas Heater, railway guard, Thomas Baker, and William Morton, fellow-passengers of the prisoner.—When called upon for his defence, the prisoner said he had taken a little too much liquor, and lost his self-control, for which he expressed the greatest regret.—The Bench told the prisoner that it was a very serious offence, and fined him 40s. and costs.

MONDAY.
(Before H. B. Smith, Esq., Dr. Barrett, and J. W. Bush, Esq.)
John Langford was fined 5s. and costs for being drunk and disorderly.

TUESDAY.
(Before T. Gill, Esq., Capt. Ford, Capt. Marsh, Dr. Barrett, and Dr. Falconer.)
John Langford Rae was charged by P.C. 44 with being drunk and incapable in Wood Street, about eight o'clock, on Saturday evening. The officer took the prisoner to the station, where he obtained bail, and appeared in the court on Monday morning in a state of intoxication. He was removed from the court, and brought up this morning.—Fined 5s. and costs.

It seems highly likely that John Langford Rae who appeared drunk before the court on Monday, was removed and recalled on Tuesday and was then fined five shillings and costs is the same as John Langford who appeared before the court on Monday and was fined five shillings and costs. It also seems likely that he is also the John Langford Gray who was fined forty shillings and costs on Saturday for having been drunk and disorderly on a train on Friday. If he is, he was roaring drunk on Friday, in court and fined on Saturday, drunk and incapable in the street on Saturday night and drunk in court on Monday.

There may have been other children in this family, especially since there is such a long gap between John, born in 1807, and Francis, born in 1822. A story in the Schools' Collection, while talking about an incident involving their cousin Edward Rae at Keel in the 1850s, makes referance to "one of Langford Rae's sisters". It may just be that the informant, a John Regan who was born about thirty-five years after the event, did not understand the family relationships of the Raes, but if his statement was accurate it raises questions. If the Langford Rae who was Edward's brother is meant, he had only the one sister, Sarah (and no sisters-in-law), who was of course Edward's sister too. If the Langford Rae who was the father of this lot, and who was also Edward's uncle, is meant, he too had so far as I know only one sister, Anne, who would have been nearly ninety, and was of course Edward's aunt, and if he had sisters-in-law they too would probably have been very old. So perhaps he had a son also named Langford Rae who fits into this long gap, and perhaps also more daughters than just Mary Langford Rae.

Some of the other unexplained Langford Raes listed at the bottom of this page may also have fitted in here.

Francis Langford Rae, my great-great-grandfather through the adoption of my father, was born on 28^th February 1822. He was a Catholic, and family history says that he was a Kerry man but was born in Dublin.

His parentage is uncertain. He could have been the grandson of Robert Langford Rae via an unknown intermediary; the son of Langford Rae, born when his parents were in their forties; or the grandson of Langford Rae, probably via Rae Domenic Langford and born when his father was very young.

However, Francis had moved to Secunderabad, India, by April 1853, aged twenty-one, which tends to suggest he was a younger son without inheritance. In Secunderabad he married his wife Mary Christiana Swords, who was just fourteen. He was a Catholic, and I have no evidence that Robert Langford Rae was Catholic or, indeed, that he had any descendants. Francis was a policeman born in Dublin, and Langford Rae was a lawyer practising in Dublin. On balance, and in the absence of other evidence, therefore, I think it most likely that Francis was Langford Rae's son. He and his many descendants are covered in more detail on the page on the Langford Raes in the East.

Fifth generation: the children of Giles Rae...

... with Mary Connor

An Ellen Rae of Keel, the child of Giles Rae and Mary Connor, was baptised at the Catholic church in Castlemaine on 27^th May 1804. If Ellen and her half-sister Mary really did have the same father they were baptised less than a month apart, but had different mothers, which suggests that Giles couldn't keep it in his pants. We must remember, however, that these are dates of baptism, not birth: Ellen could have been a year older than Mary, but not baptised till nearly a year old.

... with Catherine Kelly

A Mary Rae of Keel, the child of Giles Rae and Catherine Kelly, was baptised at the Catholic church in Castlemaine on 16^th June 1804. The timing, and the confusion over whether the first Giles Rae of Derrymore was married to an Ellen or a Katherine, suggests that her father might have been the second Giles Rae of Derrymore, and that he had a first wife Catherine who died young, prior to his marriage to Deborah Langford – or perhaps an unwed lover whose child took her father's name, since I can't find their marriage. I have not seen any evidence that this second Giles was a Catholic, but if Catherine was he might have gone along with her wishes.

It is also possible that the first Giles Rae had a brother who is not shown on the inheritance trees, and who had a son Giles who became a Catholic and was the father of Mary.

... with Deborah Langford

The four sons and one daughter of Giles Rae and Deborah Langford dominated Keel and its surroundings for much of the 19^thC, including the period of the Famine – although according to the Schools' Collection the famine didn't hit Keel too badly. Other stories from the collection here and here tell of the arrival of the family in the area and how they acquired and built-up Keel. An account of a horse-race at O'Brennan shows the family as enthusiastic and popular members of the racing set, which was as big a thing in 19^thC Ireland as being a football star would be in 20^thC Britain, and we get glimpses of burial customs at Keel – and even a Rae family ghost, still protecting the local woods.

Edward Rae is described on Tree I as "Edward Rae // of Keel. JP // b[orn] 1814 alive in 1871 // succeeded to the Keel estate in 1841 // d[ied] 15 Jan, 1878 at Keel // bachelor, aged 66 y[ea]rs". JP is Justice of the Peace.

Page 530 of The County Families of the United Kingdom or Royal Manual of the Titled & Untitled Aristocracy of Great Britain & Ireland by Edward Walford, published 1860, says:

RAE, Edward, Esq. (of Keel House).
Eldest son of the late Giles Rae, Esq., by Deborah, dau. of John Langford, Esq., of Castle Langford ; b. 1814 ; s. 1841. Is a Magistrate for co. Kerry.—Keel House, near Castlemaine, co. Kerry.

NUI Galway's Landed Estates section records that "Edward Rae was in possession of Keel House at the time of Griffith's Valuation [1848–1864]". According to Property owners County Kerry circa 1870, Langford Rae of Keel House, Castlemaine, Kerry (about six and a half miles from Tralee as the crow flies) owned 5,870 acres and Edward Rae at the same address owned 564 acres.

As a local Justice of the Peace Edward appears repeatedly in the pages of The Tralee Chronicle and Killarney Echo, either presiding over Petty Sessions, or sitting on the boards of charitable or improving institutions, or donating money to good causes. I only have access to the editions published in 1870 and 1875 but the paper appeared twice a week, and Edward was mentioned on at least a hundred and twenty-three occasions during those two years.

Page 3 of The Tralee Chronicle and Killarney Echo of Tuesday 25^th January 1870 shows hm presiding over the Killorglin Petty Sessions. During a case in which two brothers named Murphy were convicted of beating up a relative named Doyle after he had refused to drink with them, one of the magistrates, Mr E M'Gillicuddy Eager, accused the Murphys of lying, saying "I am sitting in this court those 20 years, and a grosser case of perjury I have never heard." Edward Rae commented "I am sitting here these 25 years. It's the grossest case I ever witnessed." so we know he became a JP, or at least a magistrate, round about 1845 when he was thirty or thirty one. During the case there was a mention of the lawyer for the defence, Mr Downing, having taken some previous action to save one of his tenants and Edward commented "That was a good sign of him to save his tenant."

That suggests that Edward was concerned for the welfare of the poor and of his family's own tenants, but he could evidently also be bad-tempered and grudging. A story in the Schools' Collection, told by Edward's (probable) first-cousin-once-removed William Emperor Rae, recounts how he pursued a man named Jack Day, who had a greyhound bitch he was legally forbidden to own (presumably for fear he would use her for poaching), and tried to force him to have his dog killed. Like the Wars of the Roses it's all snarled up with family cross-currents, because Edward's grandfather Giles Rae married an Ellen Day, and his great-uncle John Rae married Sarah Day, and Jack Day got his dog from a Christopher Emperor who was probably the brother of Ellen Emperor who married Edward's cousin John Langford Rae, and Christopher Emperor in turn got the puppy from a Frank Demoleyns, who must have been related to Rev. William De Moleyns who married Edward's first cousin Catherine Maria Rae.

A nearly whole-page article on page 4 of The Tralee Chronicle and Killarney Echo of Friday 11^th February 1870 details a complex court case in which Thomas Payne, a relative of the Raes, had created confusion by quarrelling with various family members and preparing multiple wills in which he first named Edward Rae as the residual legatee of his estate, then changed that to his estranged nephew Robert Payne, then changed again to a scheme where apart from bequests to his wife and to charity, the rest of his estate would be held in trust for his grandchildren. Edward's brother Langford was initially named as one of the executors, but replaced in a later draught of the will. Robert Payne was disputing this final draught of the will, which left him with nothing, on the grounds that when it was made his uncle – who had suffered what sounds like a stroke shortly beforehand – had not been of sound mind.

The article states: "Mr. Edward Rae of Keel, a relative of Mr. Payne's, and a magistrate of great intelligence, will be produced. He was with Mr. Payne on the day the will was made. He will tell you that Mr. Payne shook hands with him, and that he always found him in full possession of his faculties, and on several occasions was joking with him, and asking how a certain friend of his and the widow were getting on. He will tell you that at that time it was believed that Mr. Payne would get over the attack." In the event Edward was not called on to give evidence, the jury having already been convinced of Payne's mental fitness by previous witnesses.

Among these previous witnesses the Reverend Thomas Moriarty, one of the executors of the will, was cross-examined by Mr Heron, QC and said that Payne's conversation had been clear and intelligent. "You said he used to be telling you about jokes that were played upon him ? Yes, he told me the boys used to send him official envelopes and parcels. // Why, was he an object of derision to the boys ? The boys were gentlemen of his acquaintance—one of them a justice of the peace—is sitting behind you (great laughter)." This almost certainly refers to Edward Rae.

Edward's many appearances in the press are too numerous and with too little variation to list them all without becoming tedious, although I can supply a full set of clippings and cites to any fellow researcher who wants to see them. For the present I'll confine myself to a few of the more colourful highlights, many of which have to do with Edward's rôle as magistrate and Justice of the Peace, or with the fact that he was a member of the Board of Guardians of the local Poor Law Union.

Poor Law Unions were organisations which administered the workhouse for a given area, hiring and firing staff and paying for its upkeep out of local taxes. You can read about this system at The Workhouse: The story of an institution. Despite the fact that the poor in Ireland were usually poor because of widespread environmental and social factors which were well beyond their control, the government had decided that there was to be no official poor relief in Ireland except by admitting the destitute or mentally disturbed to the workhouses, where conditions were deliberately kept harsh in order to discourage people from applying for a place unless they were genuinely desperate.

This does not mean, however, that there was no poor-relief at all outside the workhouse – just that what there was was provided unofficially and funded by private individuals rather than by taxation. The records show Edward's brother John allowing poor tenants to remain on his land for years without paying rent, and their brother Langford personally providing a pension for one of his workers who had been injured.

On page 3 of The Tralee Chronicle and Killarney Echo of Friday 28^th January 1870 we see Edward as one of the magistrates at the Aunascaul Petty Sessions, presiding over the Inch Strand trespass case, which was to drag on for over a month and make it into the august pages of the Irish Times. A Thomas Blennerhassett, who must have been another relation of Edward's by marriage, had acquired land which included a public road which he had then fenced off, officially to keep his cattle penned, but with the side-effect that local people who had previously driven down this road to the beach to collect sand and seaweed now had to go by a gate and pay a fee. The local people had responded by pulling part of the fence down.

Mr Blennerhassett raised fity charges centring around a John Brien driving a horse and cart across his land via the gap in the fence "although cautioned and warned against so doing", although Brien's lawyer argued that Brien had reasonably believed himself entitled to do so, since many people had been bringing sand and seaweed by the same route for at least twenty years, until very recently when Blennerhasett had blocked the road with his fence. "Mr. Rae said one of the reporters on the last day had, (unintentionally, he was sure) attributed a blasphemous expression to himself, which he never used." A long, pointless and childish argument between Edward Rae and Broderick, the defence lawyer, on the subject of whether Broderick was being impertinent or not, occupied much of the time.

The case was continued about a month later, as reported on page 3 of The Tralee Chronicle and Killarney Echo of Friday 25^th February 1870, and centred on a confusing argument about whether Blennerhassett actually owned the public road or not, and whether the magistrates had jurisdiction over the case anyway, ending with all charges being dismissed, and Edward Rae getting extremely shirty with Mr Broderick. Because the local people had taken the law into their own hands by pulling down the fence, the case continued to be referred to for weeks afterwards. On 1^st March Edward warned the public against violence, with reference to the Inch Strand case, and it seemed that despite Mr Broderick's protestations the people of Aunascaul were indeed a rough lot. At the Aunascaul Petty Sessions reported on 27^th May 1870, Edward had to try a case involving a knock-down drag-out fight between a woman and her daughter-in-law.

Exactly how rough the locals could be is shown by a Schools' Collection account of a faction fight at Castlemaine between mostly-Catholic Keel and mostly-Protestant Kiltallagh in the 1850s. The Keel people sent for help from Eward as if he were a feudal knight. He was at first reluctant to get involved – perhaps in part because it meant siding with Protestants against Catholics, and he was a Protestant – even when the Keel people sent for help again. But then "one of Langford Rae's sisters" shamed him into going by saying "If my father were here he would go and help the Keel people." This is an odd statement and perhaps the informant, a John Regan who was born about thirty-five years after the event, did not understand the family relationships of the Raes. If the Langford Rae who was Edward's brother is meant, he had only the one sister, Sarah (and no sisters-in-law), who was of course Edward's sister too. If the Langford Rae who was Edward's uncle is meant, he too had so far as I know only one sister, Anne, who would have been nearly ninety. Perhaps the elder Langford Rae had some younger sisters-in-law? Perhaps the uncle had a son also named Langford Rae – since there appears to be a long gap between his known and suspected children, and he had at least one daughter, Mary Langford Rae.

Having been shamed into going to the rescue, Edward rather went overboard. He donned some sort of armour – perhaps a cavalry breastplate is meant – and he and his guest mounted up and galloped with guns to the high ground at Annagh, just outside Castlemaine, where according to Regan they shot and killed several Kiltallagh men who had besieged some Keel men inside a cottage. Edward was hit on the ear by a flung stone. The Kiltallagh men pulled back, but challenged Keel to meet them for a formal fight with sticks and hurleys (similar to a hockey-stick) at a battle-ground in Tralee. This battle went ahead some time later and Edward – a magistrate! – led the Keel party, brandishing a sword. The local priests managed to stop the fight before it had gone on for long, and Keel were declared the victors.

The story of the O'Brennan Races also tells how when his brother Langford's horse Steel Grey was winning the race, Edward was so overcome with enthusiasm that he "raised his head and shook his blackthorn and shouted that he'd have blood or money". Perhaps this was because Langford had bet all his property on the race.

Edward was intended to take over the administration of the estate of his late brother Francis, who died in April 1872, but he himself died in 1878 without completing the job. He had presumably been more successful at administering the estate of his sister Sarah, who had died in 1861.

P. 609 of the Calendar of Wills and Administrations for 1879 values his effects at under £1,000 and records: "25 January. The Will of Edward Rae late of Keel County Kerry Esquire deceased who died 6 January 1878 at same place was proved at the Principal Registry by the oath of Langford Rae of same place Gentleman the sole Executor."

John Langford Rae is described on Tree I as "John Langford Rae // b[orn] 1817 entered T.C.D. 4 June 1833 aged 16 years // died Sept 1882 // bur[ied] at Kiltallagh Co Kerry". T.C.D. is Trinity College Dublin.

We know from Foster that like his siblings John died unmarried. He also apparently died in debt. P. 683 of the Calendar of Wills and Administrations for 1884 gives his effects as just £100 and records: "7 May. Letters of Administration (with the Will annexed) of the personal estate of John Langford Rae late of Keel County Kerry Esquire who died 12 September 1882 at Cahirfilane in said County were granted at the Principal Registry to William Collis of Tralee County Kerry the Nominee of the Creditors. (By Order of Court.)" William Collis may have been John's first cousin, as he had an aunt Anne who married a Rev. Samuel Collis.

There were two John Langford Raes associated with the Keel area at the same time, this one and his first cousin, the son of Langford Rae and Ellen Long. There are a number of newspaper and other references to a John Langford Rae, without making it clear which John is meant. However, since John who was the son of Giles and Deborah is on the inheritance trees and his cousin is not, I am assuming that any stories which appear to refer to a wealthy landowner relate to John the son of Giles and Deborah, and those which don't, don't.

It was only fifty-three years since the laws banning Irish Catholics from being educated, owning land, entering a profession or living within five miles of a corporate town had been repealed, so any references to a John Langford Rae who was a society figure probably do refer to the Protestant John the son of Giles. However, while the Irish potato-blight famine of 1845–1852 in which a million people would die was getting into full swing [Wiki: Great Famine (Ireland)], an article in the Cork Examiner of April to June 1846 by Ed O'Riordan, sardonically entitled Famine Frolics, describes how the wealthy continued to enjoy themselves, and remarks on how "young gentlemen of Ireland of opposite creeds and parties mingle thus cordially" at a cricket club, so evidently some sort of Catholic gentry was in existence by this point, so it may be worth jumping back and forth from one John to the other and bearing in mind that these stories could potentially refer to either of them.

We can be pretty sure that any story which refers to a John Langford Rae who was a rider does refer to John the son of Giles, however. The story of the O'Brennan Races in 1842 describes a race won by a horse named Steel Grey, belonging to John's brother Langford. It says that "John was a great horse man and would ride Steel Gray but his sight was failing then so the horse was ridden by their first cousin Giles Rae who lived at Camp, Anascaul." John was only twenty-four or twenty-five in 1842, so perhaps this loss of sight was due to something temporary, such as conjunctivitis (or maybe it was a metaphor, and he was drunk).

A song in Irish Gaelic commemorates a similar race in which a John Rae from Kilmoyley was evidently the rider. Kilmoyley is about thirteen miles from Keel, so this may or may not be the same John Rae. More definitely, the same Famine Frolics article referenced above tells of how Mr John Langford Rae entered his horse Jack (handicap 11^st 11lbs) to run against Mr Daniel Mahony's mare Maria (handicap 10st 7lbs) in two mile heats at Rahoneen Strand, County Kerry (about five and a half miles from Tralee) on 30^th May 1846, for £25 a side.

Despite continuing to party during the famine, if that was he, John seems to have been popular with his tenants. A good rider was always popular in Ireland, whatever else they might have done, and in fairness an account in the Schools' Collection tells us that the famine in the Keel area was less severe than elsewhere and nobody from Keel died of hunger, although they witnessed dying refugees from other areas. He is surely the John Langford Rae who appears in the following article:

London Daily News, 10^th November 1855, page 2, column 3
Headed "NAVAL AND MILITARY."
DUBLIN, Nov. 9.
THE KERRY MILITIA.—TRALEE, MONDAY.—On Saturday last, Mr John Langford Rae, of Keel, in this county, presented in this town the unprecedented number of 57 recruits, obtained for the Kerry Regiment, between the fair of Castlemaine, on Thursday, and the market day here, on Saturday. If I am correctly informed, Mr. Rae, optionally and conditionally, on getting a company, pledged himself to bring one with him ; and if the realisation of that promise be 120 men, certainly half the number in two days is a pretty fair earnest of its redemption. I understand that the men are all labourers and farmers' sons on his own property, and that of his three brothers. Many of them are the labourers employed by M. Rae himself in draining, embanking, and farming operations, who, now that Mr. Rae is bartering the ploughshare, battering mallet and pick, for the sash and sword, think it better to secure a "clean decent life" with him ; while others are the younger sons of small farmers on the property, who would never wear that "honoured badge and dear cockade," if their light hearts did not beat to follow their master. Mr. Rae also took the best initiative to stimulate a martial spirit. He was granted by the staff officer of pensioners, Captain Stokes, the use of the drums and fifes of the corps, and made good use of them at Castlemaine fair, where he is somewhat popular. On the whole, I think that this piece of intelligence will not be unacceptable at head quarters, where the spirits of the "juniors" were running low, consequent on the late reduction order. I hope I will be shortly able to report further progress in this enterprise; and is proportionate success attends continued exertions, no post in her Majesty's service could be more fitfully or profitably appropriated than that of recruiting officer on a gentleman who bids fair to prove himself a "real regenerator."—Cork Reporter.

We know, then, that this John had three brothers living and holding property in the same area in 1855, which is consistent with his being John the son of Giles. John the son of Langford had at least two brothers and may well have had more, but there's no reason to think all, or any, of them were landowners. This recruiting scene was taking place only three years after the end of the great famine in Ireland. All that draining and embanking may have in part have been make-work schemes to provide gainful employment for families whose crops had failed. It wasn't only that, because we know that John's brother Langford had a lot of genuine schemes for improvement, but there was also a general "Protestant work ethic" tendency to think that victims of the famine should work for food rather than being given charity. In areas hard-hit by hunger this was a brutal policy, forcing the starving to labour till they dropped: but we know that no-one starved to the point of danger of death in Keel.

The John Langford Rae who was getting drunk in Bath in 1861 was probably the other John – then again, maybe it was this one, and army life, or the death of his sister eight months earlier, had left him traumatized. His apparent absence from the Irish records around this time could mean he was still in the army, or that he was in Bath getting drunk.

The death of his brother Edward in January 1878 left John as the eldest brother, and one of only two survivors, for Francis had died in 1872. Even Langford was to predecease him by eight months, leaving him all alone. Even though Langford was only the third brother, however, the Schools' Collection claims that it was Langford who was the heir at Keel, which would mean it didn't come to John until after Langford died.

There is a record of the death of a John Langford Rae born 1812 died October-December quarter 1882 in Tralee, County Kerry. [FamilySearch] The birth-year has only been estimated from the stated age at death. His estimated date of birth fits neither John the son of Langford, born in 1807, nor John the son of Giles, born in 1817, and the month is slightly off: John the son of Giles died in September 1882. But deaths which occur late in a quarter and are not immediately registered often end up carried over into the start of the following quarter, and it would be a moderately heavcy coincidence if both the Johns died within a four-month period, so this probably refers to John the son of Giles. There is also a burial record for a John Rae of Keel who was buried at the church in Kilcolman and whose estimated date of death was 7^th September 1882.

Page 6 of The Morning News of Wednesday 5^th March 1884 records judgements of the Probate and Matrimonial Dvision, under Judge Warren. "R R RAE v. EDMOND COURNANE—In the Goods of John Langford Rae, Deceased.—Mr. Morphy (instructed by Messrs M'Gillicuddy and Morphy) applied, on behalf of Robert M'Cowen and Robert W Dobson, administrators of the personal estate of Langford Rae, deceased, for an order that administration of a will, dated the 4th April, 1882, of John Langford Rae, deceased, might be granted to William Collis as their nominee, they undertaking as such administrators to pay the creditors on the estate of John Langford Rae, and that such administrator might be granted, notwithstanding a testamentary document, dated the 8th of September, 1882, under which the defendant claimed certain benefits. Juge [sic] Warren made the order." William Collis may be a son of Anne Rae and Rev. Samuel Collis (although in that case he would have been about ninety) or a grandson. RR Rae must be the younger Robert Rochfort Rae, born around 1842, as his father – who had been John Langford Rae's first cousin – was already dead by this point.

     Mr Hobson, on the part of the receiver in the matter of the estate of J. L. Rae, County Kerry, asked to be allowed to correct a statement made by Mr Healy, M.P., when the matter was before the court on the last day. Counsel had on that occasion stated that ejectments were being served broadcast and the whole country-side was being evicted, and had further stated that the tenants' holdings were extremely poor, and that the amount due was by no means considerable. He (Mr Hobson) now wished to state that proceedings were only taken against 11 out of 180 tenants, that one of these owed ten years' rent, and none of them owed less than two and a half.
     Judge Boyd—Counsel having been instructed to make reckless statements, it is due to the receiver and myself and to the court that this correction should be made.
     Mr Hobson—Mr Healy pledged his word that what he stated was corrct.
     Judge Boyd—I have no doubt he believed he was right, but he was incorrect both as to the amount of rent and the number of ejectments that were brought. There were no proceedings taken, nor would I nor would I permit them to be taken against a whole country-side. I said they should be confined to the principal defaulters. When statements are published broadcast in the Press which are not correct I think the sooner the public know it the better. It was stated that the entire country-side was being evicted. That is a deliberately untrue statement that counsel was instructed to make. The facts are that out of 180 tenants 11 civil bill ejectments were brought, some of these owing five years and none of them less than three years' rent. Then there are some grazing holdings held at a yearly rent, so that altogether out of 180 there are just fifteen proceedings for rent, and under these circumstances, whoever instructed counsel to make the statement that a whole country-side was being evicted must have made a statement that they knew to be deliberately utnrue. Nothing will deter me from doing my duty fearlessly in this court as between man and man, and the sooner these false statements are supressed the better.

The fact that one of John's tenants apparently owed ten years' rent in 1886, meaning that they had paid no rent since six years prior to his death, points up what a tolerant landlord he was.

On 20^th April 1887 a Colonel William Rowan was discharged from his duties as receiver and a Robert J Fitzgerald appointed, in respect of part of the estate of John Langford Rae in Barony of Trughenackmy, County Kerry. [The official guide to Limerick]

Whatever the problem was with his estate, it dragged on, and on. Almost seven years after his death, page 3 of The Irish Times of Friday 15^th March 1889 records that the "High Court of Justice, Chancery Division, Land Judges – Mr Lyle, Examiner—11.30 o'clock" dealt with seven cases which included "J. L. Rae's estate".

Langford Rae is described on Tree I as "Langford Rae // of Mountain Lodge Mitchellstown Co Tipperary // J.P. d[ied] Feb. 1882 // bur[ied] at Kiltallagh". Again, J.P. means Justice of the Peace. We know from Foster, and from the Schools' Collection, that like his siblings he died unmarried.

Mitchelstown is a village sixty miles due east of Tralee. Mountain Lodge is on the main road a few miles east-nor'-east of Mitchelstown, and is now a youth hostel. Why he had a base so far from his family is not known.

His birth year is not stated, but can be estimated from those of his older and younger brothers – assuming the 1925 tree displays them in the correct order – as being around 1819. A Langford Rae of Keel House was buried on 9^th February 1882 at the Church of Ireland parish church in Kilcolman in County Kerry, aged sixty-one. [Irish Genealogy: Book N° Q; Page 1; Record_Identifier KY-CI-BU-3609] That places his birth in 1820 or very early 1821. Nevertheless the Schools' Collection claims that it was Langford who was their father Giles's heir at Keel.

There is an official record of what must surely be his death in the March quarter 1882 in Tralee, County Kerry [FamilySearch] which estimates his date of birth as 1816, but that's not possible unless the inheritance tree has got the brothers out of order, since he had an apparently elder (more leftward) brother born in 1817. The date of 1820 is the one most likely to be accurate.

Page 530 of The County Families of the United Kingdom or Royal Manual of the Titled & Untitled Aristocracy of Great Britain & Ireland by Edward Walford, published 1860, says:

RAE, Langford, Esq. (of Mountain Lodge).
Third son of the late Giles Rae, Esq., by Deborah, dau. of John Langford, Esq., of Killorglin Castle, co. Kerry ; b. 18—. Is a Magistrate for co. Tipperary, Lieutenant 7th Lancashire Rifles, and an Associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers of Ireland. This family was formerly of co. Caithness, and have been settled in the south of Ireland 250 years.—Mountain Lodge, Mitchelstown, co. Tipperary ; Keel House, Castlemaine, co. Kerry.

An Account of the Regiments of Royal Lancashire Militia, 1759 to 1870 – to which he was a subscriber – calls him "Ray, Lieutenant Langford, 7th Royal Lancashire Militia, Keel House, Co. Kerry".

He appears multiple times in the School's Collection, more so than any of his brothers. He is said to have played favourites with his tenants in an erratic way, and sometimes sold their land out from under them; to have planted a lot of trees; and to have "died in some Hotel in Tralee in the 10th January 1882". We are told that he was an anti-Catholic bigot. On the positive side, he did well by his tenants by bringing in an excellent schoolmaster.

We hear about the many improvements which Langford, a Civil Engineer, tried to make in the area – not always successfully. We hear about how he had to borrow money for these improvements, and how he held property at Shanahill West, Shanahill East, Caherfealane, Gortaneden, Keel and Laghtacallow but had no actual free money (in modern terms, he was "land rich but cash poor"), and had to mortgage all these properties in order to buy Farna and Ardcanaght.

He seems to have been alarmingly wholesale, or perhaps just desperate. The story of the O'Brennan Races claims that in April 1842, Langford "had all his property bet on" the victory of his horse Steel Grey (who won). There is a suggestion, of which more anon., that he was at this time a heavy drinker.

According to Property owners County Kerry circa 1870, Langford Rae of Keel House, Castlemaine, Kerry (about six and a half miles from Tralee as the crow flies) owned 5,870 acres and Edward Rae at the same address owned 564 acres.

Langford Rae the younger was a prominent local figure who appears several times in newspaper reports.

Manchester Evening News, 21^st March 1871, page 2, column 5
Headed "MR. GLADSTONE AND THE KERRY FARMERS."
The following letter has been addressed by the Premier to the Farmers' Club of Kerry, in acknowledgement of the resolution of thanks for the passing of the Land Bill. It was enclosed by Mr. Herbert, M.P.:—"To Langford Rae, Esq., Chairman of the County Kerry Farmers' Club.—10, Downing-street, Whitehall. March 8th. 1871.—Sir,—I have the honour to acknowledge the resolution passed by the Kerry Farmers' Club on the subject of the Irish Land Bill, which has been obligingly placed in my hands by your representative, Mr. Herbert. I shall with great pleasure bring under the notice of my colleagues this emphatic testimony to the healing effects of a measure which from your enumeration of the benefits it has conferred appears to have touched all the principal needs of Ireland with reference to the holding and cultivation of land ; and I am bold enough to hope that, as time more and more develops the character of its working, you may see more and more reason for satisfaction with its results, both in the condition and in the sentiments of the people.—I have the honour to be, sir, your obedient servant, W. E. GLADSTONE. Will you kindly convey to the club the contents of this letter?

The First Irish Land Act of 1879 (see also Wiki entry) was intended to settle at least some of the grievances of the native working-class Irish. Local customs giving tenants security of tenure and allowing them to sell on their tenancy were enforced where these existed. The Act established that if a tenant who had paid their rent on time was nevertheless evicted they were entitled to compensation, and that when a tenancy ended, provided it had not been terminated for non-payment of rent, the landlord must reimburse the tenant for any improvements they had made to the property during the tenancy. It also allowed tenants who wished to buy their holding (assuming that the landlord agreed to this) to borrow two-thirds of the cost from the government at five percent interest, repayable over thirty-five years, although in practice few could afford to raise the remaining third.

It was also supposed to prevent "exorbitant" rent-rises, but since these were not properly defined many landlords raised their rents sharply just before a tenant was due to leave, knowing that if the tenant was unable to pay their final few months' rent they could be evicted for non-payment and the landlord wouldn't have to pay them for whatever improvements they had made to the property. If landlords simply failed to compensate for improvements, few tenants could afford to take them to court. All in all the Act turned rather sour, and despite Langford Rae's early enthusiasm for it, it very soon whipped round and bit him on the bum. Fifteen days after the article about Gladstone's enthusiastic thanks, we find the following:

Morning Post, 5^th April 1871, page 2, column 6
Headed "IRELAND."
A case was tried under the Land Act on Saturday at the Tralee sessions which attracted a great deal of interest in the county of Kerry, not only because it was the first case in that county under the Land Act, but because Mr. Langford Rae, the respondent, is president of the Kerry Farmers' Club. He was sued by Timothy O'Brien and John O'Brien, tenants of the lands of Farna, for £250, under clause 3 of the Land Act, as compensation for loss sustained by them in having been evicted out of said lands by ejectment at the last Tralee quarter sessions. They claimed four years' rent, the holding being valued at £36 15s, and the annual rent being £75. Mr. Rae served a notice of set-off for £189 8s. 6d., as follows :—One gale's rent, ending 29th September last, £37 10s.: mesne rates from 29th September to this date, £37 10s.: county cess due, £2 6s.; one half poor rate, £2 2s. 6d.; loss sustained by respondent in consequence of claimants having allowed the dwelling-houses and offices on the lands to become dilapidated, £60; loss in consequence of claimants having during several successive years, up to and including the year 1870, meadowed about eight statute acres of the lands, whereby that portion became deteriorated in value to the extent of £50. Mr. C. N. Hemphill, Q.C., after many witnesses on each side had been heard, delivered judgement, finding £150 as the amount of compensation, and deducting therefrom, for various items of set-off, £82 6s. 2d., thus giving the tenants a net amount of £67 13s. 10d.

A gale is half a year's rent. Mesne refers to someone intermediate in a chain of land-ownership, with a landlord above them and sub-tenants below them, and a cess is a tax.

In February 1872 Langford was executor for the will of his first cousin Robert Rochfort Rae, the son of his father's younger brother.

The London Gazette of 21^st January 1873, page 272, under the headings "MILITIA" and "7th Royal Lancashire, records that "The services of Lieutenant Langford Rae are dispensed with. Dated 22nd January, 1872". Despite the fact that he would have been in his fifties and that we know he was living in Kerry at the time, this must have been the same Langford Rae who was the magistrate and Chairman of the County Kerry Farmers' Club. Page 3 of The Tralee Chronicle and Killarney Echo for Tuesday 31^st May 1870 records that at a meeting of the Kerry Farmers' Club members complained about the fact that both the Vice-Chairman and Chairman were absent, and were told that "Mr. Leahy [the Vice-Chairman] is not well, and Mr. Rae is with his militia regiment in England."

Langford Rae was evidently sacked from his militia regiment, rather than resigning, for we find the following:

Morning Post, 1^st August 1873, page 2, column 3
Headed "HOUSE OF COMMONS."
THE REMOVAL OF A LIEUTENANT OF MILITIA.
THE O'DONOGHUE asked the Secretary for War if he had any objection to place upon the table of the house the whole of the papers connected with the removal of Lieutenant Langford Rae from the 7th Lancashire Militia.
Mr. CARDWELL said the case was one in which the Commander-in-Chief had, with his approval, removed the officer in question. It would not be right to lay upon the table the reports of the commanding and inspecting officers.

Daniel O'Donaghue, The O'Donoghue of the Glens (Ó Donnchadha na nGleann), was a well-known Irish politician who was at this time MP for Tralee. The O'Donoghue of the Glens was and is Prince of Glenflesk, hereditary chieftain of a sept of the Kerry Eóganacht (the descendants of the Irish nobility of the so-called Dark Ages), with a verifiably ancient pedigree confirmed by Éire's Chief Herald.

That an important Irish chieftain was interested enough in his case to raise it in Parliament, and that Parliament wished to keep some aspects of it private, may mean that the offence for which Langford Rae's services were "dispensed with" was a politically sensitive one – or The O'Donoghue might just have been a very conscientious constituency MP.

Manchester Evening News, 19^th October 1878, page 2, column 3
The watchmen of Tralee a few days since arrested for drunkenness a person who has been a total abstainer for thirty years—Mr. Langford Rae, a magistrate of the county Kerry. Mr. Rae complained on Thursday to the town commissioners of the manner in which he had been treated, and it was resolved to dismiss the two watchmen who had made so extraordinary a mistake, but it was ultimately decided to caution them and fine them £1 each.

Whether this arrest truly was wrongful or not is lost in the mists of time. Langford Rae was about fifty-eight at this point, so he had been teetotal since he was about twenty-eight. Before that, clearly, he hadn't been. Maybe he became a Methodist at twenty-eight – or maybe he had been a drinking man who felt he had to stop. Thirty-six years ago he had apparently been willing to bet all his property on a horse-race. And just maybe the watchmen were right and the court was wrong and he had, briefly, fallen off the wagon. It's even possible he had fallen off it before and that that was why he was dumped from the militia: although in an age when drugs such as laudanum, morphine and cocaine were legal and freely used it's also possible that he was intoxicated by some medication when he was arrested.

On the other hand, the Schools' Collection tells a curious story of a falling out between Langford and Fr. Con Sheahan, the local Catholic parish priest. It is claimed that Langford, who was very bigoted against Catholics, lied in order to win a court case against Fr. Sheahan, that the father or one of his curates cursed Langford, and that Langford soon afterwards had a seizure in which "his head was twisted and he began eating his shoulder". Fr. Sheahan then cured Langford, who was so grateful that thereafter "he used to give presents to Fr Sheahan and it is said that he sent for Fr Sheahan before he died to become a convert". "Eating his shoulder" sounds like a major seizure due to something a lot more drastic than drink – perhaps a brain tumour, worsening epilepsy or a serious stroke. Epilepsy especially affects the over fifties, and this might explain both why he was dropped from the militia, and why he was accused of being drunk when he swore he wasn't.

At any rate it seems that times were getting harder. in 1880, two years before Langford's death, we find:

Liverpool Mercury, 24^th February 1880, page 7, column 9
Headed "THE STATE OF IRELAND."
THE IRISH RELIEF FUNDS.
The additional memorials for loans from the Board of Works which were made last week number 258, and the sums applied for amount to £148,000. Already nearly the whole sum which the Government have applied to Parliament to sanction for relief works is sought to be absorbed by these loans. The total now amounts to about £630,000. The largest sum applied for in the last memorials is £20,500, by Colonel King Harman, M.P., for his estates in the counties of Longford and Westmeath. The list includes the following applications:— ... Langford Rae, £2000, Kerry ; ...

P. 643 of the Calendar of Wills and Administrations for 1882 values Langford's effects at £3,836 9s. 4d. – a very considerable sum in those days, and a great contrast with his brother John – and records: "12 June. Letters of Administration (with the Will annexed) of the personal estate of Langford Rae late of Keel County Kerry Esquire deceased who died 6 February 1882 at Tralee in said County were granted at the Principal Registry to Robert M'Cowan and Robert William Dobson both of Tralee Merchants the Attorneys of Robert Rochfort Rae a Legatee." The legacy must have been intended not for Langford's first cousin Robert Rochfort Rae, who had died ten years previously, but for Robert's son, also Robert Rochfort Rae.

These two attorneys acted on Langford Rae's behalf after his death, taking over the administration of the estate of his late brother Francis in June 1889, after his brother Edward, the original executor, had died without completing the job. In January 1879 Langford had been Edward's sole executor.

Ancestry.co.uk even has records of Langford Rae, resident at Keel, paying for his annual dog licence in Milltown (a major town, by local standards, three miles south-east of Keel). On 1^st April 1878, he registered one sheepdog and one terrier, both black, both male. On 31^st March 1879, a black sheepdog, male, a black terrier, male, and a grey terrier, female. On 31^st March 1880 he just had the a black male sheepdog and the grey female terrier, suggesting that the black terrier had died. On 30^th March 1881, suddenly he was registering two brown, female setters (on the same page a W^m L Rae of Kilburne registered a white and red fox terrier, male, and a black setter, female). There is no entry for March 1882, confirming that by that point, he was dead.

As we have already seen, Langford Rae seems to have died between 1^st January and 8^th February 1882. [FamilySearch; Irish Genealogy: Book N° Q; Page 1; Record_Identifier KY-CI-BU-3609] After his death he makes one last and even more curious appearance in the news:

Manchester Evening News, 12^th October 1883, page 3, column 4
Headed "IRELAND."
SCENE AT AN INQUEST.
An extraordinary scene took place at an inquest held at Tralee, on the body of John Wilks, a private in the 104th Regiment, who died suddenly. Medical testimony had been given that death was occasioned by the rupture of a blood vessel in the stomach, and the jury brought in a verdict in accordance with this testimony.—One of the jurors (Mr. Charles Nolan, of Moyderwell), when requested to attach his signature by the coroner, said, addressing the latter : You would not ask me so well when your brother and Langford Rae, who is dead and —, killed my father.—The Coroner : I don't understand you.—Mr. Nolan : You do — well, when your brother—The Coroner : I can't allow you to use this insulting language. It is contempt of court.—Mr. Nolan : I don't care a — about you or the court.—The Coroner : I must commit you for a week. Here several jurors interposed, and endeavoured to persuade Mr. Nolan to keep quiet, but he still persisted in his observations.—The Coroner : If you apologise, Mr. Nolan, for what you have said I will remit the sentence.—Mr. Nolan : I won't apologise.—The court was then adjourned and the coroner left.—A number of policemen then proceeded to take Mr. Nolan into custody, but he declined to allow himself to be arrested until they had produced a warrant for his arrest. This, however, they said they had not got, and proceeded to handcuff him, but he still resisted. The police then called on some soldiers who happened to be present for assistance which was rendered, one of the soldiers, however, protesting against the treatment received by Mr. Nolan. In a short time the latter was locked up in the guard room. Later on in the evening the coroner signed Mr. Nolan's discharge, and, after his friends had procured bail, he was set at liberty.

Francis Drew Rae is described on Tree I as "Francis Drew Rae // of Keel House, died intestate 19 April 1872 at Farnham House Finglas, aged 50 years // b[orn] 1822 Admin[istration] granted to brother Edward". We know from Foster, and from the Schools' Collection, that like his siblings he died unmarried.

From 1842 or earlier until at least 1905, Farnham House, Finglas, Dublin housed Dr Duncan's Private Lunatic Asylum "for the treatment of upper and middle classes". Of course, there is no indication as to whether Francis was a patient or a member of staff, although statistically the former is more likely since there would presumably be significantly more patients there than staff. There must have been live-in staff, however, as a William Richard Dawson M.D. whose address was given as Farnham House married in Dublin in 1898.

Although he fell on hard times, this is probably the Francis Rae of whom NUI Galway's Landed Estates section says "Francis Rae was one of the principal lessors in the parish of Kilgarrylander at the time of Griffith's Valuation" – that is, 1848–1864. The only other candidate that I know of is my great-great grandfather through the adoption of my father, Francis Langford Rae, but he probably wouldn't have emigrated to India and become a policeman if he had been a landowner, and he was in India by 1853.

Francis Drew Rae is mentioned briefly in The Tralee Chronicle and Killarney Echo several times during 1870, suggesting that the breakdown, or whatever it was, which was to end with his dying in a psychiatric hospital two years later had not yet occurred. On page 2 of the issue of Tuesday 5^th July 1870 Francis Rae, Keel, Esq. was n° 60 on a list of members of a General Jury Panel, on which his brothers Edward and Langford were n°s 61 and 84. Page 2 of several issues during July and August records that F. D. Rae and Edward Rae had each subscribed £1 (about £84 in today's money) towards a Testimonial to a Mr J De Courcy. Page 2 of the issues of the 11^th and 14^th of October records that on 7^th October Francis D Rae of Keel, Castlemaine had been elected as a Conservator of Fisheries for "Lower or Tidal Division D". Edward Rae chaired the meeting.

P. 550 of the Calendar of Wills and Administrations for 1872 records: "23 August. Letters of Administration of the personal estate of Francis Drew Rae late of Keel House Castlemain County Kerry Esquire a Bachelor deceased who died 17 April 1872 at Farnham House Finglas County Dublin were granted at the Principal Registry to Edward Rae of Keel House aforesaid Esquire the Brother of said deceased." His effects were valued at under £1,000.

His brother Edward died in 1878, apparently without having completed the administration of Francis's will, which explains why there was a follow-up in 1889. "18 June. Letters of Administration of the personal estate of Francis Drew Rae late of Keel House Castlemain County Kerry Esquire who died 17 April 1872 at Farnham House Finglas County Dublin (left unadministered by E. Rae the brother} were granted at the Principal Registry to Robert M'Cowen and Robert William Dobson both of Tralee County Kerry the Administrators of Langford Rae a brother. (Former Grant 23 August 1871)." His as-yet unadministered effects were £500.

The birthdate of Sarah Drew Rae, remembered locally as Sally, is not given. If she was younger than her brothers then she was probably born around 1823, but there's no way to be sure. She is described on Tree I as "Sarah Drew Rae // of Keel, died intestate 9 Jan. 1861. Admin[istration] granted to brother Edward".

Freeman's Journal for 15^th January 1861 carried the following Death Notice: "RAE Giles Esq JP January 8, at Keel House, co Kerry, Sarah Drew, only daughter of Giles RAE Esq JP of Keel."

We know from Foster, and from the Schools' Collection, that like her siblings she died unmarried. P. 165 of the Calendar of Wills and Administrations for 1862 records that her effects came to under £1,500 and: "13 May. Letters of Administration of the personal estate of Sarah Drew Rae late of Keel in the County of Kerry Spinster deceased who died 9 January 1861 at same place were granted at the Principal Registry to Edward Rae of Keel aforesaid Esquire the Brother one of the next of kin of said deceased."

In the Schools' Collection of oral history from the 1930s, an account of a faction fight between Keel and Kiltallagh sheds a possible light on Sarah's character. With reference to Edward Rae, it refers to "one of Lankford [sic] Rae's sisters". Obviously this is a misspelling of Langford Rae, and refers either to Edward's brother or to his uncle, but the uncle's sister Anne would have been in her nineties and was probably long dead. So, although it's a strange way to describe their relationship it probably refers to Sarah, who was the sister of both Langford and Edward. According to the story, when the men of Kiltallagh and Keel were fighting and Keel men were in danger of being killed, Edward was at first reluctant to get involved, but Sarah (if she it was) shamed him by saying "If my father were here he would go and help the Keel people."

Fifth generation: the children of John Rae & Catherine Rochfort

Henry Johnson Rochfort Rae gets a lengthy entry which says: "Henry Johnson Rochfort Rae // b[orn] 1802, Clerk of the Crown Co Cavan in 1839 // of 6 Wentworth Place in 1844 // inherited Gardenfield Co Limerick, of No 41 Leeson Park Dublin in 1871.

He married Julia Maria Haydn [sic], described as "Julia Hayden // dau[ghter] of Joseph Timothy Hayden, Editor of the Dictionary of Dates // b[orn] 1815, died at no 7 Elm Park, Ranelagh, Dublin 10 April 1903 aged 88 years, buried at Mount Jerome". Joseph Haydn's Dictionary of Dates and Universal Information Relating to All Ages was a famous reference book in its day: first published in 1841, it went into its 24^th edition in 1906. The 1852 baptismal record of Julia's son Gerald shows that she had the middle name Maria, and she must have married young because her daughter Catherine was born circa 1833 when Julia would have been in her lateish teens.

Page 2 of The Freeman's Journal of Friday 23^rd September 1859 records that "The Lord Lieutenant has been pleased to appoint Henry J. Rae, Esq., to be Clerk of the Crown for the county of Cavan, in the place of Samuel Swanzy, Esq., deceased". Page 2 of the same paper for the following day applauds the appointment and speaks of him having been previously passed over for promotion and as having been treated in an "'unaccountable and shameful manner' [by] his own political party, after over thirty years of faithful and diligent service."

His appointment was not universally popular, however. Page 4 of The Meath People and Cavan and Westmeath Chronicle for the same day, Saturday 24^th September 1859, states that "The Dublin journals speak favourably of the appointment, but it is more than doubtful whether it would not have been better, well as more gracefull to appoint a local solicitor, many of whom are most deserving as well as most competant." Page 4 of the same paper for Tuesday 4^th October 1859 carried a long rant under the heading "DECEIVERS EVER".

Last week we barely announced that the Clerkship of the Crown for Cavan, vacant by the death of the late SAMUEL SWANZY, Esq., was filled up by the appointment of a Mr. RAE, who might be a very eligible gentleman for all that the people, amongst whom he was placed, knew to the contrary ; but who was as great a stranger in Cavan as the King of Oude or the President of Hayti. Now everyone knows that the appointment of persons, having local knowledge, is not a mere graceful way of doing the thing but a more expedient one ; and, therefore, the selection of Mr. RAE has caused a good deal of annoyance even to people, who are not much given to complain in any case, and who woukd rather fight with their thumb-nails than with orthodox Whigs. Every one in the county, and for a good distance outside it, had put it down as indubitable that Mr. EDWARD M'GAURAN would be the new officer. This belief was grounded on his special fitness ; on his claims as one native to the county, and having very large professional connection with it ; on the fact that he had been for a long time transacting the business of the late Mr. SWANZY, and was, therefore, thoroughly acquainted with the nature of the duties to be discharged. But all his claims and all their conjectures gave way before Whig perversity. Mr. M'GAURAN was passed over and Mr. RAE was appointed. This gentleman has not the rather equivocal merit of being a Whig. He is and has been all his life a Tory ; his own party passed him over—wrongly passed him over we suppose—but the professing "liberals" took him under their protection to the great grief of some of the "liberal" journals. As far as Mr. M'GAURAE [sic] is concerned he is, we feel, much too honest and too intelligent, to be a stickler for the Whigs on all occasions, but we know that he did good service to their party at times and, therefore might look to their gratitude as well as his own deservings. But the Whigs were deceivers ever, and whoever put trust in them were at all times confounded. We know not whether Mr. M'GAURAN feels disappointed ; but we are aware that the great mass of the people do. Let us hope, however, that good will come out of it, and that, for the future, Whigs will be weighed in the proper scale in Cavan.

Henry was still Clerk of the Crown at the time of his daughter Catherine's marriage in November 1860. A few years later page 5 of The Meath People and Cavan and Westmeath Chronicle of Wednesday 4^th March 1863 records that "The grand panel of the county was called over by Henry J. Rae, Esq., Clerk of the Crown" and others to preside over the Cavan Assizes.

Henry's death is recorded on page 8 of The Irish Times of Monday 3^rd July 1871. "Rae—On the 2nd inst., at his residence, Leeson Park, Henry Johnson Rae, Esq., eldest son of the late Captain John Rae, 72nd Highlanders. The funeral will leave for Mount Jerome Cemetary on Wednesday morning, at 9 o'clock."

A summary of his will from p.503 of the Calendar of Wills and Administrations for 1871 values his effects at under £6,000 [£1 in 1871 equates to about £78 in 2014]. It states "25 November The Will of Henry Johnson Rae late of No. 41 Leeson-park County Dublin Esquire deceased who died 1 July 1871 at same place was proved at the Principal Registry by the oath of Julia Rae of No. 41 Leeson-park aforesaid the Widow the sole Executrix."

Henrietta Matilda Rae was born ten years after her elder brother, probably due to her father having been abroad with his regiment. Her entry says: "Henrietta Matilda Rae // b[orn] 1812. bapt[ised] at Creagh Church Ballinasloe 13 April 1812". The only church in Creagh seems to be the church of Our Lady at Lourdes, meaning that this branch of the family were Catholic by this point.

Henrietta may have been the twin of Robert, below, since they were both born in 1812, or they may have been born about ten months apart. If they weren't twins, Henrietta must have been the elder, since she was born before 13^th April 1812.

She married an R James, which is all the information which is noted about him on the trees. No children are noted for this couple, which doesn't necessarily mean there weren't any.

Robert Rochfort Rae's entry says: "Robert Rochfort Rae // of Killorglin, Co Kerry // b[orn] 1812 d[ied] 11 Jan 1872 aged 60 y[ea]rs". He may have been the twin of Henrietta, above, since they were both born in 1812, or they may have been born ten months apart.

He married Elizabeth Anne Langford, described as "Eliz Anne, dau[ghter] & heiress of W^m Godfrey Langford of Castle Conway, Co Kerry // d[ied] before 1872". Castle Conway is an actual castle in Killorglin. This doesn't mean the family actually lived in the castle, which was already in ruins by 1682 – just that they lived near it.

The Limerick Evening Post and Clare Sentinel for 23^rd August 1831 carried the following Marriage Notice: "REA [sic] Robert Langford Esq In Dublin, by the Rev. John ALLEN, and subsequently in Scotland, Robert Langford REA, Esq., of Dublin, to Eliza Anne, daughter of William Godfrey LANGFORD, Esq., of Annadale, Co. Kerry."

The Limerick Herald for 25^th August 1831 filled in more detail: "RAE Robert L Esq On the 19th ult [that is, the previous month], in Dublin, and subsequently at Gretna Green, Robert L RAE Esq of Dublin to Elizabeth only daughter of William Godfrey LANGFORD Esq of Annadale, in the co Kerry."

In 1753 a new Marriage Act had ordained that if either of a couple who wished to marry was under twenty-one, they had to get parental consent, and also that they had to notify the community of their intention to marry (publish the banns) well in advance. In Scotland, however, boys could marry at fourteen and girls at twelve, without parental consent and without giving notice, and also without requiring a minister – it was enough to declare their desire to be married in front of a respectable member of the community. The town of Gretna and neighbouring village of Gretna Green lie just on the Scottish side of the border. First Gretna and then, following a reorganisation of the local road system, Gretna Green became popular destinations for eloping young English couples, and the local blacksmith did a roaring trade in marrying them at the village forge, using his anvil as an altar.

[Nowadays the situation is that if you wish to marry under the age of eighteen in England or Wales you need parental consent, whereas in Scotland you can marry at sixteen on your own sole decision. But the rules were recently tightened so that you have to be resident in Scotland for two weeks before you can marry here.]

Robert must have been eighteen or nineteen when he married, and perhaps his parents disapproved of his bride – but the curious thing is that Robert and Elizabeth married in Ireland first, suggesting that there was no impediment to their marriage. Perhaps their parents were tryingt to get their marriage annulled, so they went for a Scottish wedding which was unassailably legal, if slightly foreign.

This must be the Robert Rae of whom NUI Galway's Landed Estates section says: "... Robert Rae was the lessor of several townlands in the parish of Killorglin [at the time of Griffith's Valuation, roughly the mid 19^thC]. In July 1853 over 1,300 acres of land near the village of Killorglin was advertised for sale in the Encumbered Estates' Court, the property of Robert and Elizabeth Anne Rae..." and "Robert Rae was the owner of [a property named Altavilla at Farrantoreen, Killorglin, Killarney] at the time of Griffith's Valuation, when it was valued at £5 5s. It is named as Altavilla on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey map. In 1837 Lewis refers to Ardmoniel Cottage, the seat of R. Rae, but also to Altavilla, residence of J. Morrogh. Bary mentions that Altavilla was associated with the Morrogh family. It was later the residence of the Dodd family and is still extant".

P. 551 of the Calendar of Wills and Administrations for 1872 records that Robert's effects were valued at under £1,500 and: "23 February. The Will (with one Codicil) of Robert Rae late of Ardmoniel Killorglin County Kerry Esquire deceased who died 11 January 1872 at same place was proved at the Principal Registry by the oath of Langford Rae of Keel Castlemaine in said County Esquire one of the Executors."

Anne Eliza(beth) Rae's entry says nothing except "Anne Eliza Rae // b[orn] 1814". She married a Francis Bernard Chute of whom again nothing is noted on the tree except the name "F. B. Chute", although their marriage record shows his name was Francis Bernard Chute from Caher, and gives Anne's middle name as Elizabeth. They married at the parish church in Tralee on 30^th August 1842. No children are noted for this couple.

Catherine Maria Rochfort Rae's entry says only "Catherine Maria Rae // b[orn] 1816. d[ied] 1896" – so she lived to a good age for the time. She married Rev William De Moleyns, described as "Rev W^m de Moleyns // b[orn] 1816 d[ied] 1863 grandson of 1^st Lord Ventry. Rector of Killorglin Co Kerry + Rural Dean". Their marriage records confirm that his name was William and add a "Rochfort" to Catherine's middle names: they were married on 30^th August 1848 at the parish church of Killorglin. The original church record adds that William's father was also William, and that the marriage was witnessed by a Robert Rae, presumably Catherine's brother.

In the Church of England now, and quite possibly in the Church of Ireland then, Rural Dean is an unpaid role held by one of the clergy in a deanery, which involves chairing deanery meetings and sometimes being a channel of communication between parish clergy and the hierarchy, with no extra pay but possibly a bit of status.

In an article on Keel House by Valerie McK Bary, which appeared in Issue #1 of the Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society Magazine, Bary refers to "Keel House [cut] built in 1680 by a Mr. Langford, a large tenant, holding considerable lands under the Mullins' family of Ventry, the landlords of the greater part of the Dingle Peninsula ... In the 19th century, the widespread Rae family made many fashionable marriages, including that of one daughter, Katherine who mar. the Rev. Williams De Moleyns, rector of Killorglin and grandson of Lord Ventry (the original Mullins family and early landlords)." Evidently the De Moleyns were plain Mullinses with a bit of spin.

In 1859 we see William, still at Killorglin, inheriting the effects of his brother Alured, valued at under £5,000. P. 66 of the Calendar of Wills and Administrations for 1859 records: "27 October. Letters of Administration (with the Will annexed) of the Personal estate of Alured De Moleyns late of Kilorglin in the County of Kerry Esquire deceased who died 3 August 1859 at Killarney in the County Kerry were granted at the Principal Registry to the Reverend William De Moleyns of the Rectory of Kilorglin aforesaid Clerk Brother of deceased the Universal Legatee."

No children are listed on the inheritance trees for this couple, but the recoirds suggest they had at least one child, William.

John Rochfort Rae's entry on the inheritance tree says nothing except "John Rae // b[orn] 1818". He must be the John Rae, son of John and Catherine, who was baptised on 29^th March 1819 at the Church of Ireland parish church at Kilnaughtin, so he was probably born at the very end of 1818. He is described as "of Tieraclea" which must have been where his parents where living, adjacent to Tarbert in the parish of Kilnaughtin, Co. Kerry, on the southern shore of the River Shannon.

A family source reports that John moved to Australia in 1839, when he would have been about twenty-one. He must have been a wealthy man, for he "leased 90,000 acres and purchased 800 head Devon cattle almost as soon as he arrived". He married in Melbourne in 1846 to Bessie Barry Power, who had been born in Cork in 1827, and the couple had at least one child, Lucy. She was probably an only child, or at least the only one to survive, since her mother's death certificate lists only one child from this, her first marriage.

John died in on 26^th May 1851 in New South Wales, the same year that Victoria split away from NSW to form its own state: page 2 of a Tasmanian newspaper called the Launceston Examiner for Wednesday 18^th June 1851 records that ""On the 26th ult., at his station, Murrumbidgee, John Rochfort Rae, Esq., after a short illness." "At his station" presumably means that he was a rancher. According to family history his farm ws not Murrumbidgee Station but Mainie Station, on the Murrumbidgee Rive.

Bessie died in 1916 in Melbourne, having had two more husbands and had children with each of them.

Fifth generation: the children of Giles Rae & Ursula Curry

Ursula Rae is not included on the hand-drawn family trees. Her baptismal record calls her "Ursula Rae of Derrymore", born on 12^th February 1817 and baptised on the 15^th at Kilgobbin parish church.

She appears in the 1901 census with the middle initial C, which surely stood for Curry. Aged eighty-four and described as "aunt", she was staying with an Adela U Macintosh who was the head of family at house 14 in Knockglass More. She was a member of the Church of Ireland and is described as a gentlewoman, born in Co. Kerry. There seems to be no actual village at Knockglass More, so house 14 must have been one of a scattering of houses and cottages in the area.

Curry Rae's tree entry says "Curry Rae // of Knockglass // grantor of deed 24 July 1849 /// Engineer". His baptismal record calls him "Curry Rae of Knockglassmore", born 9^th October 1818 and baptised on the 11^th at Kilgobbin parish church. There is no mention of a marriage.

Page 3 of The Tralee Chronicle and Killarney Echo of Friday 16^th July 1875 records the sale of land at Derrymore "Containing about 18 Acres, as lately in the possession of THOMAS SAYERS, deceased, which are held from CURRY RAE, Esq, under a proposal of a lease for the residue term of 31 years, at the yearly rent of £45, situate near Derrymore Mills, in the County of Kerry".

The Schools' Collection tells us of the Raes as landlords at Derrymore circa 1850, and of how Curry Rae built a grand house at Derrymore, before the family relocated to Camp. The dating on the latter story is probably a bit off, as "over one hundred years ago" relative to 1937, Curry Rae was only eighteen.

Edward Day Rae's baptismal record calls him "Edward Rae of Knockglassmore", born 16^th June 1820 and baptised on the 21^st at Kilgobbin parish church. His tree entry says "Edward Day Rae // accountant to the Provincial Bank Limerick in 1849 // of the Hermitage Dungarvan // Grantor of deed d[ated] 24 July 1849". The Hermitage is a street in Dungarvan, Co, Waterford, a coastal town level with Killorglin but on the opposite coast ninety miles to the east.

Edward married Katherine Sarah Masters, described in Tree I as "Katherine Masters // dau[ghter] of Commander Masters". They had three children, Katherine, John and William. This page concerning the marriage of their son William describes Katherine as "Catherine Sarah Masters".

There were two Edward Day Raes alive at the same time: this one, and his uncle, born circa 1788. The name Edward Day Rae – or more properly Edw^d D. Rae – turns up twice in the Tithe Applotment Books (see note below). Because the applotment survey was conducted between 1823 and 1837, finishing when the younger Edward must still have been less than twenty-one, it's likely that both these references to land-occupancy relate to the older Edward, holding land in two distinct plots. However, there's possibility that one or both relate to the younger Edward.

Edw^d D. Rae Esq. at Rock in the parish of Ballynahaglish held 9 acres some time between 1823 and 1837.

It is possible that he and his wife were the Mr and Mrs Rae who appear on page 3 of The Irish Times of Thursday 12^th September 1872, among a list of upmarket locals who had arrived at The Railway Hotel in Killarney. If this refers to a reception (which isn't clear) it was probably not Edward Day Rae, because he was based on the other side of Ireland, but if the people described as "Arrivals" were actually staying at the hotel, he could have travelled to the west for a family gathering and then taken rooms in Killarney.

Edward is mentioned at least three times in The Waterford News. On page 2 of the edition of Friday 14^th June 1861 "Mr Edward D Rae, Provincial Bank, Dungarvan" is listed as donating ten shillings to "Subscriptions Towards the Relief of the Widow and Children of the late John Mulcahy, of Abbeyside, Dungarvan, who was Drowned in Bonmahon Bay, on 20th March last".

On page 2 of the issue of Friday 23^rd July 1875 we find mention of a prominent Mr Rae at Dungarvan who is probably Edward.

We hear that during the last few weeks Dr. Seith Adams, F.R.S., of the Royal College of Science, Dublin, assisted by G. S. Boulger, F.G.S., has been excavating a cave at Shandon, near Dungarvan, under the auspices of the Royal Irish Academy. Bones of the mammoth or hairy elephant of the glacial period, the reindeer, bear, wolf, and wild horse, were found here, in 1859, by the late Messrs. Brenan and Byrne, and by Mr. Rae, and presented to the Royal Museum of Natural History, Kildare-street, Dublin. Numerous additional bones of these animals have been found by Dr. Adams, proving the existence of, at least, two mammoths, eighteen reindeer, and five horses in the cave, whither they either retired to die when aged or diseased, or were dragged by the beasts of prey. The excavation, which is in a quarry on Lord Waterford's property, is still progressing successfully, the remains being destined to complete the collection already in the Royal Museum. This important discovery, the most extensive yet made in Ireland, proves these animals to have lived together in the Colligan valley, in some far back unrecorded epoch.

The most informative article appears on page 4 of The Waterford News of Friday 21^st February 1879.

Present–Messrs. JOHN E. MAHONY (in the chair), T. O'Connor, R. Keily, E. Keoghan, J. Scanlan, P. Flood, M. Hackett, and P. Walsh.
THE MANAGER OF THE PROVINCIAL BANK.—Mr. Flood said he had a resolution to propose in favor of impressing on the directors of the Provincial Bank not to enforce Mr. Rae's compulsory retirement. Mr. O'Connor opposed this motion, not on account of the object proposed, but because the members who supported the resolution very seldom came to the board unless with some object, and for that reason he should oppose the adopting of this resolution until the proper time came on. He should be only too glad to pass any resolution in favor of Mr. Rae, for he knew of no one more worthy of it (hear, hear). Mr. Rae was a long time in Dungarvan, and he (Mr. O'Connor) only spoke the feelings of every member of the board when he said that no gentleman ever earned for himself the good wishes of the Dungarvan people more successfully (hear, hear). The resolution was subsequently unanimously adopted.

The Calendar of Wills and Administrations for 1889 values Edward's effects at £1,166 9s. 6d. and records: "3 September. The Will of Edward Day Rae late of Hermitage Dungarvan County Waterford late Manager of the Provincial Bank who died 29 May 1889 at same place was proved at the Principal Registry by Edward Curry Rae of 89 Upper Leeson-street County Dublin Clerk one of the Executors." Edward Curry Rae was of course Edward Day Rae's son.

Gilesetta S Rae was born after the death of the father for whom she was named. Her tree entry calls her "Gilesetta // one of the lives in deed of 24 July 1849", with an added note at the top saying "b[orn] after father's death". Her baptismal records call her "Gilesetta Rae of Tralee Parish" and show she was born on 24^th June 1824 and baptised on 6^th July at Tralee parish church.

She married a Robert David Macintosh. The tree shows his name, proceeded by an 'M' for "married". Their marriage records show that Gilesetta had the middle initial 'S' and that the couple married on 10^th July 1851 at Kilgobbin parish church. At that time the couple's occupations were just given as "lady" and "gentleman". They went on to have at least one child, Arabella, and by the time of her birth in 1855 Robert was a cashier at a bank in Tralee. This may have been because the poverty amongst their tenants due to the Great Potato Famine of 1845–49 had reduced the value of their lands. The census suggests the existence of another, older child, Adela, although the similarity of the names is such that this could be an error.

Gilesetta evidently inherited her parents' house and passed it on to her child or children. NUI Galway's Landed Estates section says that "Edward F. Day was leasing [a property called Knockglass, Knockglass More, Kilgobban, Tyree] to Ursula Rae at the time of Griffith's Valuation, when it was valued at £11. Lewis refers to it as the home of Mrs. Rae in 1837. Bary states that it later passed by marriage to the McIntosh family but that the house is now ruinous".

Fifth generation: the children of Edward Day Rae & Margaret Sullivan

No children are shown for this couple on the inheritance trees, but baptismal records show that a John Ray of Knockglassmore, a location strongly connected to the Day and Curry Raes, was born on 26^th January 1816 and baptised on 29^th January 1816 at the Church of Ireland parish church in Kilgobbin, and that the names of his parents were Edward and Margaret Ray. Given that Edward Day Rae and Margaret Sullivan had married less than two and a half years previously, and that one does occasionally but incontrovertibly see Rae spelled as Ray in the records, it's a reasonable surmise that this John Ray was really a Day-Rae.

Sixth generation: the children of John Langford Rae & Ellen Emperor

Official records for the Emperor Raes are thin on the ground, but family memory (thank you, Nell) says that the extraordinarily prolific Catholic family of Raes living at Boolteens, just over a mile east-nor'-east of Keel House, and sometimes using "Emperor" as a middle name, are close cousins of the Raes of Keel House.

We know that on 20th March 1854 a Catholic child named Dermot Rae and living at Boolteens was baptised, and that his parents were named as John Rae and Ellen Emperor. [Catholic Parish Registers at the NLI: Keel: Microfilm 04273/09]

Then we have a William Rae who married Ellen O'Brien in the Catholic church in Castlemaine on 14^th April 1885. Ellen was from Conavolla, and one of the witnesses was a John Rae. No details are given for William. The couple went on to have at least eleven children, Daniel; Ellen Mary; Julia Amelia; Joseph; Frances Mary; Stephen; Agnes; Teresa; Alfred Joseph; Mary Margret and Cecilia, all born between 1888 and 1905, all listed as the children of William Rae and Helen or Ellen Brien, and all of whose baptisms are recorded at the Catholic church in Castlemaine. This may or may not be the Catholic church near Boolteens mentioned the the Schools' Collection.

The same family turn up in the 1901 census, living at Boolteens West along with two servants and six boarders. The father, named as "Wm E Rae", shopkeeper and farmer, is forty-two, giving him a birthdate in 1858 or 1859, and his wife Ellen is thirty-two. They have the following children living with them: Frances M, seven; Stephen J, five; Agnes, three; Teresa, two; and Alfred J, less than a year old. All are Catholics, all born in Kerry, and none apparently speaks Irish. Now we know that the William Rae who married Ellen and was the father of these children had the middle initial E.

In the 1911 census they are still living at Boolteens West, with the father described as William Emperor Rae, aged fifty-four (giving him a birthdate in 1856 or 1857), the wife Ellen aged forty-four, five servants and four young daughters: Agnes, thirteen; Teresa, twelve; Mary Margret, seven; and Cecilia, five. William is described as a hotel proprietor, general merchant and farmer. All were born in Kerry. By this point William, Ellen and Agnes are all listed as speaking Irish as well as English: perhaps they learned it for political reasons. Now we know that the William who married Ellen O'Brien and had the middle initial E was William Emperor Rae, born between 1856 and 1859.

We know that "Emperor" is the surname of a family living in the area. William must have been the brother of Dermot Rae of Boulteens, baptised on 20^th March 1854 at the Catholic church in Castlemaine. Dermot's parents are named as John Rae and Ellen Emperor. The Catholic John Rae who was born circa 1856 or 1857 may well have been William and Dermot's brother, and the John Rae who was witness at William's wedding could have been either his father or his brother.

A hand-written entry in The Schools’ Collection records that W.E. Rae (by then a very old man) was one of the sons of Ellie Emperor, and that the family had originally been named Moriarty. They worked as carpenters in Dingle, and one of them repaired a ship in Dingle Harbour so well that the captain declared that he would "make an Emperor of him". The family took what began as a nickname and turned it into an official surname.

Clearly, "Ellie Emperor" must be Ellen Emperor, so William Emperor Rae was one of the sons of the John (Langford?) Rae who married Ellen Emperor. I know of only two John Raes in the area and in a reasonable age range, both with the middle name Langford. One, born in 1817 the son of Giles Rae and Deborah Langford, is recorded as having died a bachelor, and in another entry in The Schools’ Collection, William Emperor Rae himself says that "Giles Ray was the father of Edward and Langford. He had two other sons Frank and John and one daughter Sally. [cut] Any of the family never married.", with no suggestion that John son of Giles might have been his own father.

The other was born in 1807 the son of Langford Rae and Ellen Long, and is a more likely candidate because his marital status is unknown, and unlike most of the Raes of Keel House his branch of the family were Catholics. If it was the latter who was the father of the Emperor Raes, then William Emperor Rae and his brother(s) were probably the nephews of Francis Langford Rae who founded the Langford Rae dynasty in the East, and first cousins to Denis Wilmot Rae and his siblings.

This is not the same William Rae as William Langford Rae, the unfortunate landowner who ended up in the workhouse, since he was a landlord with no other skills with which to support himself, and this William was a merchant and farmer.

The 1901 census shows a John Rae, a Catholic born in Kerry, a farm servant but literate and able to speak both Irish and English, aged forty-four so born in 1856 or 1857, boarding at house 3 in Keel. Ordinarily I would think that the fact that he was a farm servant would rule him out of the Raes of Keel House – but since one of the Keel House Raes had ended up in the workhouse it wouldn't be surprising if a cadet branch had returned to the soil. His presumed date of birth means that he could easily be the brother of William Emperor Rae, whose father was another John Rae who was probably a Catholic.

William Emperor Rae's son Stephen Rae, born in 1895, is surely this militant Republican: "Steve Rae (afterwards sentenced to death) of the Hotel Boolteens, Keel, was an active I.O. and scout for Paddy Cahill. He, who was sent by Cahill with a despatch, was seen passing through Castlemaine after the patrol went to Tralee...", from the Bureau of Military History 1913–21, witness statement by Sean (Bertie) Scully of the Q.M. Killorglin Battalion, Kerry Brigade. The Kerry Brigade were I.R.A.. This seems to be taking place circa 1920.

The same document refers to a "Meeting at Rae's, Keel. // Eamon Price from G.H.Q. attended. This must have been moving on to near the Truce in 1921.

The Schools' Collection tells of how the I.R.A. "flying column" was based at "Rae's house [in] Keel", although it's not clear whether Keel itself or Boolteens is meant. Another extract gives a timeline for these events.

According to the landlady at Murphy's Farmhouse, an attractive and friendly little hotel at Boolteens, the Hotel Boolteens which the Rae family used to run was what is now the Anvil Bar, and it is a grandson of the Boolteen Raes who now has Keel House. The National University of Ireland believes that the Raes who have Keel House now are part of the original family who inherited it from the Langfords. If both these things are true then the Boolteen Raes and the Keel House Raes of the early 20^th C must have been cousins – despite the fact that the Boolteen Raes were involved with the IRA, and the Raes at Keel House were providing a billet for the RIC.

Sixth generation: the children of Francis Langford Rae & Mary Christiana Swords

The descendents of Francis and Mary were born in the East, and are covered in their own section.

Sixth generation: the children of Henry Johnson Rochfort Rae & Julia Haydn

Catherine Harriet Emily Rae must have been born around 1833, as her stated age at death (not always accurate!) makes her 80 in 1913, giving her a birth year in 1832 or 1833, and the census has her at 67 in 1901 and 77 in 1911, making her birth year 1833 or 1834. She certainly can't have been born after 1839, because she married in November 1860 and her age at that point was described as "full", i.e. at least twenty-one – nor, unless there was an unfortunate teenage pregnancy, can she have been born before 1831, since we know her mother was born in 1815. Her tree entry says only "Catherine Rae // d[ied] 9 y[ea]rs ago // bur[ied] in Mount Jerome".

She married George Robert Willson. His tree entry says "Capt[ain] Wilson // of the Cheshire Militia // 9 Waterloo Liverpool". but their marriage record says he was a mere Lieutenant in the Royal Cheshire Militia when they married, on 3^rd November 1860 at the parish church of St Peter in Dublin. Official records show that most of the time the family spelled their surname Willson, with two "l"s.

The marriage record calls Catherine "Kate Harriete Emily Rae". Both are described as of "full" age. Catherine's father Henry was evidently still Clerk of the Crown in Co Cavan, and George's father, James Willson, was Assistant Clerk of the Crown, Queen's Breech, which explains how the couple got together, although it's also true that the Chelsea Militia were based in Ireland in the mid 1850s.

The family remained in Dublin at least until 1870, but the baptismal records of their children show that they were weirdly peripatetic. In September 1861 they were living at 6 Bloomfield Avenue and George was a Lieutenant. In December 1864 they were at 7 Brighton Avenue, Rathgar and George was a Captain in the Cheshires – he was to keep this rank. In January 1867 they were at 12 Leeson Park Avenue. In September 1868 they were at 66 Bushfield Avenue and George was described as a "gent".

The Liverpool Mercury of Thursday 21^st October 1869 records that "Her Majesty has been graciously pleased to accept the resignation of the commission held by Capt George Robert Willson in the 2nd Reg of Royal Cheshire Militia". Since he was to die the following year it may well be that George resigned his commission due to ill health. Nevertherless, when his youngest child was baprised in May 1870 (by which point it's possible the father was already dead), George was still being described as a Captain in the 2^nd Royal Cheshire Mlitia. By this point, the family were living at 19 Kingsland Park.

Page 7 of The Irish Times (Dublin) of 29^th May 1877 carries a notice of the sale of Rae family lands in County Limerick which were to be offered for sale on 26^th June, and this refers to one of the owners as "Catherine Wilson, widow", giving a date-limit for the death of Catherine's husband and the births of her children if any. George, who we know was dead by 1877, is surely the George Robert Willson, born circa 1833, whose death was registered in Dublin South in 1870.

The 1901 census shows Kate Harriet Willson aged 67, widow and head of family, Church of Ireland, literate, born in Dublin, living alone at a house numbered 131.1 in the census, at Cowper Road, Rathmines & Rathgar East, Dublin. She had no occupation and was probably living on the proceeds from the sale of her lands. The 1911 census shows her at what is probably the same house, although now it is numbered 38.4.

The Liverpool Mercury for 8^th February 1913 records: "WILSON, Feb 5th, Cornakill, Glenwyllin Rd, Waterloo, Kate Harriette, widow of the late Capt George R, Cheshire Regt." and the Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages for England and Wales confirms that Willson, Kate H. died aged 80 in the March quarter of 1913, registered in W. Derby, Vol. 8b page 353. This creates some problems, because Tree I states clearly that Catherine died nine years before the tree was drawn up – giving it a date of 1922 – yet it mentions on itself something which happened in 1924. Evidently it took some years to complete.

There is a discrepancy of a year either in her age at death or in the censuses, since the dates of the 1901 and 1911 census were 31^st March and 2^nd April, and if sh had really tuirned 80 by 5^th February 1913 she should have been 68 and 78 in the censuses, not 67 and 77. Or she was really only 79 when she died.

At the time of her death Catherine had apparently gone to live in the place her late husband had come from, i.e. Waterloo, Liverpool, even though he himself had died in Dublin. Possibly she had moved there to be near her son Albert, who was living in Walton, Liverpool as at the 1911 census, and in Waterloo by the time of his death in 1922. If she really was buried at Mount Jerome in Dublin, either she was visiting family in Ireland at the time, or her body was shipped to Dublin on the ferry. There exists a Rae family vault dedicated to the Rochfort Raes at Mount Jerome, inscription n°s 5399–5400, but Catherine is not mentioned on it.

Tree I shows a forked line descending from George and Catherine's marriage, so they had a child, or children, but these are not named on the tree. However, official records show five children born to this couple: Henry, Kate, James, Albert and Astell.

There is also a Wilson family tomb, inscription n° 1499, which contains among others a Gustavus Wilson. Since Gustavus was a Rochfort Rae family name it's possible he was also Catherine's son, but the records show the existence of a Gustavus Wilson who was much too old to be the son of Catherine and George – in fact about the same age as them. It is probably this unrelated Gustavus, or a son of his, who is buried in the Wilson tomb.

Henry Richard Rochfort Rae's tree entry says "Henry Rich^d R. Rae // d[ied] in New Zealand 8 Aug 1914." He married Jane Routledge with whom he had three children, an Amy or Ada and a second and third daughter whose details are not given, except to say they were living in New Zealand at the time that the inheritance chart was drawn up.

His wife's name is also not listed, nor whether he married at home or in New Zealand, but we know her name because of a Death Notice in an Antipodean newspaper, which says: "RAE.–On the 8th August [1914], at Wellington, Henry Richardson, husband of Jane Routledge Rae, and eldest son of the late Henry Johnston Rae, solicitor, Dublin, in his 81st year. Private interment." "In his 81^st year" means he was eighty, so he was born in 1833 or 1834 and was probably the second oldest child.

If he married at home and didn't move to New Zealand until after the birth of his first child, then he and his wife may be the Mr and Mrs Rae who appear on page 3 of The Irish Times of Thursday 12^th September 1872, among a list of upmarket locals who had arrived at The Railway Hotel in Killarney – probqably for a reception although that isn't clear.

Frederick Rochfort Rae's tree entry says "Frederick R. Rae // went to Australia 70 years ago and disappeared". Actually it could say "90 years", but there is no date on the chart later than 1924, and we know that the chart was being drawn up during the first half of the 1920s because it states that Frederick's sister Catherine Wilson née Rae, who we know died in February 1913, had died "9 yrs ago", so the chart was started in or before 1922 and finished in or after 1924. If we assign the chart an average date of 1923, then Frederick disappeared circa 1853. The youngest he is likely to have disappeared is age sixteen (unless he ran away from boarding school), because before that he would surely be under his parents' eye, so that gives him a birthdate of 1837 or more probably earlier – say 1835, making him eighteen when he disappeared.

As for what might have happened to him – he might have had a health problem and died. He might have got lost in the Outback, or into a bar fight, or into the inside of a crocodile, and died. Or he might just have decided that "Frederick Rochfort Rae" sounded too precious and Pommy for words, changed his name to Freddy Rae and sunk without trace into some little sheep-farming community.

Maria Rae's tree entry says only "Maria Rae // married in New Zealand // had no children". She may be the Maria Julia Rae who married a Samuel John Steggall in 1877 and died in 1917 aged seventy-seven, giving her a birth-year of 1839 or 1840 [New Zealand births, death and marriages, marriage registration number 1877/1428, death registration number 1917/7967].

John Rochfort Rae was probably born around 1842. He is described as "John R. Rae // Purser in the P.+O. // married in England but had no children // bur[ied] in the Happy Valley Hong Kong in 1870". His wife's name is not given. P&O is of course a famous shipping line. Happy Valley is now a very built-up but upmarket residential district of Hong Kong, centred around a race-track: in the Victorian era the track was surounded by a green valley. Probably John was working on a ship which had docked at Hong Kong when he died

John's wife's sister married his brother Arthur, so two brothers, John and Arthur, married two sisters.

Gustavus Rochfort Rae was probably born around 1845. He is described as "Gustavus R. Rae // in 63 Reg^t of Foot // d[ied] unm[arried] in 1893". According to Wiki the 63^rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot, a.k.a. "The Bloodsuckers" (so-called because of the resemblance between their fleur-de-lys emblem and a blood-sucking insect), was a single-battalion infantry regiment which returned from Canada to the U;K. in 1865 when Gustavus was sixteen or seventeen. In 1870 they were posted to India, and were briefly involved in the Second Anglo-Afghan War in 1878 – details on this war can be found in the section on William Shirran, who was wounded there. In 1881 they amalgamated with the 96^th (Queen's Own Germans) Regiment of Foot to become the Manchester Regiment.

Arthur Rochfort Rae was probably born around 1848. His entry just says "Arthur R. Rae // married a sister of John's wife // d[ied] in London // no children". The wife's name is not given, only that Arthur and his brother John married a pair of sisters.

He and his wife may be the Mr and Mrs Rae who appear on page 3 of The Irish Times of Thursday 12^th September 1872, among a list of upmarket locals who had arrived at The Railway Hotel in Killarney – probably for a reception although that isn't clear. There are only a limited number of candidates who weren't definitely based a long way away and who were both alive and married on that date.

He also appears on the Rae family vault at Mount Jerome, a cemetary in south Dublin, inscription n° 5399, as "Also | In Memory of | GERALD RAE | Born 24th June 1853 | died | 29th January 1926 | aged 73 years", so the day and month are the same but the year is two years out. It's not a mistranscription, either: the dates on the parish records are clear and unequivocal and the dates on the tombstone are consistent with his having been seventy-three in 1926.

He married Elizabeth Emma Fetherstonhaugh (a name traditionally pronounced "Fanshaw"), whose entry says "Eliz^th E. Fetherstonhaugh // mar[ried] 1877. d[ied] 30 March 1924 // bur[ied] in Eniskillen". Eniskillen is a town in County Fermanagh.

The couple had at least three children: twin daughters Ethel and Hester (the latter sadly died of consumption at sixteen) – unless Ethel and Hester were the same person, of which more anon – and a son Gerald. We know from Ethel's birth record and Hester's death record that Giles was a Clerk at the Crown Office. Ethel's birth record calls the mother Elizabeth Emma Fetherston-squiggle, which Family Search transcribed as Fethersban H, but this is almost certainly a mistranscription, as Fetherstonhaugh is a well-known name and the notes for her on Tree I clearly show a 'g' towards the end of her surname, and a 't' somewhere near the middle. At the time of Gerald's birth in 1880 the family were living at Linekar Road, Dublin.

Vivian Rochfort Rae was born in 1854. His tree entry says "Vivian R. Rae // Capt[ain] 14^th Reg^t // b[orn] 29 June 1854 // bapt[ised] St Peter's 9 May 1855 // d[ied] 1889". The 14^th Regiment of Foot was the Prince of Wales's Own, a.k.a. the West Yorkshire Regiment. Vivian may well have taken part with them in the Second Anglo-Afghan War of 1879–1880 (details on this war can be found in the section on William Shirran, who was wounded there}, and seems to have ended up in India by 1883. The date of death in 1889 appears to be wrong, since official documents state that he died in 1890.

He married Clare or Clara Moss, described as "Clare Moss // dau[ghter] of Thomas Moss. V.L.D // Governor of India // She married 1900 W^m Arthur Shann MB. Cantab of Peter Gate York city". Thomas Moss was not the Governor of India, so the mystery initials must indicate that he was some sort of assistant to the governor.

The couple's marriage record shows that Vivian Rockford [sic] Rae, son of Henry Johnson Rockford Rae, married Clara Moss, daughter of Thomas Moss, on 5^th July 1883 in Ambala, a city in the north of India about four hundred miles from the border with Afghanistan. They had two children, Eileen and Gustavus, although Eileen only lived for three months.

Vivian and Clare were actually the protagonists in a messy and, for those days, unusual divorce, after which both remarried – although Vivian's second marriage was cut short by his untimely death at thirty-five. It may be that the stress of their daughter Eileen's death contributed to the break-up of their marriage, but as a couple they had other problems. Page 2 of the Wednesday 14^th March 1888 edition of the Newcastle Morning Herald & Miner's Advocate of New South Wales, Australia reports:

A DIVORCE suit of Rae v. Rae was heard before Mr. Justice Webb on Friday. The petitioner (says the Age), Clara Rae, née Moss, was born at Allahabad, in India, and the respondent, Vivian Rochfort Rae, was a native of Ireland. They were married at St Paul;s Church of England, Umballa, in the Punjaub, on the 4th July, 1883, the petioner then being 22 and the respondent 26 years of age. The husband was a captain in the West Yorkshire Regiment, having, in addition to his pay (about £400 per annum), an income of £200. In October, 1884, he joined the Army Pay Department, his salary being increased by about £100 a year. In October, 1886, he retired from the service on receiving a gratuity from the Government of £1200. THe issue of the marriage was two children, one of whom died when little more than three months old; while the other, born in October, 1886, was still living with its mother. The parties lived in India for two and a half years, and, on Christmas Day, 1885, sailed for England, Rae having obtained three months' privilege leave. Five weeks after returning to India he was invalided, and went back with his wife to England, where they lived until August, 1887. In that month they sailed for Melbourne in the steamer Liguria, landing on the 4th October. They resided at Lansdowne House, East Melbourne, and Parliament-place, until the 25th October, when their final separation took place. The petitioner stated that she suspected her husband of infidelity in the latter part of 1886. She condoned his misconduct on this and several subsequent occasions on his promising reformation, but he had offended again since his arrival in Melbourne. During the last eighteen months they lived together her husband treated her with great neglect, frequently swore at her, and had several times thrown her bodily out of his bedroom with great violence. Mr Geoghegan, the petitioner's proctor, deposed to admissions made by the respondent, and no further evidence being forthcoming, his Honor reserved his decision.

Five days later on Monday the 19^th page 2 of the Portland Guardian of Victoria reported that "Mr Justice Webb in the Divorce Court to-day granted Clara Rae a dissolution of her marriage with Captain Vivian Rochfort Rae, and has directed that the lady shall have the custody of the child. The defendant has served in India." On Wednesday the 21^st page 7 of the Newcastle Morning Herald & Miner's Advocate reported that "The rule nisi was made absolute anulling the marriage of Clara Rae with Captain Vivian Rochfort Rae, on the grounds of the latter's adultery, desertion, and cruelty."

On the face of it, Vivian appears to be the villain here, although it must be said in mitigation that he is not portrayed as a violent wife-beater persecuting and attacking his wife but as somebody who tried – with physical aggression – to get her to leave him alone, and hurtful though this must have been to a wife who presumably loved him, he was under serious stress – and not just because of the death of his infant daughter. Whatever he was invalided out of the army with, it must have been severe, since at the point at which his divorce came through he had thirty-two months to live – almost to the day.

Also, there's no indication that he contested the divorce, and he married again almost immediately. Legal annulment was hard to obtain and it may well be that he and Clare had agreed on a script between them, in order to have the best chance of being granted a divorce which would suit both parties.

Be that as it may, Vivian's divorce from Clare Moss was granted on the 18^th or 19^th of March 1888, apparently in Melbourne, Australia: another contemporary newspaper report shows Mr Justice Webb dealing with another Melbourne-based case. The voyage between Australia and the UK took over a month, since the report on their divorce has the couple leaving England some time in August and arriving in Australia in early October. Yet, by the end of June Vivian had married his second wife, Matilda Maria J Martin – and had married her in Woolwich, London, England. [Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages for England and Wales: marriages in June quarter 1888, Woolwich Vol. 1d Page 1539] Even if he re-married in late June, he must have left Australia within a few weeks of the divorce, and married Matilda within a few weeks of arriving in England, so it was surely a serious love-match which had been going on for some time, and not just promiscuity. The couple had two children. The first, Guy Langford Rae, was born in February 1889, at which point the family were living at 18 Burdett Avenue, Dublin and Vivian is described just as "Captain". Guy sadly died after just 24 hours, of "debility from birth", his father being present at his death. Either Guy was a bit premature, which would explain his debility, or Matilda was already pregnant when they married. The second child, Errol, was born a year later in February 1890, at which point they were living at 38 Windsor Road, Rathmines, Dublin and Vivian was described as a Captain in the Prince of Wales' Regiment (probably – it actualy looks like the Durci of Nals Regiment). Curiously, although Matilda's name is given on their son Guy's birth record, at his death a day later his father is (falsely) described as a bachelor.

Page 657 of the Calendar of Wills and Administrations for 1891 shows Vivian as leaving effects worth only £100 (although that may just be his effects in Ireland), and states: "8 April Letters of Administration of the persona[l?] estate of Vivian Rochfort Rae late of 18 Windsor-road County Dublin Retired Captain and Wine Merchant's Traveller who died 18 November 1890 at Cannon-street London were granted at the Principal Registry to John Wilson of 55 Capel-street Dublin Saddler a Creditor." John Wilson may have been Vivian's brother-in-law, or a relative of his brother-in-law, since his sister Catherine married a George Willson.

Both Vivian's wives re-married. Matilda married Peter Ridley Thompson in the St Giles district of London in the third quarter of 1892 [Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages for England and Wales: marriages in September quarter 1892, St Giles Vol. 1b Page 1126]: the family appear in Folkestone in the 1911 census with Matilda listed as "Millie" and Errol listed as Peter's stepson [actually, Ancestry.co.uk has mistranscribed him as Enol Rochfort Roe and listed him as female and as Peter's stepsister, even though the census states quite clearly that he is male and a stepson].

Clara married William Arthur Shann at Marylebone, London in the June quarter of 1900, although her tree notes say he was from Peter Gate [Petergate], York and that he was "MB Cantab", i.e. he had a medical degree from Cambridge University. [Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages for England and Wales: marriages in June quarter 1900, Marylebone Vol. 1a Page 1154]

Mary Elizabeth Rae was born around 1858 or 1859. Her tree entry says "Mary Elizabeth Rae // d[ied[ April 1924 // marr[ied] 1887 at St Peter's Church Dublin".

She married William Bloomfield, described as "Dr Bloomfield // d[ied] in 189? // of Dublin // solicitor". Their marriage record shows that William was indeed a solicitor, living at 23 Upper Mount Street, Dublin and his father's name was William Jocelyn Bloomfield, also a solicitor. Mary was living at 4 Oxford Road, Ranelagh, Dublin and the couple married at St Peter's Church on 6^th August 1887.

The couple seem to have no children and their happiness, if such it was, was to be tragically short-lived. Page 46 of the Calendar of Wills and Administrations for 1890 includes an entry labelled "BLOOMFIELD William" at the side. The actual entry is damaged but appears to read: "30 June. Lett[ers of Admini]stration of the personal estate of William [Bloomfield l]ate of 25 Eustace-street and 23 Upper Mo[unt S]treet both in Dublin Solicitor who died 31 May [18]90 at latter place were granted at the Principal Registry to Mary E. Bloomfield of latter place the Widow." On the plus side, the value of William's effects was £13,877 6s. 11d. – probably about £1,000,000 in early 21^st C terms.

Mary appears in the 1901 Irish census as a widow born in Dublin, aged about forty-two – giving her a birthdate in 1858 or 1859 – and a member of the Church of Ireland. She was visiting a house 2.2 in Leinster Street, Trinity, Dublin at the time. The other two people in the house were also single women and also described as visitors, suggesting it was some kind of hotel.

Mary also features on the Rae family vault at Mount Jerome cemetary, dedicated to the Rochfort Raes at Mount Jerome, inscription n° 5400 on the cross of n° 5397: "Erected by | his [that is, Henry Johnson Rochfort Rae's] daughter | MARY ELIZABETH BLOOMFIELD | In Loving and Grateful Memory of | her dear father | 'My flesh also shall rest in hope'".

The record of her death shows she died in south Dublin in the second quarter of 1924, and says that she was seventy-eight, which would give her a birth year in 1845 or 1846. Either the census or her death certificate is wildly out.

Sixth generation: the children of Robert Rochfort Rae & Elizabeth Anne Langford

Catherine (Kate) Frances Rochfort Rae was born in Kerry around 1836 or 1837, according to the 1901 census. Her tree entry says "Catherine Rochfort Rae // d[ied] unm[arried] 1901 or 1902 at Charleston Road Ranelagh", a district of Dublin, although in fact she died in 1906..

We know from the census, and from the Calendar of Wills and Administrations for 1906, that she was staying with her brother Robert at 11 Netherfield Road South, Everton, Liverpool in 1901 (but not apparently in 1891), and living on her own means. Her will abstract says "12 July Catherine (otherwise Kate) Frances Rae formerly of 11 Netherfield-road South Liverpool and late of Ballybrack Waterville County Kerry Spinster who died 29 March 1906 at 2 Charleston-road Ranelagh County Dublin Probate granted at Dublin to Francis Pierce Medical Practitioner Effects £1,230 4s. 7d. Re-sworn £1,409 13s. 4d. and £1,531 11s. 3d." Ballybrack Waterville is on the Iveragh Peninsula thirty-five miles south-west of Tralee.

Catherine may well be the Miss Rae who appears in an article on page 3 of The Irish Times of Thursday 7^th February 1889, which begins: "Stewart Institution for Imbecile Children,—The Managing Committee met on Monday last at their offices, Molesworth street ... The following annual subscriptions were announced". Further down a long list we see "Per Miss Rae, Waterville, hon. secretary for County Kerry" followed by a list of subscribers, and then later "Per Miss Rae (collection), £2 1s 7d."

Robert Rochfort Rae is shown as having been born in between siblings born in 1844 and 1846, which ought to mean that unless he was a twin, or born less than a year from one of them, he must have been born in 1845. However, his entry in the 1901 census for Liverpool clearly states that he was fifty-nine, and the 1891 census says he was forty-eight (and born in Tralee), giving him a birth date between 1841 and 1843. His entry on Tree I says "Robert Rae // L.R.C.D Ireland // Practised as a D^r in Liverpool // d[ied] unm[arried] in Liverpool".

This is peculiar, and may be an error, because an LRCD is a Licentiate of the Royal College of Dentists, and a doctor who got his or her qualification from the Royal Colleges should be an LRCP & S, a Licentiate of the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons. There may be a mishearing involved.

As regards his own will, the Calendar of Wills and Administrations for 1906 says "12 October Robert Rochfort Rae late of 11 Netterfield-road [sic – should be Netherfield-road] South Liverpool Surgeon Died 1 June 1906 Probate granted at Liverpool the 1 September 1906 to Robert Conway Blennerhassil Eagar Francis Pierce M.D. and Osborne E. Barber Limrick M.D. Re-sealed at Dublin Effects in Ireland £621 18s. 2d."

There must be a transcription error here on the part of the clerk who recorded the will, as Bary says that the Raes married into the Blennerhassett family. There is no such name as Blennerhassil, but the Blenerhassetts were a Cumberland family a branch of whom settled in Kerry and were made baronets in 1809.

His sister Catherine had been living with him until fairly recently and had died only a few months before him: her probate entry appears on the same page. He had also administered the effects of his late brother Henry, who had died in 1896.

Gustavus Rochfort Rae (another one) was born in 1844, according to Tree I. His entry says "Gustavus Rochfort Rae, b[orn] at Tralee 1844 // of Altville // D^r in the army // d[ied] unm[arried]". Altville is probably a misspelling of Altavilla, the house which belonged to his father.

He must be the GR Rae referred to on page 2 of The Irish Times of Saturday 23^rd November 1872, thus: "69th—Staff Assistant Surgeon G R Rae to be Assistant Surgeon vice J H Whittaker, promoted on the Staff." The 69^th referred to is probably the 69^th (South Lincolnshire) Regiment of Foot, known as the Ups and Downs, who had served with distinction as marines under Nelson.

According to the National Army Museum "At the start of their 1857–64 deployment to Burma, they became the first British regiment to be deployed to the Far East overland via Egypt rather than by sea. 1867 saw them back in Canada, where they opposed an invasion by Irish-American Fenians in 1870. Their final garrison duties as an independent unit were in Bermuda and Gibraltar before they finally shipped back to England in 1878. Three years later, in the 1881 reorganisation of the British Army, the 69th Regiment became the 2nd Battalion of the new Welsh Regiment." Wiki adds that the occasion on which they successfully helped to oppose a Fenian Raid was the Battle of Trout River, and that they were under the command of Lietenant Colonel Bagot.

We do not know whether Gustavus served with the regiment in Burma, or only joined them in Canada in 1867, when he would have been around twenty-three. The following obituary appeared in The British Medical Journal for 1^st September 1894.

Brigade-Surgeon-Lieutenant-Colonel GUSTAVUS ROCHFORT RAE died at Waterville, Co. Kerry, Ireland, on August 22^nd, aged 48 years. Appointed Assistant Surgeon October 1^st, 1867, he became Surgeon March 1^st, 1873, Surgeon-Major October 1^st, 1879, attained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel October 1^st, 1887 and was made Brigade-Surgeon Lieutenant-Colonel December 23^rd, 1893. He served in the Boer War in 1881.

Sadly, he was to enjoy his promotion to Brigade-Surgeon Lieutenant-Colonel for just eight months. There are several Watervilles in Ireland, but his burial record calls him "of Waterville" and says he was buried at the parish church in Dromod. Dromod is on the north side of the River Cumneragh, just under four miles north-east of the Waterville which is a town on the Iveragh Peninsula. The church record says that he died on 24^th August aged forty-seven, rather than on the 22^nd aged forty-eight.

The Calendar of Wills and Administrations for 1896 records: "29 August Gustavus Rochfort Rae formerly of Ardmoniel County Kerry and late of Aldershot County Hants Brigade Surgeon Lieutenant-Colonel Died 22 August 1894 Probate granted at London the 12 June 1895 Re-sealed at Dublin Effects in Ireland £38 5s." Even in the 1890s £38 isn't much for a Lieutenant-Colonel, who must have had a good salary, but presumably this just means that most of his effects were in England.

Henry Rochfort Rae was born in 1846. His entry on Tree I says "Henry Rochfort Rae b[orn] 1846 // d[ied] 2 Oct 1896 // bur[ied] at Killorglin".

In fact 2^nd October sems to be the date of his burial, not his death, but what is not in doubt is that like his first cousin once removed Francis he died in a psychiatric hospital – and there's no indication that he was a member of staff. The record of his burial calls him plain Henry Rae, gives his address baldly as "LUNATIC ASYLUM" and shows him being buried at the parish church of Kilcolman.

The Calendar of Wills and Administrations for 1897 says "5 May Administration of the personal estate of Henry Rae late of The District Lunatic Asylum Killarney County Kerry Gentleman who died 30 September 1896 granted at Dublin to Robert R. Rae of 11 Netherfield-road South Liverpool Surgeon the Brother Effects £259 10s." So there's no doubt that the Henry Rae who died at the asylum was Henry Rochfort Rae, the brother of Robert the doctor. You can find information on the Killarney asylum here.

William Rochfort Rae was probably born around 1848. His entry on Tree I says only "W^m Rochfort Rae // had no children // executive // well off". I'm not sure about "executive", but it definitely ends in "tive" and that was the best that the forum for deciphering difficult handwriting on Rootschat could make of it.

Since his mother's name was Langford, it is possible that this is the same person as William Langford Rae who was a landowner and landlord in the Kerry area towards the end of the 19^th C. This would however require not only that he had dropped the "Rochfort" in favour of "Langford", but that he had converted to Catholicism, and that the person who drew up the inheritance tree had almost certainly got the brothers out of order. This is because William Langford Rae was almost certainly born no later than 1845 and possibly as early as 1832, so he could not have been the younger brother of Henry Rochfort Rae who we know was born in 1846, according to the chart.

Sixth generation: the children of Catherine Maria Rae & Rev. William De Moleyns

No children are listed on the inheritance tree for this couple, but we know from Bary that the Raes intermarried with the Blennerthassetts, a family from Cumberland who settled in Kerry and were made baronets in 1809. According to the Schools' Collection the youngest daughter of the first Blennerhassett in the area married a Rae in the mid 17^thC, and it's possible that that was the only marriage between them. On the other hand the William J. De Moleyns, son of William De Moleyns, who was born in 1849 or 1850 and who married Evelyn Blennerhassett (born in 1850 or 1851 the daughter of J. A. Blennerhassett) at the Church of Ireland church in Glenbeigh in the parish of Ardfert and Aghadoe on 16^th July 1872 may well be the son of Catherine Rae and William De Moleyns. Both are described as living at Rossbeigh, on the north coast of the Iverargh peninsula about seven miles from Keel, and known as having a good beach for riding.

Sixth generation: the children of John Rochfort Rae & Bessie Barry Power

Sixth generation: the children of Edward Day Rae & Katherine Sarah Masters

Katherine Godfrey Rae was probably born around 1851. Nothing is recorded about her on the hand-written family trees except her name, but the Calendar of Wills and Administrations for 1913 fills in more detail. "26 July Katherine Godfrey Rae late of The Friedenheim Hospital 98 Avenue Road Swiss Cottage London Spinster who died 28 April 1913. Probate granted at London the 2 July 1913 to Samuel D. Budd and Arthur C. Collis-Adamson. Resealed at Dublin Effects in Ireland £169 2s. 6d."

The Friedenheim (German "Peace Home") Hospital occupied a large mansion opposite Swiss Cottage underground station, and was the forerunner of the St Columba's hospice movement.

John Henry Markham Rae was probably born around 1853. Nothing is recorded about him on the hand-written family trees except his name. In documents relating to the death of his brother Edward Curry Rae (whom he must have outlived) in March 1910 he has the acronym C.E. after his name, which perhaps means Chief Executive – or chief executor.

In an article on Keel House by Valerie McK Bary, which appeared in Issue #1 of the Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society Magazine, Bary says "In the 19th century, the widespread Rae family made many fashinable marriages, including that of one daughter, Katherine who mar. the Rev. Williams De Moleyns, rector of Killorglin and grandson of Lord Ventry (the original Mullins family and early landlords). Their elder son mar. another De Moleyns' cousin." Assuming that the brothers in this family have been listed in their correct age-order on the inheritance tree, the son who married a De Moleyns cousin must have been John.

He turns up in the 1901 census, living at house 79.2 in O'Connell Street, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford. John is forty-nine, giving him a birthdate in 1851 or 1852, a Civil Engineer born in Limerick City. He is Church of Ireland. His wife, a Catholic (curious if she was a cousin of the De Moleyns) born in Co. Waterford, is called Clara Frances and is fifty-three, four years older than her husband. No children are shown – but they may have had children who had grown up and left.

William Masters Rae was born around 1854, since an obituary reports that he was thirty-six in November 1890. His tree entry says "William Rae // in the Navy, Surgeon // drowned on the Serpent 1890". Page 5 of the Christmas Day 1890 issue of the The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser of New South Wales reports:

A terrible disaster has befallen a British man-of-war on the coast of Spain. On November 10, Her Majesty's ship Serpent, a twinscrew cruiser of the third class, of 1,770 tons and 4,500–horse-power, was wrecked off Cape Bucy, near the village of Camarinas, not far from Corruna, in the north west corner of Galicia. At first it was asserted that the officers and the crew had been rescued from the wreck by a passing steamer, but a few hours later brought the distressing intelligence that the calamity was worse than had been anticipated, only three lives being saved out of a total of 176 persons. It is also said that the bodies of three ladies have been washed ashore.

HMS Serpent

The Serpent was commissioned at Davenport on June 24 in the present year, and she left England on November 8, in order to relieve the Acorn on the West Coast of Africa. The vessel seems to have had a fair voyage for the last few days, but at the beginning of the week she encountered a heavy gale off the Spanish coast, during which she became disabled, shipped heavy seas, and finally was wrecked on the rocks in a fog. The first Lord of the Admiralty, Lord George Hamilton, M.P., heard of the news as he was about to preside over the annual dinner of the Priory Constitutional Club at Acton on November 12, and in replying to the toast of "Her Majesty's Ministers," he said he had just received a telegram to the effect that one of Her Majesty's ships—the Serpent—had been lost off the coast of Spain, with great loss of life. It was a very melancholy incident, and one which he deeply regretted. The Serpent was one of the newest cruisers, fitted with every modern appliance, and it carried an excellent crew of officers and men. He was unable to say what was the cause of the disaster, but they might deopend upon it that the Board of the Admiralty would make a careful investigation of the circumstances.

There is something in this disaster which is peculiarly shocking. The Serpent, one of the "Archer" class, has a bad record, like her sisters. She was 225 feet long by 36 of beam, and was built at Keyham and engined by Harland and Wolff, of Belfast. Her hull cost £60,606, and her machinery was "estimated" for at £31,000 more. She carried 475 tons of coal in her bunkers, and was designed to cover 7000 knots at 10 knots an hour. In other words, she at that speed burnt only 13½ cwt. of coal per hour. But her maximum speed was to be 17 knots. Her draught was 14ft. 6in, and from the first she and her consorts were cordially disliked by the service. In the manoeuvres of 1888 she broke down more than once. A sore indictment of those responsible for her construction is to be read in the 1889–90 number of Lord Brassey's annual, and in a Blue-Book passim. Admiral Sir William Dowell, Admiral Sir R. Vesey Hamilton, and Vice-Admiral Sir F.W. Richards roundly condemned the whole class, while Admiral Arthur Hood praised one member of it—namely, the Porpoise—but concurred in the vital observations of the other admirals on the class generally. The three admirals first named said—and the words will be read between the lines by seamen—"The officers lately in command of these vessels report that, from the limited experience gained as to their behaviour and sea-going qualities, they appear to be good sea boats, but would not keep up their speek in a ehad sea, and, owing to the great weight in their bows, they pitch heavily. They are quick rollers, and, consequently, unsteady gun platforms. They are all handy vessles. It is reported unanimously that the armament is too heavy, and consequently the vesels are 'crank,' that the weights on the forecastle are too great, and the forecastle itself is not strong enough for the weight it has to bear. Of the Raccoon, the only vessel of the class which appears to have experienced anything like a heavy sea, it is reported that on one occasion, when going 10 or 11 knots against a moderate swell a sea was taken on board which carried away every thing moveable on the forecastle, broke in the fore-hatch, which was battened down, tore away the iron stanchions supporting the forecastle, and bent the beams down three inches. It would seem that the weights forward are too great for vessels with such fine lines, and this naturally causes them to pitch heavily. . . . . Over 34 tons of dead-weight are carried on the forecastle." The three admirals again insisted on the "crank" nature of these vessels. In the face of this fact, though no dounbt the dead-weight of the Serpent was somewhat reduced, it is for the Admiralty to explain why she was sent across "the Bay" in notoriously the worst month of the year.

William Masters Rae appears on page 614 of The London Gazette of February 9^th, 1877, in a list headed "Admiralty, 7th February, 1877. The following qualified Candidates for the Naval Medical Service have been appointed to be Surgeons in Her Majesty's Fleet, with seniority of 30th September, 1876". That's consistent with a birthdate around 1855. The Navy List shows him as having been appointed on 19^th October 1877 as Surgeon on the Plover, a Double-Gun Vessel of 774 tons and 997 horse-power, commissioned at Portsmouth on 1^st June 1876 and operating in North America and the West Indies.

There are numerous comments on his death. The Calendar of Wills and Administrations for 1891 says: "9 March The Will of William Masters Rae late of Hermitage Dungarvan County Waterford Staff Surgeon who died 10 November 1890 at Cape Freece Spain was proved at the Principal Registry by Edward Curry Rae of 112 Lower Baggot-street Dublin Gentleman the sole Executor." Edward Curry Rae was his younger brother.

The Journal of Jurisprudence and Scottish Law Magazine (Volume 35, pages 300–301) for 1891 contains an interesting article about William, although the copy available free on the net has some of the words disappearing into the fold of the spine. "Seamen's Wills.—The Irish Law Reports for April co[ntain] an instance of the privileges accorded by a liberal inte[rpre]tation of the Wills Act to seamen being at sea. In [The?] Goods of William Masters Rae (27 L. Rep. Irish 116), the deceased, who was a staff-surgeon in the Navy, wrote a letter on board ship, just before sailing, in which he stated th[at he] ought to have made his will before sailing, and wish[ed to] leave £500 to B on trust for the children. He also [wished?] his correspondent to act as executor if he were to die[. It] was held that the letter was entitled to probate. The [??] of the cases on 1 Vict. c. 26, sec. 11, seems to be tha[t any?] one in the service is included under the term 'seamen;' and that a man in harbour, or on active service in a foreign river, is deemed to be at 'sea.'—Law Times."

Page 1216 of The British Medical Journal of 22^nd November 1890 reports: "STAFF-SURGEON WILLIAM MASTERS RAE was among those unfortunately lost by the foundering of H.M.S. Serpent off the coast of Spain on November 11th. He was appointed Surgeon September 30th, 1876, and Staff-Surgeon September 30th, 1888."

Page 1346 of The British Medical Journal of 20^th June 1891 says: "THE LATE WILLIAM M. RAE, STAFF-SURGEON R.N // A [memorial?] tablet has been erected in memory of this officer, who was on board the ill-fated Serpent when she foundered. It is of polished white marble on a black ground, with anchor and chain at the base, and bears the following inscription: 'In memory of William Masters Rae, Staff-Surgeon R.N., who, with 172 officers and men, was lost at the post of duty in the wreck of Her Majesty's ship Serpent, near Cape Villano, Spain, on November 10th, 1890, aged 36 years. This tablet was placed here as a token of love and esteem, and as an Irish memento of that sad disaster by his widow and friends.'"

A very long article by Luis Jar Torre, entitled Dark as the Grave, from the Revista General De Marina (General Marine Journal) of May 2006, describes the fate of the Serpent in great detail. Unfortunately it's in Spanish, but with the aid of Google I can make enough of it out to see that in Spain the story of HMS Serpent grew in the telling, as the author lists a series of myths – that the wreck was caused by somebody stealing metal from the lamps, that she was a training vessel stuffed with aristocratic cadets and so on. The reality was that the Admiralty had tried to create a middle-of-the-range class of ship which would do a little bit of everything, but which ended up not quite working as anything.

William's wife and widow is not named on the inheritance tree, but we know from this page that her name was Beatrice De Saussure Kelsall Duncombe. The couple had three children, Katherine, William and Frederick.

Edward Curry Rae's tree entry says: "Edward Curry Rae // Bank of Ireland Dublin // youngest son". He must be the child mentioned on page 4 of The Freeman's Journal of Thursday 6^th November 1856 under BIRTHS, viz.: "November 1, the wife of Day Rae, Esq, Manager of the Provincial Bank of Ireland, Dungarvan, of a son."

The Calendar of Wills and Administrations for 1910 says: "6 April Probate of the Will of Edward Curry Rae late of 42 Rathgar Avenue Rathgar County Dublin Bank Official who died 11 March 1910 granted at Dublin to John H. M. Rae C.E. Effects 541 18s. 9d." John H. M. Rae is of course his brother John Henry Markham Rae.

He married Mary Jane Tier or Teer. Her tree entry says "Mary Teer // of 42 Rathgar Avenue Dublin // marr[ied] 1897" (the year 1897 is also repeated above the marriage mark). Her presumed birth record shows her as the daughter of Robert Tier and Anne Elizabeth McRobie, born 4^th June 1867 at Limerick. The couple had three children, Godfrey, Mildred and Dorothy. The 1901 census shows the family, with the two older children, living at house 420 at Brighton Square, Rathmines, Dublin. All are Church of Ireland. Edward was born at Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, Mary at Adair, Co. Limerick and both childen at 6 Brighton Square, Rathgar.

Edward was one of the executors of the will of his father Edward Day Rae in 1889, where he is described as "of 89 Upper Leeson-street County Dublin Clerk", and the sole executor for his brother William Masters Rae in 1891.

As regards his own will, the Calendar of Wills and Administrations for 1910 records: "6 April Probate of the Will of Edward Curry Rae late of 42 Rathgar Avenue Rathgar County Dublin Bank Official who died 11 March 1910 granted at Dublin to John H. M. Rae C.E. Effects £541 18s. 9d." John Henry Markham Rae was his surviving elder brother.

Ursula Mary Rae is not on the inheritance trees but her marriage record shows that she was resident in Tralee, was the daughter of an Edward Rae and was a minor (less than twenty-one) in August 1883, and this combined with the name Ursula makes it virtually certain she was the daughter of Edward Day Rae and Katherine Sarah Masters. On 25^th August 1883 at the parish church in Tralee,she married Henry Williams the son of Thomas Peter Williams, also of Tralee, over twenty-one and a drummer in the 80^th Regiment (the Staffordshire Volunteers, recently amalgamated into the South Staffordshires).

Sixth generation: the children of Gilesetta S Rae & Robert Macintosh

The 1901 census shows an Adela U Macintosh, an unmarried lady tenant farmer aged forty-seven and therefore born in 1853 or early 1854, Church of Ireland, born in Co. Kerry and living in house 14 at Knockglass More, who is the niece of Gilesetta's sister Ursula with whom she is sharing the house. The similarity of names and ages is such that this could just be an mistranscription of Arabella, below, but if Adela is a separate individual the U probably stands for Ursula.

She probably is a separate individual, and the inheritor of the house at Knockglass More which NUI Galway's Landed Estates section says that Gilesetta inherited from her mother and passed on to her Macintosh children: "Edward F. Day was leasing [a property called Knockglass, Knockglass More, Kilgobban, Tyree] to Ursula Rae [cut] Bary states that it later passed by marriage to the McIntosh family...".

Arabella Sophia Macintosh is not described on the tree, only indicated by a line, but her birth record shows that she was born in Tralee on 26^th October 1855, at which time her father was a cashier with the Bank of Ireland.

Seventh generation: the children of William Emperor Rae and Ellen O'Brien

Boolteens is spelled throughout these baptism records as Boulteens. The mother is given as either Ellen or Helen Brien.

Daniel Rae of Keel, baptised 23^rd May 1888. [Parish Registers, Book N°: 3 Page: 355 Entry N°: 12 Record: KY-RC-BA-153141]

Ellen Mary Rae of Boulteens, born 10^th July 1890 and baptised 11^th July 1890. [Parish Registers, Book N°: 4 Page: 9 Entry N°: 12 Record: KY-RC-BA-153293]

Julia Amelia Rae of Keel, born 30^th July 1891 and baptised 1^st August 1891. [Parish Registers, Book N°: 4 Page: 15 Entry N°: 13 Record: KY-RC-BA-153386]

Joseph Rae of Keel, born and baptised 22^nd December 1892. [Parish Registers, Book N°: 4 Page: 22 Entry N°: 16 Record: KY-RC-BA-153491]

Frances Mary Rae of Boulteens, born 18^th February 1894 and baptised 25^th February 1894. [Parish Registers, Book N°: 4 Page: 29 Entry N°: 9 Record: KY-RC-BA-153595]

Stephen Rae of Boulteens, born 21^st December 1895 and baptised 22^nd December 1895. [Parish Registers, Book N°: 4 Page: 37 Entry N°: 15 Record: KY-RC-BA-153726]

A witness statement by Sean (Bertie) Scully of the Q.M. Killorglin Battalion, Kerry Brigade for the Bureau of Military History 1913–21 reports that: "Steve Rae (afterwards sentenced to death) of the Hotel Boolteens, Keel, was an active I.O. and scout for Paddy Cahill. He, who was sent by Cahill with a despatch, was seen passing through Castlemaine after the patrol went to Tralee." This seems to be taking place circa 1920.

I can't find any evidence as to whether Stephen was actually executed, although I did establish that the British executed twenty-four I.R.A. members 1919–21, while the newly independent Irish Free State executed eighty-one during the Irish Civil War of 1922/23. I can find no Stephen Rae on either list, so perhaps the advent of the Irish Free State saved his bacon, and then he ended up on the Irish government side. What I did find was an article by historian Owen O'Shea, concerning a 1984 interview with pre-separation I.R.A. stalwart Dan Mulvihill. Mulvihill was himself from the Castlemaine area, and the interview was conducted by a David Rae who is clearly the son of the Stephen Rae born at Boolteens in 1895, and by his son Stephen Rae who is now a well-known newspaper editor. According to this article:

I was contacted by Stephen Rae, a native of Castlemaine and a former editor of the Irish Independent, who, with his father, David Rae, had carried out the interview, part of a series of interviews with veterans of the war against the Black and Tans. Stephen Rae senior, David’s father, was an intelligence officer with the IRA in Keel, a large rural parish at the eastern end of the Dingle Peninsula during the early 1920s and fought the Black and Tans alongside Mulvihill and his comrades. The Rae family hotel near Castlemaine was a haven for IRA men on the run.

Agnes Rae of Boulteens (although the family surname is here misspelled as Ray), born 13^th September 1897 and baptised 18^th September 1897. [Parish Registers, Book N°: 4 Page: 46 Entry N°: 14 Record: KY-RC-BA-153868]

Teresa Rae of Boulteens, born 11^th November 1898 and baptised 12^th November 1898. [Parish Registers, Book N°: 4 Page: 52 Entry N°: 13 Record: KY-RC-BA-153962]

Alfred Joseph Rae of Boulteens, born 7^th May 1900 and baptised 12^th May 1900. [Parish Registers, Book N°: 4 Page: 60 Entry N°: 12 Record: KY-RC-BA-154089]

Seventh generation: the children of Catherine Harriet Emily Rae & George Robert Willson

Henry George Willson of 6 Bloomfield Avenue was born on 21^st August 1861 and baptised on 20^th September 1861 at the Church of Ireland parish church of St Peter's, Dublin, where his parents had married. His parents are named as Kate Willson and George Robert Willson, Lieutenant 2^nd Royal Cheshire Militia.

We know that he is the Henry George Willson who died in Dublin South in the June quarter of 1887, aged just twenty-five: a death entry on page 1 of The Freeman's Journal for Thursday 14^th April 1887 records "WILLSON–April 13, 1887, at 2 Stamer street, Henry George, eldest son of the late Captain Willson, Cheshire Regiment, and grandson of the late Henry Johnston Rae, Clerk of the Crown for the count Cavan, Esq. Funeral to Mount Jerome on Saturday morning at 9 o'clock". That his father also died young raises the possibility of some inherited weakness, but his sister (below) is reported to have died of tuberculosis at the same address only two months later, so it may well be that Henry also had TB, which I am told was rife in Dublin at the time.

Kate Augusta Alberta Willson of 7 Brighton Avenue, Rathgar was born on 27^th September 1864 and baptised on 30^th December 1864 at the Church of Ireland parish church of St Peter's, Dublin. Her parents are named as Kate Harriet Willson and George Robert Willson, Captain 2^nd Royal Cheshire Militia.

A death entry on page 1 of The Freeman's Journal for Thursday 16^th June 1887 records "WILLSON–June 15, 1887, at 2 Stamer street, of consumption, Kate Alberta, aged 22 years, only surviving daughter of the late Captain Willson, Cheshire Regiment, and granddaughter of the late Henry Johnson Rae, Esq. Clerk of the Crown for the county Cavan. Funeral on to-morrow (Friday) morning at 9 o'clock for Mount Jerome."

James Frederick Willson of 12 Leeson Park Avenue was born on 30^th November 1866 and baptised on 2^nd January 1867 at the Church of Ireland parish church at Rathmines, Dublin. His parents are named as Catherine Harriett Willson and George Robert Willson, Captain 2^nd Royal Cheshire Militia.

Albert John Arthur Willson of 66 Bushfield Avenue is double-registered. He appears under the spelling "Wilson" and with no house-number as having been born on 7^th July 1868 and baptised on 10^th September 1868 at the Church of Ireland parish church of St Peter's, Dublin, with his parents named as Kate Wilson and George Robert Wilson, gentleman. He also appears with a more complete address and the surname "Willson" as baptised at some unspecified time in 1868 at the Church of Ireland parish church at Sandford. His parents are named as Kate and George Robert Willson.

Albert appears in the census married to a lady named Patience who was born around 1865 (described as 35 in the 1901 census and 46 in the 1911 one): there's no doubt it's the right Albert Willson as he had a son named Astell and was born in Dublin. Patience's middle initials were A F; her surname is not given but all her children listed in the census had two middle initials of which the second was M, and in one case other documents show that that M stood for Mortimer, so her maiden surname probably was also Mortimer. She had been born in Mullagh, Co. Cavan – the county for which Albert's grandfather Henry was Clerk of the Crown.

In the 1901 census they were living at house 22 in the civil parish of Walton on the Hill, Liverpool and the ecclesiastical parish of St John the Evaqngelist, along with three children: Olive, 10; Astell, 9 and Cyril, 5. Albert, 32, was a commercial clerk. The family, like Albert's parents, had moved around a lot: Olive was born in Forrest Gate, Essex; Astell in Bootle, Lancashire and Cyril in Liverpool (specified in the 1911 census as Walton).

In the 1911 census they were living at 22 St John's Avenue in the civil parish of Walton on the Hill, Liverpool along with the three now grown-up children. Albert, 44, was the boss of a canned foods brokerage firm. Olive, now 20, was not working but Astell, 19, was a clerk at a consulate and Cyril, 15, was a junior clerk at a canned foods broker's office – presumably his father's office.

Albert died on 8^th May 1922, aged 51, as shown by this excerpt from The London Gazette of 20^th March 1923. Here we see that Cyril's middle initial M stood for Mortimer, so that was probably Patience's surname.

Re ALBERT JOHN ARTHUR WILLSON, deceased.

Pursuant to the Act of Parliament of the 22nd and 23rd Vict., c. 35.

NOTICE is hereby given, that all creditors and other persons having any debts, claims or demand against the estate of Albert John Arthur Willson, formerly of "Incewood," Waterloo Park, Waterloo, in the county of Lancaster, but late of 10, Victoria-road, Waterloo aforesaid, Canned Goods Broker (who died on the 8th day of May, 1922, and whose will was proved in the Liverpool District Registry of the Probate Division of His Majesty's High Court of Justice, on the 1st day of November, 1922, by Astell John Willson and John Charles Wilson, two of the executors therein named, and by Cyril Henry Mortimer Willson, the other executor, on the 26th day of January, 1923), are hereby required to send, in writing, the particulars of their debts, claims or demands to me, the undersigned, the Solicitor for the said executors, on or before the 20th day of April, 1923, after which date the said executors will proceed to distribute the assets of the said deceased amongst the persons entitled thereto, having regard only to the debts, claims and demands of which they shall have had notice; and they will not be liable for the assets of the said deceased, or any part thereof, so distributed, to any person or persons of whose debts, claim or demands thay shall not then have had notice.—Dated this 15th day of March, 1923.

JNO. C. WILSON, 60, Castle-street, Liverpool, Solicitor for the said Executors.

Astell John Willson of 19 Kingsland Park was born on 26^th December 1869 and baptised on 31^st May 1870 – the same year his father died – at the Church of Ireland parish church of St Peter's, Dublin. His parents are named as Kate Harriette Willson and George Robert Willson, Captain 2^nd Royal Cheshire.

We know Astell was still alive in January 1923, when he was one of the executers of the will of his late brother Albert (above). The brothers were probably close, as Arthur called one of his own sons Astell.

Seventh generation: the children of Henry Richard Rochfort Rae & Jane Routledge

Ada Gladys Rae is described on Tree I just as "Amy Rae", married to "Alfred Kernot of Wellington, New Zealand". New Zealand's records of births, deaths and marriages, registration n° 1896/2099, show Ada Gladys Rae marrying Alfred Ernest Kernot in 1896. Her date of birth was probably around 1872. The tree shows the couple as having two daughters, Vivienne and (apparently) an older sister, not named, who became a Mrs Buchanan.

A second daughter, living in New Zealand at the time the inheritance chart was drawn up – no other details given.

A third daughter, living in New Zealand at the time the inheritance chart was drawn up – no other details given.

Seventh generation: the children of Gerald W Rae & Elizabeth Emma Fetherstonhaugh

It appears on the face of it that Gerald and Elizabeth had twin daughters born at 22 Holles Street, Dublin on 23^rd February 1878 (and not mentioned in the inheritance tree): Ethel Rochfort Rae and Hester Mary Rochfort Rae. However, the fact that there exists a birth record for Ethel but no baptism or death, and baptism (parish of St Peter, 20^th August 1878) and death records for Hester but no birth (other than that mentioned on the baptism record) raises the possibility that they were the same person, and either her parents changed her name in the six months between birth and baptism, or the clerk who wrote her down as "Ethel" misheard her name.

Either way Hester died aged sixteen on 8^th July 1894 at 8 Upper Leeson Street, of pulmonary consumption (tuberculosis), from which she had suffered for three years; just thirteen months after the death of her twelve-year-old brother Gerald, so if she and Ethel were indeed the same person, the family lost all (both) their children in just over a year. The inscription on the Rae family vault records "his [that is, Henry Johnson Rae's] | Grand daughter | HESTER MARY | ROCHFORT RAE | '(BEBE)' | who passeth from | death unto life | (-) July 1894 | aged 16 years | and 4 months | 'Blessed are the | pure in heart | for they shall | see God'".

Gerald Henry Rae is not mentioned in the inheritance trees, but his baptism record shows that he was the son of Gerald and Elizabeth Rae of Linekar Road, and was born 30^th November 1880 and baptised in January 1881 at St Peter's Dublin. He died very young: the inscription on the Rae family vault at Mount Jerome cemetary says that the dead include "GERALD HENRY RAE | '(RORIE)' | died 4th June 1893 | aged 12 years | and 6 months | 'Is it well with | the child'". The full inscription can be read at the base of the page.

Seventh generation: the children of Vivian Rochfort Rae...

... with Clare Moss

Eileen Clare Rochfort Rae is not mentioned in the inheritance trees, for she lived only three months. Her birth record shows that she was born on 2^nd August 1885 in Murree, Punjab, and christened on 7^th September 1885. Her death record shows that she died on 21^st November 1885, and was buried on the 22^nd in Rawalpindi.

Gustavus Rochfort Rae is described on Tree I as "Gustavus Rochfort Rae // b[orn] 1 Oct 1886 // Major I[ndian] A[rmy] // of Sitapur N[orthern] P[rovince] India". He married Ida Nadin, described as "Ida Nadin // dau[ghter] of H. Trafford Nadin of Burton on Trent".

Their marriage record, which spells Gustavus as "Gustavis Rockfort Rae", shows that they married on 6^th January 1912 at St Thomas Cathedral, Bombay [Mumbai] (an Anglican church), that Ida had been born in 1888 and that her father's first name was Humphrey. They seem to have had just one child, Cynthia Ida Rochfort Rae.

Following Ida's death on 27^th June 1927 in Mussoorie, Bengal Gustavus married again to Emily Maud Cott, daughter of Robert Cott, in Meerut on 24^th November 1928. No children are listed for this couple.

... with Matilda Marie Julia Martin

Guy Langford Rae is not mentioned in the inheritance trees. He was born on 18^th February 1889 at the Royal Marine Hotel in the Rathdown district, south-east Dublin. The family were living at 18 Burdett Avenue, and Vivian is described just as "Captain". Sadly Guy died after just 24 hours of "debility from birth", still at the Royal Marine Hotel. He may (or may not!) have been a bit premature, as he was born eight months after his parents married. According to his death record no medic was present at his death, but his father was with him. For some reason, his mother's name is given in full on his birth record, but a day later his father is described (falsely) as a bachelor.

Errol Vivian Rochfort Rae is not mentioned in the inheritance trees. A paper list of "Baptisms solemnized in the Parish of Rathmines in the County of Dublin in the year 1889" shows that he was born on 14^th February 1890 and baptized on 13^th April, at which point the family were living at 38 Windsor Road. Errol was actually born after the death of his father, and was raised by his mother and her second husband Peter Ridley Thompson, described in the 1901 census as "Capt. Army Reserve of Officers D.A.A.G. South Dist." Errol is not shown with his mother and was probably away at school, although I haven't found him.

The family appear in Folkestone in the 1911 census with Matilda listed as "Millie" and Errol listed as Peter's stepson [except that Ancestry.co.uk has mistranscribed him as Enol Rochfort Roe and listed him as female and as Peter's stepsister, even though the census states quite clearly that he is male and a stepson].

Seventh generation: the children of Lucy Rae & Thomas Hume

Family history records that Lucy and Thomas had a daughter Bessie Rae Hume. She lived in Melbourne, and was born in 1877 and died in 1950.

Family history records that Lucy and Thomas had a son Oswald Thomas Hume. He lived in Melbourne, and was born in 1880 and died in 1927.

Family history records that Lucy and Thomas had a son Archibald Maxwell Hume. He lived in Melbourne, was born in 1883 and died in 1964, and had at least one child, Archibald.

Family history records that Lucy and Thomas had a son Rochfort Andrew Hume. He lived in Melbourne, and was born in 1885 and died in 1964.

Seventh generation: the children of William Masters Rae & Beatrice De Saussure Kelsall Duncombe

Katherine Godfrey Masters Rae is not mentioned in the inheritance trees, but is recorded on this page on the Duncombe family. One can only estimate very roughly that she was probably born around 1880, based on her father's birthdate of 1854 or very late 1853.

William Sidney Duncombe Rae is described on Tree I as "W^m Sidney Duncombe Rae of Aberdour, Scotland // was in the navy". This page on the Duncombe family gives his first name as William. One can only estimate very roughly that he was probably born around 1882, based on his father's birthdate of 1854 or very late 1853. His widfe's name is not given but Tree I shows that he was married and the couple had at least one child, a daughter.

Frederick Edward Rae is not mentioned in the inheritance trees, but is recorded on this page on the Duncombe family. One can only estimate very roughly that he was probably born around 1884, based on his father's birthdate of 1854 or very late 1853.

Seventh generation: the children of Edward Curry Rae & Mary Jane Tier

Godfrey Rae is named on Tree I but not otherwise described. The 1901 census shows the family living at Brighton Square, Rathmines, Dublin, and that Godfrey was the eldest, born at 6 Brighton Square and three years old, giving him a birth year of 1898 or 1897.

Mildred Rae is described on Tree I as "Mildred Rae // marr[ied] 1 Sep 1924 at Harold's Cross Church" (probably the Church of Ireland church at Harold's Cross, Dublin is meant). The 1901 census shows the family living at Brighton Square, Rathmines, Dublin, and that Mildred was born at 6 Brighton Square and was one year old, giving her a birth year of 1900 or 1899. Her husband Richard Frederick Hammond is described as "Rich^d Fred Hammond // B.R.S.C.D only son of the late Robert Hammond of Moira, Co Down".

Dorothy Rae is named on Tree I but not otherwise described. If she really was the youngest, and given her parents' marriage in 1897, she was probably born round about 1903.

Eighth generation: the children of Stephen Rae & unknown partner

All I know about David Rae is that he and his son Stephen Rae interviewed the retired senior I.R.A. man Dan Mulvihill in 1984. I have estimated his likely birth as circa 1930, based on the apparent age of his son (which would mean that his father Stephen was not executed), but he could easily have been born ten years earlier.

Eighth generation: the children of Albert John Arthur Willson & Patience A F Mortimer

We know from the 1901 and 1911 census that Olive K Mortimer Willson was born in 1890 or 1891 at Forrest Gate, Essex. She was still living with her parents at 22 St John's Avenue in the civil parish of Walton on the Hill, Liverpool at the time of the 1911 census, and was not working. That the M in her name stands for Mortimer is an assumption, but a very likely one, as all three siblings had a middle initial M and we know that in Cyril's case it definitely stood for Mortimer.

We know from the 1901 and 1911 census that Astell F Mortimer Willson was born in 1891 or 1892 at Bootle, Lancashire. He was still living with his parents at 22 St John's Avenue in the civil parish of Walton on the Hill, Liverpool at the time of the 1911 census, and was working as a clerk at a consulate. That the M in his name stands for Mortimer is an assumption, but a very likely one, as all three siblings had a middle initial M and we know that in Cyril's case it definitely stood for Mortimer.

We know from the 1901 and 1911 census that Cyril Henry Mortimer Willson was born in 1895 or 1896 at Walton, Liverpool. He was still living with his parents at 22 St John's Avenue in the civil parish of Walton on the Hill, Liverpool at the time of the 1911 census, aged 15, and was working as a junior clerk in the office of his father, a Canned Foods broker. He was one of the executors of the will of his father, Albert, in January 1923.

Eighth generation: the children of Ada Gladys Rae & Alfred Ernest Kernot

The children of Ada/Amy Rae and Alfred Kernot are described on Tree I thus: "2 dau[ghter]s // one married Commander Buchanan of Sussex // Vivienne Rae". This is peculiar not only because it's unclear whether it was Vivienne or her sister who married the Commander, but because their surname ought to have been Kernot. It's possible that Vivienne kept, or reverted to, her mother's maiden name for political or professional reasons, or this could just be an error because the person who drew up the chart had Rae-shaped spots before the eyes. With these provisos, the two girls are probably:

An elder daughter with the surname Kernot, first name not known, who married a Commander Buchanan of Sussex. Her date of birth is not known, but given her parents' marriage in 1896, she was probably born round about 1898.

Vivienne Kernot, who may for whatever reason have used the surname Rae. Her date of birth is not known, but given her parents' marriage in 1896, she was probably born round about 1900.

Eighth generation: the children of Gustavus Rochfort Rae & Ida Nadin

Cynthia Ida Rochfort Rae is described on Tree I simply as "Cynthia Ida Rochfort Rae // b[orn] 12 Nov. 1912".

Eighth generation: the children of Archibald Maxwell Hume & unknown partner

Archibald Maxwell Hume had at least one son, Archibald Lloyd Hume, who was born in 1926, probably in Melbourne, and died in 1988. He married young and had at least one child, Angus.

Eighth generation: the children of William Sidney Duncombe Rae & unknown partner

William and his wife had a daughter with the surname Rae who was probably born in about 1908.

Ninth generation: the children of David Rae & unknown partner

I have estimated Stephen Rae's birth as circa 1960, based on the fact that he was old enough by 1984 to assist his father David Rae in interviewing the retired senior I.R.A. man Dan Mulvihill, but still looks fairly young and fresh-faced at the launch of a book of Mulvihill's memoirs published in March 1925: but he could be a few years older or younger.

Stephen has had a very active career. Described as "originally from Castlemaine, Co Kerry" (so the Boolteens Raes didn't stray far from their roots), he is a graduate of the Dublin Institute of Technology and qualified as a barrister at King's Inns, Dublin. He edited the Irish Evening Herald, then in 2012 became editor of the Irish Independent. In 2013 he became Editor-in-Chief of INM (Independent News & Media), a.k.a. Mediahuis Ireland, responsible for "oversee[ing] the new 'Digital First' strategy at INM, managing operations online and overseeing the print editions of the Irish Independent, 'Sunday Independent' and 'The Herald'...."

Ninth generation: the children of Archibald Lloyd Hume & unknown partner

Archibald Lloyd Hume had at least one son, Angus Alexander Hume, who was born in 1946. He married Stephanie, who is also researching the Raes and has supplied a lot of very good information, especially concerning the Willson family and the descendants of the John Rochfort Rae who emigrated to Australia in 1839.

Waifs and strays: random Raes who are almost certainly descended from the Raes of Keel House, but whose exact place on the family tree is unclear

There are a number of younger Raes, at least one with the middle name Langford, whose place on the family tree is obscure, though probably the Langford one descends from either Robert Langford Rae, who may or may not have had children, or Langford Rae, who definitely did have children who are not listed on the 1925 inheritance tree. It is also possible that one or more of the sons of Giles Rae and Deborah Langford, who all died unmarried, nevertheless fathered an illegitimate line who took their father's surname.

There are also several Raes who lack the "Langford", but who were born in the Langford Rae heartland of Keel, Dingle, Castlemaine and Tralee. Any of these could have been family members, or just local people who had come by the Rae surname independently.

In addition, I have not yet been able to trace the connection between the Raes of Keel house and three of the families into whom Bary says they married – Moore, Waters and Conway-O'Connor (aside from an Ellen Rae baptised in 1804, whose parents were a Giles Rae and a Mary Connor). Any of these might represent cases where I already know the name of the Rae partner but don't have the name of their spouse, or where I know the spouse but not their mother's name, or they could be marriages by unlisted Raes.

There are two different Mary Raes, born in 1804 and 1846 (see below), both with fathers called Giles. The Mary Rae who was baptised at the Catholic church in Castlemaine on 16^th June 1804 lived at Keel and was the child of Giles Rae and Catherine Kelly. The timing, and the confusion over whether the first Giles Rae of Derrymore was married to an Ellen or a Katherine, suggests that her father might have been the second Giles Rae of Derrymore, and that he had a first wife Catherine who died young, prior to his marriage to Deborah Langford – or perhaps an unwed lover whose child took her father's name, since I can't find their marriage. I have not seen any evidence that the second Giles was a Catholic, but if Catherine was he might have gone along with her wishes. But then we also have Ellen Rae baptised on 27^th May 1804 at the same church, whose parents were a Giles Rae of Keel and a Mary Connor: although of course the fact that Mary and Ellen were baptised in the same year need not mean they were born in the same year. Either there was more than one Giles Rae at Keel at the same time, or there was one who was a very popular boy. Both girls have been listed above as children of the Giles Rae who was the son of Edward Rae and Anne Langford, but that may be an error.

It is possible that the first Giles Rae had a brother who is not shown on the inheritance trees, and who had a son Giles who became a Catholic.

Giles Rae of Spa Tralee was buried at the Church of Ireland church in Tralee on 16^th August 1855, aged thirty-eight – so he was born in 1816 or 1817. This could be the Giles who married Marcella and was the father of Catherine, John, Sarah and Mary, below – but this doesn't tell us where, if anywhere, he and his putative offspring fitted into the Raes of Keel House.

William Langford Rae died December quarter 1910 in Killarney, County Kerry. [FamilySearch] His estimated birth year was 1845 but the census (of which more anon) has him born in 1832. According to Property owners County Kerry circa 1870, William L Rae of Ardmoneel, Killorglin, Kerry, who may or may not have been William Langford Rae, owned 835 acres: Killorglin is about four miles south of Keel, and Killarney is about ten miles south-east of Killorglin. He may or may not be the W^m L Rae of Kilburn[e], two miles south-east of Keel, who applied for a licence for a white and red fox terrier, male, and a black setter, female at Milltown on 30^th March 1881.

He might possibly be the William Roe (which is often a mistranscription of Rae), son of John and Rose, who was baptised Catholic in Dublin in 1833. But if so, who were John and Rose? They would have to be closely related to the Keel Raes, and Catholic, and connected to Dublin. Perhaps it's the same John Langford Rae who married – at least unofficially – Ellen Emperor. The first child we know for sure that John had with Ellen was born when John was nearly fifty, so there's plenty of time for him to have had an earlier partner.

William Langford Rae turns up twice in the newspapers. The first mention is slight but intriguing. The Liverpool Mercury, 18^th August 1875, page 1, column 2, carried a notice to the effect that "MR. WILLIAM LANGFORD RAE, late of Seymour-street, London, is earnestly requested to communicate with the advertiser.—Address L. J. S., Temperance Hotel, 11, Cases-street." This might have something to do with the sale, in July 1875, of land belonging to Curry Rae.

Less happily, under the heading "TOPICS OF THE DAY." The Citizen (Gloucester) of 14^th January 1887, page 3, column 2, carried a section on news from Ireland, referred to as "the Sister Isle", which begins with a long and strongly disapproving article about an incident at Glenbeigh in County Kerry when starving tenants, unable to pay their rent, were evicted in mid winter and their houses burned by agents of a firm of London money-lenders who had taken over from their absentee landlord. This is followed by:

The following little incident is an eloquent sign of the times. A sad case of destitution arising out of the present land agitation was brought to light at Wednesday's meeting of the Killarney Board of Guardians when Mr. WILLIAM LANGFORD RAE, a landlord, sought admission to the workhouse. He is a land proprietor in Killarney, but his land is valueless to him, as he got no money out of it. The annual rental of the property after giving a reduction was £350. He could not dig, to beg he was ashamed, and so the applicant was admitted, the relieving officer stating that he would starve in the streets if kept out.

[Luke 16:3: "Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed."]

You can find information on the Killarney workhouse here. So striking was this story that it even made it into the New York Times. Since William didn't die until 1910, however, we know that he survived this crisis. According to NUI Galway's Landed Estates section, "In 1906 terms had been arranged by the Congested Districts Board for the purchase of over 600 acres of the estate of W.L. Rae in county Kerry. In 1909 the Board reported that this land had been purchased." Even before this, however, he had somehow made it out of the workhouse, for he is probably the Catholic William Langford Rae born 1832, occupation "Landlord", who appears in the 1901 census as a boarder at 5 Main Street, Killorglin, lodging with a family called O'Sullivan. His place of birth is given simply as Co. Kerry.

The Calendar of Wills and Administrations for 1911 records: "6 February Probate of the Will of William L. Rae late of Killorglin County Kerry Esquire who died 31 October 1910 granted at Cork to The Reverend Thomas Lawlor R.C.C. Effects £20 19s. 4d."

It is conceivable that this William Langford Rae was the same person as W Rochfort Rae, whose mother was a Langford and who might have decided to take her name instead of "Rochfort". However, this would require both that W Rochfort Rae had independently converted to Catholicism, like the descendants of Langford Rae, and that the inheritance tree had got the order of birth of W Rochfort Rae and his brothers wrong – for it shows him as younger than Henry Rochfort Rae who we know was born in 1846.

The Killorglin Town History Trail booklet states that Langford Street in Killorglin, "once the main line into town from the south/east [cut] was named after landlord William Langford-Rae. There were no houses on it in 1812, the core streets then being Main Street/The Square and Upper Bridge Street. By 1841 there were 25 buildings in Langford Street."

A souvenir booklet about Langford Street, written by Tom Doyle in 1992 for distribution by O'Neill's Bar in Langford Street, states "The earliest accurate maps of Ireland were the Ordnance Survey Maps 1841–45. Killorglin village was surveyed in 1841/42, all of one hundred and fifty years ago. At that point the only street name indicated on the Killorglin map was Mill Road. However, by the time of Griffith's Land Valuation ten years later (Aug 1852) Langford Street had entered into recorded history. // The street name owes its origin to the Langford-Raes who owned all the townlands of Ardmoneil and Farrantoreen, within which most of Langford Street lies. // Giles Rae of Keel married Deborah Langford in 1818. The family retained its links with the area throughout the 19^th Century – as Guy's Directory of Munster, 1886 notes a William Langford Rae living in Ardmoneil."

Doyle clearly believes William Langford Rae was the William L Rae who owned land in Ardmoneel, and that he was a descendant of Giles Rae of Keel. Langford Street acquired its name prior to 1852. If the History Trail booklet is right that Langford Street was named after William Langford-Rae it cannot be the William who died in 1910, if indeed he was only born in 1845, but it just about could be if he was born in 1832. Or he could have had a father who was also William Langford Rae and also a landlord. Doyle however seems to think that the street was named for the family, rather than William specifically.

As with Giles Raes in the mid 19^thC, we have a wealth of William Langford Raes in the late 19^th and early 20^thC who may be one person, or several.

Catherine Rae of Cappaclogh (near Camp and Derrymore on the north side of the Dingle peninsula) was baptised at the Church of Ireland church in Kilgobbin on 26^th February 1840, the child of Giles Rae and Marcella (maiden surname not recorded). I wondered at first if this could be a mistranscription for the Giles Rae who married Ursula Curry, but according to the 1925 inheritance tree that Giles was dead by summer 1824, and he was definitely dead by 1837. Catherine had at least three siblings, all listed as children of Giles Rae and Marcella:

Sarah Rae of Cappaclogh who was baptised at the Church of Ireland chuch in Kilgobbin on 3^rd October 1844. She may be the S. Rae who is listed on page 3 of The Tralee Chronicle and Killarney Echo of Friday 4^th November 1870 as one of the 111 diners at a dinner in the Ball Room of the Blennerhassett Arms Hotel, following the Kerry Agricultural Society's first show. Edward Rae was also present; his name was toasted coupled with the Royal Agricultural Society of Ireland, and he made a speech. This S Rae cannot be Edward's sister Sarah Drew Rae, for she had died in 1861.

An infant John Rae, son of Edward and Bridget Rae, was born on 18^th June 1871 and died in 1872, less than a year old. As he died in Tralee he may well have been one of the Kerry Raes.

In full, the inscription on the Rae family vault at Mount Jerome cemetary reads as follows:

RAE family vault

At the top of the vault:
The Family Vault | of | HENRY JOHNSON RAE | 1871

The Langfords: supplementary information on the original owners of Keel House

Edward Rae was in possession of Keel House at the time of Griffith's Valuation [1848–1864]. Lewis records it as the seat of Giles Rae in 1837. Bary states this was originally a Langford House, possibly built as far back as the 1680s but with later modifications. Wilson refers to it as the seat of Mr. Langford in 1786. It passed by marriage to the Rae family with whom it remained until the twentieth century. It was sold but later re-purchased by the family and is still extant.

"Irish Family Records" states that William Langford was living at Gurteengary, county Limerick in 1678. He had 5 sons and 2 daughters. His eldest daughter Susannah married in 1677 Captain John Coplen of Kilcosgriff and Shanagolden. Coplen left his estates to his brother in law James Langford who took the additional name of Coplen. In 1756 John Coplen-Langford, the eldest son of James, married Jane daughter of William Fosbery of Castletown and Currahbridge and had 9 children, including Captain Richard Coplen-Langford of Kilcosgriff and Beechwood, county Tipperary, George who married his first cousin Jane Fosbery and Edward of Stonehall. The sale of the Reverend Richard Coplen-Langford, Miltown Malbay, county Clare, estate at Shanagolden (Ballycormack) was advertised in June 1852. The sale rental includes a small lithograph of a one storey house named Fern Hill. He is recorded as holding land in the parishes of Kilmoylan and Shanagolden, barony of Shanid, at the time of Griffith's Valuation. The family were still resident in the locality in the late 20th century but are not recorded as land owners in county Limerick in the 1870s but they did own over a thousand acres in county Clare. This estate was inherited through marriage with a Creagh of Carrigerry, county Clare in 1853. In the mid 19th century the representatives of John Langford held land in the parish of Clonfert, barony of Duhallow, county Cork. A branch of this family is associated with Castleconway, close to Killorglin,county Kerry, in the eighteenth century. They were also resident at Keel House, parish of Kilgarrylander, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Item #3669.B. on microfilm #: 596417 (not yet digitized) held by the Latter-Day Saints' FamilySearch organisation consists of a partial family/inheritance tree for some of the Langfords. It is small and simple enough to explain in text form:

Edward Langford is named at the top of the page but not otherwise described, and shown married to an unnamed partner. Further down the page, however, is a stand-alone note which seems to refer to the same man and says "Edward Langford // d[ied] 9 March 1747 b[orn] 1779 // aged 68 years bur[ied] 11 March 1746–7". There is clearly an error here – if he died in 1747 aged sixty-eight he was born circa 1679. His wife is named as Elinor.

Edward and Elinor had a son William Langford, described as "William Langford of Donnybrook. Sim[m]onscourt // Will d[ated] 4 June 1776". Simmonscourt and Donnybrook are adjacent areas of south Dublin. Donnybrook was famous at that time for the famously rowdy annual Donnybrook Fair.

William Langford, son of Edward and Elinor, in turn married "Elinor or Eliz^th bur[ied] 1758". The "1758" is badly written and could also be "1738", but that seems unlikely since her busband didn't die until circa 1776 – unless she has somehow been confused with her husband's mother, also apparently an Elinor.

William and Elinor or Elizabeth in turn had four children.

1) William Langford is listed as "William Langford of Donnybrook. // cabinet maker // Deed d[ated] 28 June 1783 // bur[ied] 21 Feb 1805". It does look like "cabinet maker", although that's surprising in a family of landowners. He married "Alice Simpson // widow of Geo [George? Geoffrey?] Simpson of Donnybrook".

2) Michael Langford is listed as "Michael Langford // bur[ied] 10 June 1821" – or it could be "16 June" as the ink is smudged. At the bottom of the page a much fainter note, in the same hand but using a different, thinner pen, says "St Mary" – probably the name of a church – and then below that "Mich^l Langford [married] Hannah Quire // Nov 29 1747". The records show that Michael and Hannah actually married on 29^th November 1746.

3) Catherine Langford and her sister are indicated by two little side-by-side vertical lines and then their details crammed in one above the other. Catherine gets no information other than her name.

4) Ann Elizabeth Langford is written down as "Ann Eliz^th Fleming // b[orn] 13 Aug 1736" who married "Christ^r Fleming" in 1753.

Underneath Ann Elizabeth's details are two more names, viz.: "Elinor Moore // b[orn] 10 Sept 1741 // Ann Gunning" [probably Gunning]. It is not clear how these are related to Ann Elizabeth – Elinor is the right age to be another sister but there are only two little vertical bars for the girls, not four.

The records show the baptisms of two children of Michael Langford and Hannah Quire – a Jane Langford on 11^th February 1748 and a William Langford on 31^st May 1753, both at St Mary's (Church of Ireland), Dublin.

According to Bary the Langfords tended to produce only daughters who "as co-heirs, inherited the lands. In three successive generations, Langford children married into the neighbouring Rae family, until Edward, the eldest son of Giles Rae and Deborah Langford, inherited Keel House from his parents."

The lineage of Day: supplementary information on the Day or O'Dea family

Another established local family with whom the Raes frequently intermarried were the Days. Day is an Anglicization of O'Dea or Ó Deághaidh, a small, ancient clan from County Clare. Wiki, quoting sources including Irish Families and The Surnames of Ireland, both by Edward MacLysaght, former Chief Herald of Ireland, says of them:

The O'Deas, together with the O'Quinns (Irish: Ó Cuinn), belong to the Uí Fearmaic group, but it is not known if this kindred belongs to the Dál gCais or to the Uí Fidgenti. Another possibility are the Corcu Baiscind ... The name O'Dea is normally pronounced oh-dee, and sometimes oh-day, in English. Clan descendants may have the surnames Alday, Allday, O'Dea, Dea, Day, Daye, O'Day, O'Daye, Dee, O'Dee, Godwin, or Goodwin.

Dysart O'Dea Castle, by Jerzy Strzelecki at Wikimedia

The O'Dea clan came originally from County Clare where there is a fortified tower house over 500 years old known as O'Dea Castle at the 80–acre townland of Dysert O'Dea (Irish: Dísert, meaning "hermitage") ... the site of a famous battle in 1318 ... The ruins of Dysert O'Dea Monastery, round tower, and St. Tola's high cross are 265 metres to the south-southwest of the castle in the adjacent 260–acre townland of Mollaneen (Irish: Molainín, meaning "the little hill"), near Corofin.

Arms of the O'Dea family

The ruins of Dysert O'Dea Monastery, round tower, and St. Tola's high cross are 265 metres to the south-southwest of the castle in the adjacent 260–acre townland of Mollaneen (Irish: Molainín, meaning "the little hill"), near Corofin.

[Quoting MacLysaght] The O'Deas were "one of the principal Dalcassian septs" and "The head of the sept was chief of a considerable territory comprising much of the barony of Inchiquin."

In Foster's The Royal Lineages of our Noble and Gentle Families we see that in 1697 Edward Day of Lohercannon, Tralee (son of Nathaniel Day, son of Jonathan Day) married Ellen Quarry, daughter of Philip Quarry of Cork. The couple had four children, John, Edward, Ellen and Elizabeth.

John married Lucy Fitzgerald, who was descended from Edward I, King of England. Edward married a Mary Rowan, also of unspecified royal descent. Ellen married Giles Rae, and Elizabeth married a Robert Collis.

The 1925 inheritance trees for the Raes are accompanied by an extract from Foster, as follows:

Fosters Royal Lineage London 1887 p. 446 Lineage of Day, Co Kerry
(3)	Sarah, married to John Rae of Derrymore
(3)	Ellen, married to Giles Rae of Derrymore, Co Kerry (son of Edward Rae, by a daughter of Rev Stephen Giles, Treasurer of Ardfert etc) and had with 4 daus, 2 sons.
	(1)	Edward Rae, married Anne, daughter and co heir of Robert Langford Esq of Keel, Co Kerry (by his wife Annd, dau. of Richard Meredith Esq of Dick's Grove, Co Kerry) and had 2 sons and a daughter
	(1)	Giles Rae of Keel married Deborah Langford and had 4 sons and a dau. Edward J.P. John Langford, Langford, Francis and Sarah, all died unmarried
	(2)	John Rae, married Catherine Rochfort.
	(3)	Anne, married the Rev Samuel Collis of Fortwilliam Co Kerry.
(2)	John Rae of Derrymore, married his cousin Sarah Day, above named, and had issue
(4)	Elizabeth Day married to Robert Collis Esq

My information on the early 19^th C tithe survey in Ireland comes from these sources: the Irish Genealogy Toolkit; the Derry Genealogy Centre; ancestry.com and The Irish Times. Tithes were a form of tax which landholders were obliged to pay to support the Established Church of Ireland (even if they were a Catholic or a Jew). Up until 1823 tithes were usually paid "in kind" – that is, by donating a percentage of your produce – but the Composition Act of 1823 required that tithes should hereafter be paid in coin.

From 1823 until 1838, when tithe payments were suspended, a survey (which was thorough but not exhaustive) was carried out to estimate the taxable value of all farmland in Ireland, with certain exceptions including glebes (land belonging to clergymen), granges (land which had belonged to pre-Reformation monasteries) and land within the boundaries of a town. The results were recorded in almost two thousand hand-written Tithe Applotment Books – no two of which seem to have used the same layout or column headings. The exact year of the survey varied from parish to parish. Land was divided into five classes of decreasing quality, and was measured in statute acres, roods and perches. [A statute acre is 4840 square yards: an Irish acre is 7840 square yards.]

1 statute acre = 4 roods (a.k.a. rods)
1 rood = 40 square perches (a.k.a. poles)
1 square perch = 30¼ square yards

Not all land was taxable, nor were the rules the same in every parish – in Munster for example grassland (presumably pasture), for example, was not taxed, whereas arable land was, even down to the poor tenant's potato patch. The level of taxation was based on the average price of wheat and oats 1816–1823. The idea that even the poorest farmer had to pay tax to support a church he might well not be a member of caused widespread resentment and led to an organised campaign of resistance called the Tithe War, culminating in 1831 with widespread refusal to pay.

The advert for a sale of land which appeared on page 7 of The Irish Times of Tuesday 29^th May 1877 ran as follows:

IN THE LANDED ESTATES COURT, IRELAND
COUNTY OF LIMERICK.
SALE
On the 26th day of June, 1877.
In the Matter of the Estate of
J
U L I A R A E ,
Executrix of Henry Johnson Rae, and of Gustavus Rae, Arthur Rae, Gerald Rae, Catherine Wilson, widow : Mary Elizabeth Rae, Maria J Rae, and Vivian Rae—Owners. Anne Madden—Petitioner.
TO BE SOLD BY PUBLIC AUCTION.
In One Lot,
On Tuesday, the 26th day of June, 1877,
At the hour of 12 o'clock, noon,
Before the Right Honourable Judge Ormsby.
At his Court, Landed Estates Court,
Inns quay, Dublin.
Part of the lands of Goorteengarie, Rossykreenigh, and Teerekreenigh, now known as Gardenfield, situate in the barony of Upper Connelloe, and Co of Limerick, called in the Tenement Valuation thereof Gardenfield West, consisting of 151a 1r 14p, held, with other part of said lands, for the residue of a term of 1,500 years, under lease dated 1st October, 1637, subject to the yearly rent of 2s, and producing an annual profit rent of £149 1s 8d.

Dated this 25th day of May, 1877.

F LYNCH, for Chief Clerk.

Proposals for the purchase by private contract will be received by the Solicitor having the carriage of the sale on or before the 18th day of June, 1877. and if approved of submitted to the court without further notice.
For rentals, maps, and further particulars, apply at the Registrar's Office, Landed Estates Court, Inns quay, Dublin ; or to

SAMUEL BENNER, Solicitor having carriage of sale, 25 Eustace street, Dublin.

A second advert, on page 3 of The Irish Times of Wednesday 27^th June 1877, the day after the proposed sale, presents a very condensed version of the above information and adds: "Sale was adjourned, the highest bid, £2,590, being considered insufficient." A straightforward purchasing-power conversion translates £2,590 in 1877 to around £213,000 today. The labour value would be over a million, and the income value closer to two million, but this was not sufficient to purchase Gardenfield West.

The Schools' Collection is a collection of folklore and oral history collected and hand-written-up in notebooks by Irish pupils from 5,000 primary schools between 1937 and 1939, and digitised online by the National Folklore Collection at dúchas.ie. All of the entries are interesting, for present purposes especially Volumes 0432 and 0433, which cover the Castlemaine area. Even aside from the fact that they frequently mention the Raes, they give an excellent general overview of life in the area from about 1840 to 1925.

The family thicket:

The Raes of Keel House and Boolteens – Langford, Rochfort, Day, Curry and Emperor Raes in Ireland