Recent posts discussed the Phibbs family of Ireland, also known as Phipps. The similarity between heraldic devices used by this family in County Sligo, Ireland (below, right) and by the Phipps family of Berkshire County, England (below, left) has already been noted. Note the components of 8 mullets (star-like figures with straight sides, as opposed to an estoile, or a star-like image with wavy rays). Note also the presence of the trefoil in two places: in the shield (escutcheon) and again being held aloft in the crest (the top) by a lion’s gamb (leg).
In heraldry, one concern becomes whether plants are shown as slipped or couped. If they’re couped, the stalk or stem is smoothly cut. If slipped, they’re torn off. The Phipps or Phibbs trefoil is slipped. What is the significance of the trefoil here? Is there any connection to its use as a symbol of Ireland? A Complete Guide to Heraldry speaks of the trefoil as though it’s derived from the Irish shamrock (see also here).
The 5-pointed star-like mullet is meant to resemble the rowel of a spur, in other words the pointed, revolving, part of a spur. Why are there 8 mullets? The number of mullets on one shield was said to be derived from the “fact” that the original bearer was the 39th child of the same parents. In a University of Wales design, 8 mullets are used to signify the original components of the University Court. So, what could be the meaning of the 8 mullets as associated with the Phipps family? (See also here and here.)
A lengthy discussion of the Phibbs family, also known as Phipps, of Lisheen in County Sligo, Ireland can be found in Bernard Burke, Landed Gentry of Ireland, rev. ed., London: Harrison & Sons, 1912. That volume is said (but by one of the Burkes) to be extremely accurate and to have corrected a number of errors found in earlier editions.
Additional information on this family can be found in numerous other sources, a few of which will be noted below. One of those sources is an article on Lisheen House in the “Lord Belmont in Northern Ireland” blog
Burke’s volume begins by discussing Owen Phibbs of Lisheen, who was noted as having held several local posts in Sligo in 1884. He was born in 1842 and was living on the estate at the time of Burke’s volume. He died in 1914. The volume then proceeds to present his ancestry.
As the National University of Ireland at Galway website explains in a Phibbs (Seafield) Estate page, the family acquired an estate in the late 18th century. This estate was at Kilmacowen and became centered around Seafield House. Seafield was built in 1798 by William Phibbs, Owen’s father, at Lisheenacooravan. (Information about William’s wife, Catharine Maunsell, appears in the website known as The Peerage.)
Griffith’s Valuation, which is a boundary and land valuation survey of Ireland well known to genealogists, was completed in 1868. Phibbs’s house was then valued at £55. The property was valued the same in 1906.
Most histories and discussions about the estate center around William and Owen Phibbs/Phipps. This gets confusing, however, because there were two Williams and two Owens. (See page 130 in this helpful color-illustrated online book about the area.)
William Phibbs lived from 1738 to 1801. He’s the one who built the original Seafield House in 1798. He was the same William who is shown here as living earlier at Hollybrook in County Sligo, in 1781.
His son Owen Phibbs (1776-1829) inherited the house, but only used it as a summer place. Owen had a son who was another William Phibbs (1803-1881). This later William rebuilt the house in 1842. It is said (in an article headed “Lisheen House“) that the contract price for building this 23-room mansion was £4,200.
This William is said to have had something of a negative reputation with regard to his relationship with his tenants. He even was known to evict some of them at times.
This later William had a son named Owen Phibbs (1842-1814). That means that the lineage went from William to his son Owen to Owen’s son William to William’s son Owen. No wonder some web pages about the family or estate sound a bit confused.
The eventual estate house known as Lisheen House is discussed in a genealogically-focused webpage in the “Lord Belmont in Northern Ireland” blog headed “Lisheen House.” The article begins by noting that the family were significant landowners in the area, owning 10,507 acres at one time in County Sligo.
A discussion of Mr. Phibbs’ licensed oyster bed at Lisheen can be found here. The later Owen appears to have been highly regarded among the local society’s upper echelon, although, perhaps only covertly, probably not everyone shared that sentiment. Even though he was something of a theologian, tenants were expected to salute his carriage when it passed. One book says that he had the staff salute his coach even when it was empty.
In regard to his relationship to those beneath him on his estate, and in regard to the history of rebuilding on the estate, and in terms of later paranormal claims about the estate, Owen (and to some extent his father) seems remarkably similar to Joshua Phipps of Rotherwood in Hawkins County, Tennessee in the U.S.
Owen Phibbs, who inherited the home from his father, is described in several sources as an avid archaeologist (see here, for instance). He made part of the house into a museum of antiquities. A long room on the first floor of the estate was turned into what was termed “the museum,” apparently housing such artifacts as Egyptian mummies and other ancient relics.
Both Burke and the Lisheen House article trace later descendants of the family down to the time when the house was built. One nice facet of the article about Lisheen House, mentioned above, is that the article includes a small photo of the house, as it once appeared.
The house was built near Ballysadare in County Sligo. Now the house lies in ruins. The house overlooks Ballysadare Bay. One article says that the roof collapsed, but at least one other source says that the roof was deliberately removed. One site refers to the place having been turned into a restaurant at some point.
In 1938, the family apparently became no longer associated with the house, and it fell into ruins. The house was sold and it sounds as though some parts of the house were carried away as a result.
All sorts of claims are made about the house and why it was abandoned, some of which sound extremely fantastic and which are contradicted by other claims. One source says that reports of alarming paranormal happenings associated with the house were “strongly denied” by family members, while others go into great detail about it, even suggesting that this was the reason the house was eventually abandoned.
The claim has been made that the name of the estate changed from Seafield to Lisheen in an attempt to hide its history (see this online color photo-illustrated book, for instance, p. 129). More about the family appears on page 130 of the same book.
There it’s suggested that the origins of the family may extend back to 1589, in the time of the Spanish Armada. The book notes, “Possibly spelled as ‘Fibbs’ or ‘Phillips,’ the family was very influential in Sligo.” Of course, as we’ve already noted, Burke provides other spellings of the name, including Phipps.
An interesting view from the ruins of the mansion, which looks as though it might have been an infrared photo, appears here. An even nicer photo appears in the Abandoned Ireland site, here. A very nice infrared photo of the exterior of the ruin appears here. A number of photos showing the interior ruins appears in the Derelict Nation blog, here. More photos are here.
Of the lineage of Owen Phibbs, among the information noted in Burke’s volume can be found the statement that the family’s presence in Ireland began, according to Burke, when two brothers came to Ireland in 1590 as soldiers. These were William and Richard Phipps.
An article on Lisheen House in the “Lord Belmont in Northern Ireland” blog, however, says that the earliest record of the family dates to 1589. In that year, during the reign of Elizabeth I, subscribers were asked to give to the expense of national defense during the time of the Spanish Armada.
Among the subscribers appears the name Phillips, which the article asserts was the same family. According to that article, Matthew Phibbs of Templevaney, of whom we’ve noted earlier, was also referred to as Phillips as late as 1716.
Was this Matthew Phibbs of Templevaney the same as Matthew Phipps/Phibbs of Templevaney, son of Robert Phipps, who married Esther Raboteau? That Robert was discussed previously, in the last post, as one of the two “brothers Phipps” of County Sligo.
The Lisheen House article then goes on to refer to the same two brothers who arrived in 1590 as soldiers – William and Richard – who are mentioned by Burke, which serves as a good way of getting back to that subject.
Regarding William and Richard Phipps, Burke cites records found in Trinity College in Dublin showing that these two were listed under the name of Phipps as being on half pay in 1616 and 1619. He says that “some of the younger branches” of the family “resumed” this name about 1765.
One of the two men was William. He settled in County Cork. Burke says that the surname could still, at the time of this volume (1912), be found in southwestern County Cork as ffibbs. The other brother was Richard, who was the older.
Richard served under Sir Tobias Caulfield, as Burke spells the name, or Caulfeild as it appears in the Lisheen House article. Information about Caulfeild appears here, but doesn’t appear to shed any particular light on the Phipps family.
In 1619, Richard received a pension as a maimed soldier. He settled at Kilmainham, Dublin and died there in 1629. Kilmainham is a suburb of Dublin, west of the city center. He is buried in St. James’s Church.
Sons of Richard were:
- Richard, further discussed below, below
- John, who resided in County Sligo in 1663
- Edward, who was the ancestor of the Rev. Joshua Phipps, born 1711, who we’ve discussed in an earlier but recent post; Joshua married Mary Mercer (we discussed her brother John Mercer who moved to the colony of Virginia where he hired Rev. John Phipps as a tutor in his household); Edward
Daughters of Richard were:
- Hester
- Jane
- Sarah
- Rebecca
The younger Richard, above, son of Richard, also went by ffibs. He was of Coote’s Horse. (Is Coote’s Horse a place name, or a reference to Col. Richard Coote’s Regiment of Horse? That was a regiment which was disbanded in County Sligo and which supported Cromwell.)
Burke says that this Richard received a land grant in County Sligo in 1659. Remember that it was only as far back as 1589 that the earliest records mention the family, according to one claim. Burke further states that Richard served in Capt. Francis King‘s troop of horse in Lord Collooney’s Regiment.
Richard died in 1670 and was buried at St. John’s Church in Dublin. Richard’s sons were Matthew of Templevaney and William of Grange. William bought Abbeyville or Ardlahurty in 1715 and married Anna Fleming.
Matthew of Templevaney was High Sheriff in 1716 and died in 1738. His son William, who went by Phipps or Phibbs, was born in 1696 and married Mary Harloe in 1717. He died in 1775.
That William’s son William Phibbs of Hollybrook was born 20 May 1838 and was High Sheriff in 1781. He married Jane Lloyd in 1768. He was the father of Owen, who was born in 1776 and who was High Sheriff in 1804. That Owen Phibbs married Anne Ormsby in 1798.
That Owen’s son William Phibbs of Seafield was born in 1803 and was High Sheriff in 1833. He married Catherine or Catharine Maunsell in 1840. That William’s son Owen is the one who was associated with Lisheen at the time of Burke’s volume.
Phipps Genealogy 