Disentailing of the Ecclesville Estate (1944)

Final Legal Resolution of the Eccles Entail

Introduction

The disentailing of the Ecclesville estate in 1944 marked the formal legal conclusion of the system of inheritance established by the will of John Stuart Eccles in 1873.

By this date, however, the greater part of the estate had already been sold under the Irish Land Acts, and the house and demesne had passed into separate ownership under the Browne-Lecky family.

The disentailing therefore represents not the break-up of the estate itself, but the final removal of the legal structure that had governed it for over seventy years.

The Entail of 1873

In 1873, John Stewart (or Stuart) Eccles placed the Ecclesville estate under an entail in tail male.

This imposed strict limitations:

The estate could pass only through male heirs
Female heirs could not inherit absolutely
The estate could not be freely sold, divided, or disposed of

Following his death on 24 April 1886:

No surviving male heir existed
His daughter, Amy Henrietta Frances Eccles, became life tenant only

Although she occupied the estate, she did not hold it outright, and succession was directed away from her line.

Estate Transformation Before 1944

From the late nineteenth century, the Irish Land Acts transformed the structure of landholding in Ireland.

At Ecclesville:

Tenants purchased their holdings
The estate was progressively dismantled
By 1913, most of the lands had been transferred out of estate ownership

At the same time:

The Ecclesville demesne and house followed a different path

They were retained separately
They passed into the ownership of the Browne-Lecky family
They functioned thereafter as a private residence, not as part of the entailed estate

By the early twentieth century, the Ecclesville “estate” existed largely in legal form only.

The Position Before Disentailing

By the 1940s, three distinct elements could be identified:

Former Estate Lands

Sold to tenants under the Land Acts
No longer forming a unified estate

Ecclesville House and Demesne

Privately owned by the Browne-Lecky family
Outside the entailed estate

The Entail

Still legally in force
Governing residual interests in the original estate

This separation is crucial to understanding the significance of the 1944 disentailing.

The Disentailing of 1944

In 1944, the entail created by John Stewart (or Stuart) Eccles was formally broken.

This was carried out by:

Anthony Charles Stuart Delmege (1910–1961)
who had become tenant in tail male under the terms of the original settlement.

The disentailing had the effect of:

Ending the estate in tail
Removing all remaining legal restrictions on inheritance
Vesting the estate in fee simple

It marked the final legal stage in the history of the Eccles estate.

What the Disentailing Did — and Did Not Do

It did:

End the legal structure created in 1873
Free the remaining estate interests from restriction
Confirm the position of the Delmege succession

It did not:

Affect Ecclesville House or its demesne
Reverse the earlier sale of lands
Recreate the estate as a unified property

By 1944, the estate had already ceased to exist in any practical sense.

Registered Memorial of Disentailing (1944)

The following memorial, registered in the Registry of Deeds, Belfast, records the formal disentailing of the Ecclesville estate.

Registered: 22 February 1944
Book 3, No. 228

Memorial
To the Registrar of Deeds in Northern Ireland.

A Memorial of an Indenture dated the Seventh day of February one thousand nine hundred and forty-four, made between Anthony Charles Stuart Delmege of the Manor House, Cricklade, in the County of Wilts, a Major in His Majesty’s Army, of the one part, and Robert McLraith Blakeney of 25 Clare Street, in the City of Dublin, Solicitor, of the other part.

Whereby, after reciting (inter alia) that under and by virtue of the Will dated the First day of October one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, and a Codicil thereto dated the Second day of April one thousand eight hundred and eighty-six, of John Stuart Eccles, late of Ecclesville in the County of Tyrone (who died on the Twenty-fourth day of April one thousand eight hundred and eighty-six), and which Will and Codicil were duly proved in the District Registry of Armagh—

—the lands, tenements, and hereditaments described in the First Part of the Schedule thereto were settled and assured to uses under which the said Anthony Charles Stuart Delmege is tenant in tail male in possession thereof.

It was witnessed that the said Anthony Charles Stuart Delmege granted unto the said Robert McLraith Blakeney and his heirs:

All that and those the lands, rents, and hereditaments comprised in and settled by the said Will (except such part as had been disposed of by way of sale), and all other the freehold hereditaments to which the said Anthony Charles Stuart Delmege was then seised or entitled as tenant in tail male or in tail.

To hold the same unto the said Robert McLraith Blakeney and his heirs, freed and discharged from the estate in tail male—

To the use nevertheless of the said Anthony Charles Stuart Delmege in fee simple.

Schedule (First Part — Lands)

Annaboe, Aughafad, Aughadreenan, Arditiney, Castletown, Corbally, Cumber, Carnarousk, Drafton, Drumlaghan, Drummond, Dundiven, Dungoran, Edenatoodry, Ecclesville, Edenasop, Feenan, Gulladoo, Gargrim, Killaliss, Killaberry, Lacca, Lisnacreive, Lisnabulravey, Lisdergan, Lisavaddy, Legamaghery, Lisnagardy, Legatiggle, Liskey, Mullans and Roughan, Mullasligo, Rathwarren, Ratherane, Sionfin, Stratigore, Screggagh, Skelgagh, Stranisk, Sionee, Tattymoyle, Tonnaghmore, Tonnaghbeg, Tonnaghbane, Tullyrush, and Tyreenan—

together with Fintona, Castletown, Edenasop, Fintona Mill, Tonagh Mill, Lacca Mill, and Fintona Market—

all situate in the Parish of Donacavey, Baronies of Clogher and East Omagh, County Tyrone—

and known as the Ecclesville Estate.

Second Part — Financial Assets

£2020 — 4½% Land Bonds
£4727 13s 8d — War Loan 3½%
£312 12s 3d — War Loan 3½%
£4 13s 0d — War Loan 3½%
£100 11s 1d — War Loan 3½%
£12071 11s 4d — 2½% Consols
£61 0s 0d — London Midland & Scottish Railway Co. 4%
£50 0s 0d — Great Southern Railway Co. (Ireland) 4% Guaranteed Preference Stock
£100 11s 1d — War Loan 3½%

Execution

The said Deed and this Memorial, as to execution by Anthony Charles Stuart Delmege by Robert Wallace Hamilton under Power of Attorney, is witnessed by:

G. Bradshaw, 25 Clare Street, Dublin
Donald R. Cullen, Solicitor, 25 Clare Street, Dublin

And the said Deed, as to execution by Robert McLraith Blakeney, is witnessed by:

Donald R. Cullen, Solicitor, 25 Clare Street, Dublin

Historical Significance

The disentailing of 1944 represents the final legal stage in the history of the Ecclesville estate.

While the estate had already been dissolved in practice through land reform and sale, this act formally ended the system of inheritance that had governed it since 1873.

It illustrates the long persistence of legal structures, even after the economic and social realities they supported had disappeared.