The Morres / de Montmorency Family of Castle Morres, County Kilkenny

Origins and Rise

The Morres family established themselves at Castle Morres, County Kilkenny, in the late seventeenth century. In 1684, the castle, manor, town, and lands of Castle Morres were granted to:

Hervey Morres, Esq.

The family had earlier connections with the area around Knocktopher and gradually rose to prominence through political advancement, landownership, and advantageous marriages.

Tradition holds that the Morres family first came to Ireland in the twelfth century alongside Strongbow during the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland. By the seventeenth century, however, the family had firmly established itself among the Irish landed gentry.

Hervey Morres became an influential local figure, serving as:

High Sheriff
Justice of the Peace
Provost of Knocktopher

He also sat as an MP in the Irish Parliament.

It is believed that the earlier Morres residence was a tower house situated within the woodland later known as Castle Morres.

Hervey Morres died in 1724.

The First Viscount Mountmorres

Hervey Morres’ son:

Hervey Morres

later became:

1st Viscount Mountmorres

He married:

Lady Letitia Ponsonby

daughter of:

Brabazon Ponsonby, 1st Earl of Bessborough

This marriage allied the Morres family with one of the leading aristocratic families in Ireland and greatly strengthened their political standing.

Hervey Morres served as:

MP for Irishtown (1734–1756)
Mayor of Kilkenny (1752)

He was created:

Baron Mountmorres in 1756
Viscount Mountmorres in 1763

The family became one of the most important landed dynasties in County Kilkenny during the eighteenth century.

Construction of Castle Morres

During the mid-eighteenth century, the 1st Viscount commissioned the construction of the great Palladian mansion at:

Castle Morres

The house is generally attributed to the architect:

Francis Bindon

one of the leading Irish architects of the Georgian period.

Bindon also designed:

Woodstock House, Inistioge
Bessborough House, Piltown

Castle Morres became one of the grandest country houses in County Kilkenny.

The house featured:

a nine-bay façade
three storeys over basement
flanking wings
extensive pleasure grounds
walled gardens
lime walks
estate mills
dairy buildings
woodland plantations

The estate also contained:

a grain mill
saw mills
home farms
extensive woodland

The original approach to the house was via a long straight avenue lined with holly trees.

Today, traces of this original avenue still survive within the modern woodland walks through the former estate.

The Estate and Newmarket

Under royal permission granted by King Charles II, the Mountmorres family could:

hold courts
maintain a prison
hold fairs

One such fair, known locally as:

“The Fair of Hervey”

continued into the twentieth century.

The family also established stables near Ballyknockane, later known as:

Newmarket

The name derived from the resemblance of the stables to those at Newmarket in England.

The Second Viscount and the Decline of the Estate

The estate later passed to:

Hervey Redmond Morres

2nd Viscount Mountmorres

He became known for his eccentric personality, political ambition, and financial difficulties.

Sir Jonah Barrington later described him as:

“ostentatious and eccentric”

The estate was already heavily encumbered by debt during his tenure.

He famously fought a duel with:

Francis Hely-Hutchinson MP

at Donnybrook and was wounded.

Barrington later remarked humorously that the Viscount seemed to enjoy the attention resulting from the incident more than the injury itself.

Despite attempts to improve his fortunes, the Viscount’s financial and personal difficulties deepened.

In 1797 he died tragically by suicide in London.

As he died unmarried, the estate passed through the female line.

The Pratt de Montmorency Succession

The estate passed to:

Sarah Morres

daughter of the 1st Viscount Mountmorres.

Sarah had married:

Rev. Joseph Pratt

of Cabra Castle, County Cavan

Their son:

Harvey Randall Saville Pratt

(b. 1782)

eventually inherited the Castle Morres estate.

In 1831, he assumed the surname:

de Montmorency

by Royal Licence, becoming:

Harvey Randall Saville Pratt de Montmorency

The family claimed descent from the ancient French house of Montmorency and formally adopted the name and arms.

Connection to Aughentaine, Ecclesville and Seskinore

The Castle Morres family became directly connected to the Tyrone landed families through:

Sarah de Montmorency

daughter of Harvey Randall Saville Pratt de Montmorency

who married:

Thomas Richardson Browne

of Aughentaine Castle, County Tyrone

Through this marriage, the Castle Morres line became directly connected to:

Browne of Aughentaine
Eccles of Ecclesville
Browne-Lecky
McClintock of Seskinore

This connection ultimately led to the descent of:

Raymond Saville Conolly de Montmorency Lecky Browne-Lecky

whose name preserved the intertwined inheritance of these families.

Family Connection Table

Family	Connection
Morres / de Montmorency	Castle Morres, County Kilkenny
Browne	Aughentaine Castle, County Tyrone
Eccles	Ecclesville, County Tyrone
Browne-Lecky	Inherited through Eccles and McCausland-Lecky lines
McClintock	Connected through Amy Eccles and Seskinore

Alterations to Castle Morres

In 1838, major alterations were carried out to the estate.

These included:

a new curved approach avenue
the construction of the “Grand Gate”
a classical gate lodge
remodelling of the entrance landscape

The earlier straight holly-lined avenue ceased to be the principal approach.

The later entrance survives today as the well-known:

Grand Gate entrance to Castle Morres Woods

The Estate During the Nineteenth Century

Harvey Randall Saville Pratt de Montmorency married:

Rose Kearney

daughter of the Bishop of Ossory.

They had:

four sons
six daughters

The financial burden of maintaining the estate, together with the effects of the Famine and declining rental income, placed enormous strain upon the family finances.

By 1848, Harvey and Rose had left Castle Morres and moved to:

Orchardton, Kilkenny

The estate subsequently passed to:

John Pratt de Montmorency

(1815–1868)

and later to:

Harvey John de Montmorency

(1840–1873)

who died following a riding accident while serving in India.

The estate then passed to:

Waller de Montmorency

(1841–1924)

who farmed the estate from 1874 onwards.

Castle Morres in the Twentieth Century

By the early twentieth century, the estate was in decline.

Records indicate that Castle Morres still employed large numbers of estate workers including:

agricultural labourers
herdsmen
blacksmiths
carpenters
wood rangers
domestic servants

In 1921, during the War of Independence, the house was occupied by the Black and Tans and was subsequently burned.

Although repairs were discussed, the estate was sold to the Land Commission in 1924.

The house was later:

deroofed
stripped
partially demolished

A demolition sale dispersed many architectural elements from the house.

The remaining ruins survived until final demolition in 1978.

The Final de Montmorency Family

Captain John Pratt de Montmorency later returned to live near the former estate lands at Burnchurch, County Kilkenny.

The family remained locally remembered, and in 2010:

Jane Avril de Montmorency-Wright

gave a public historical talk at Newmarket recounting the history of the family and estate.

Jane died in 2014 and is buried within the de Montmorency family enclosure at Aghaviller.

Present Day

Today, the former Castle Morres estate survives largely as woodland managed by:

Coillte

The surviving estate landscape includes:

woodland walks
remnants of estate walls
traces of avenues
the Grand Gate entrance
surviving archaeological remains

Although the great house itself has vanished, the legacy of the family survives through:

The story of Castle Morres therefore remains deeply interwoven with the wider network of landed families connected to Tyrone and Ulster.