Puxley Family, Dunboy

The “Henry Puxley”, born 1685 was a land agent for Edward Eyre of Galway. He had four children, two of which were Henry and John Puxley who came to Berehaven from Co. Galway in about 1730. But in 1754 John was shot dead by Morty Og.

His son Henry Puxley married Sarah Lavallin and their son “Copper John” (known as this because of his mining which began in Allihies in 1812) paid off all the debts and encumbrances an took over the entire Lavallin property and the Annesley Estate in Berehaven. “Copper John” Lavallin had eight children, his son John took over the Dunboy Estate, then after his death in 1860, his brother Henry took over and in July of 1866 the gothic extension to his castle took place. His son Henry Edmund Lavallin was born in 1866 and had two children, Henry Waller Lavallin and John Paul Lavallin. Henry died in 1900 but his wife lived until she was 93 and died in 1965.

John Paul was the last of the direct Dunboy branch of the Puxley family. In 1921 the roof and rooms of the castle were burnt down. And later, Henry Waller Lavallin was rewarded £50,000 as compensation. It was put up for auction in 1926 and Maurice D Power bought the castle for his son who settled in Dunboy. Also included in the sale were the ruins of Donal Cam O’ Sullivan Beare’s Castle, which was battered down by cannon guns during the seige of Dunboy in June 1602.

Genealogy of the Puxley Family : Henry Puxley (Ahascragh, Co. Galway)

Henry (born 1685) was a Land Agent for Edward Eyre of Galway. Children: Henry married a daughter of Capt. Richard Goodwin. She was aunt of Rev. Thomas Goodwin, later Rector of Berehaven; Eleanor became Mrs. Burke; Mary married Patrick FitzSimon of Liscure, Co. Galway; *John (born 1710) came with older brother Henry (as Land Agents) to Dunboy in 1730. They were originally involved with one of the local Landed Gentry Morty Oge O’Sullivan in the smuggling of wine but they later fell out with him. John was shot dead by Morty Oge beside Darby Harrington’s forge at Esknaceartan, near Oakmount, on Sunday March 10^th 1754. Accompanying John Puxley at the time was his wife Mary Hayes, daughter of Thomas Hayes and Frances Bullen, Knocknagore, near Kinsale, Co. Cork. On seeing John Puxley lying on the ground, of the Morty Oge’s right-hand men said "You may as well shoot the goose as the gander!" But Morty Oge said he would never harm a woman, and so they went on their way.

John Puxley & Mary Hayes (Puxley’s Castle, Dunboy)

Children: *Henry (born circa 1741) also had land in Crosshaven, Co. Cork. He married Sarah Lavallin (owner of half the Lavallin Estate), daughter of Philip and Sarah Lavallin, Waterstown Castle, Waterpark, Co. Cork, and was killed by a fall from his horse while hunting in Macroom in 1803; Othwell married the widow of Major Eyre, formerly Mary Shaw, only child of Thomas Shaw of Galway Town. With Major Eyre she had a daughter Jane Eyre; John commanded a native Indian Regiment; Mary; Annie married Hugh Lawton, Merchant, Cork City; Eleanor (or Ellen) married Charles McCarthy who had warehouses on the Docks in Cork City.

Henry Puxley & Sarah Lavallin (Puxley’s Castle, Dunboy)

Their son *John Lavallin Puxley (born in 1772), known as "Copper John" paid off all the debts of the Lavallin Estate and took it over. He also purchased the Annesley Estate in Berehaven. He was High Sheriff for the County of Carmarthenshire (Wales) in 1832, having purchased a large Georgian mansion there in 1797, the year after he had married Sarah Hobbs, daughter of Thomas Hobbs of Bantry. "Copper John" was told by Colonel Hall (an Officer of a now, 1811, disbanded Regiment in which there had been a number of Cornish Miners) that there was copper in Allihies. Mining Engineers brought over from Cornwall, England, by "Copper John" confirmed what Col. Hall had said. Copper mining began in Allihies in 1812. This industry was to have a profound bearing on the lives of the people of the Beara Peninsula thereafter.

"Copper John" Lavallin Puxley & Sarah Hobbs (Puxley’s Castle, Dunboy)

"Copper John" dies on Nov. 8^th 1956 aged 84. Sarah died on Dec. 8^th 1831. They had 8 children: Sarah (born 1796) died a young girl on May 8^th 1807; Henry Lavallin (born 1797) died on June 13^th 1828 aged 31; *John Lavallin (born in 1800, died on Oct. 23^rd 1837) took over the Dunboy Estate from his father. He was reared in Llethr Llestri in Wales, educated at Eton and Brasenose College, Oxford, and married Fanny Rosa Maria White (who died in 1857)), daughter of Simon White of Glengarriff Castle, and niece of the 1^st Earl of Bantry; Elizabeth was a life tenant of Lavallin House, Tonby, Penbrokeshire. After his death in 1871 the Estate there passed to Rev. Herbert Boyne Lavallin Puxley; Jane died in 1829; Barbara died in 1842; Fanny married Rev. Henry Herbert of Montgomeryshire; Henrietta married Robert Thomas of the 10^th Regiment.

John Lavallin Puxley & Fanny White (Puxley’s Castle, Dunboy)

There were five children of this marriage: John Simon Lavallin (born July 1831; died on April 15^th 1860) was Captain of the 6^th Dragoons; Henry Lavallin (Apr. 1834) succeeded his brother John in the ownership of the Castle and Estate in 1860. Previous to this he had been J.P. in County Cork and Carmarthenshire (Wales). In 1864 he was appointed High Sheriff of Carmarthenshire and in 1965 High Sheriff of Co. Cork. He conceived the idea of building a Gothic extension to his Castle in Dunboy. Plans for this were drawn up by Architect John Christopher. The builders were the Cockburns. Work began in July 1866. Stone used was Wicklow granite faced with Ballintemple limestone. The building of the new extension was supervised by the Dublin Architect E.H. Carson, father of the later controversial Politician and Statesman Sir Edward Carson. The new building was roofed in Oct. 1867, and the rest of the old building was remodelled to fit in with the new part. Henry L. married Katherine Ellen Waller, third daughter of the Rev. William Waller of Castletown, Co. Limerick. She died on July 10^th 1872 aged 36 (and was buried in the Church of Ireland Cemetery near Glenbrook, Adrigole) after which her husband left Ireland, never to return. Henry later married Adeline Nepean (formerly married to Colonel William Ferguson Hutchinson), youngest daughter of General Charles W. Nepean. He died on Feb. 6^th 1909 in England; Rev. Edward Lavallin, late lieut. 4^th Dragoons, married Maria Winifred Leader, daughter of Henry Leader of Clonmoyle; Herbert Boyne Lavallin married Kate Benson of Cockermouth; Fanny Sarah Elizabeth married Rev. John Thomas Waller of Castletown Manor, Co. Limerick, son of Rev. William Waller.

Henry Lavallin Puxley & Catherine Ellen Waller (Puxley’s Castle, Dunboy)

Children: Maria Frances was the second wife of Robert O’Brien Studdert J.P., Cullane, Co. Clare; John Lavallin (Sept. 1859) died on Sept. 13^th 1896 aged 37; Edward Lavallin (June 1861) won a rowing medal (Oxford .V. Cambridge) in 1884. He died on Dec 3^rd 1890 aged 29; Rosa (Katherine Rosa) (July 1864) married her cousin Simon White of Glengarriff Castle; *Henry Edmund Lavallin (born Feb. 1866; died on Aug. 13^th 1900 aged 34) married Eliza (Jane Elza) Halahan, daughter of Rev.(later Dean) John Halahan (Rector of Berehaven) and Harriette Sargent, The Glebe, Killaughaneenig; Herbert Hardress (May 1868) Lizette (or Elizabeth Jane) (born Oct. 1869; died 1936) looked after the White children in Glengarriff Castle.

Henry Edmund Lavallin Puxley & Eliza Halahan (Puxley’s Castle, Dunboy)

There were two children in the family: Henry Waller Lavallin (June 1898), Royal Navy, was educated at the Royal Naval Colleges of Osborne and Darmouth. He married Naumai Kathleen Clephane Guinness, only daughter of Edwin Roland Guinness of Timaru, New Zealand, and died in 1973; John Paul Lavallin (Jan. 1900) was a baby of 6 months when his father died. As he grew up, he and his brother spent the first six months of each year in Switzerland and the second six months with their grandparents (Dean Halaphan and his wife) in The Glebe. The boys moved to live in Dublin in 1909 after their mother remarried (her second husband was Dr. William Steele Haughton M.D. of Dublin). She died on Sept. 10^th 1965 aged 93 ½ years. Shortly before that she had paid her last visit to Dunboy with her son Commander John Paul Puxley of the Royal Navy who said that those six months spent in Berehaven were the happiest of his life. He married Janet Agnes Mantle, daughter of Benjamin Mantle of Jesmond, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire and lived in Sandy, Bedfordshire. John Paul was the last of the direct Dunboy Branch of the Puxley family. Other branches of the Puxleys are widely scattered: in Berkshire (England, Quebec, Ottawa, Ontario, Toronto, Halifax (Nova Scotia) St. Johns’s (New Brunswick) and Sydney (Australia). In 1921 Mr. and Mrs. Albert Thomas came as caretakers to the Puxley Castle in Dunboy. It was during the War of Independence. Rumour had it that the Castle was going to become a base for the British army. On June 9^th 1921, after the Caretakers had been brought outside, the local unit of the Irish Republican Army burned down the roof and rooms of the Castle. Later Henry W.L. Puxley claimed £130,000 as compensation for the burning. He was awarded £50,500 at the Skibbereen Quarter Sessions. A magnificent-looking building in its day, the Castle attracted the interest of the Jesuit Order who contemplated turning it into College. A C.I.E. Hotel was also mooted for it. All these plans fell through. When it was put up for auction in May 1926, bidding started at £1000 and eventually the Castle and 215 acres of land were bought for £2020 by Maurice D. Power, Publican, Droumlave, Adrigole, for his son Mossie who settled in Dunboy and married Mae Murphy N.T. Cahirgarriff N.S., daughter of Jeremiah Murphy and Kate O’Sullivan, Cahirgarriff. Included in the land also, at the far end down by the sea, are the ruins of Donal Cam O’Sullivan Beare’s Castle, the walls of which were battered down by cannon guns during the Siege of Dunboy in June 1602.

For info on the nearby town of Castletownbere click here