Corballis family genealogy

Of Rosemount, Milltown, County Dublin

Arms: A pegasus, rampant sable, on shield argent, with chevron. Crest: Hand and trumpet or. Motto: Spes mea in Deo—with scroll.

Among the “Forfeiting Proprietors in Ireland” under the Cromwellian Settlement (see p. 248 of our “Irish Landed Gentry when Cromwell came to Ireland.” Dublin: 1884), appears, under the heading “County of Dublin” and “Barony of Balrothery,” the name[1] of Robert Corballis, of Nutstown, from whom this branch of the “Corballis” family is descended. So popular was the family in that district that the name is there still identified with several townlands.

Dispossessed of his estate in Balrothery, Robert Corballis of Nutstown settled in the neighbourhood of Tallaght and Saggart, county Dublin; whence John Corballis (b. circa 1729) came to reside in New Street, Dublin, and there traded as a Timber Merchant. On his death (in 1805) he left to his children some £30,000, realized chiefly in the timber trade: a very considerable achievement when we consider that in those days the Penal Laws against Roman Catholics were very stringent. This John Corballis and his father and mother are buried in Cruagh churchyard, at foot of Kilakee mountain. According to Dalton’s “History of the County Dublin,” said John Corballis bequeathed £100 to Saggart poor school, and £100 to Harold’s Cross poor school, at entrance to what is now Mount Jerome Cemetery; he was also President of the Teresian Society, and in fact a very leading Catholic Merchant in those days: R.I.P. From that John the following is the descent:

1. John Corballis (b. circa 1729, d. 1805) married and had, besides several daughters, two sons:

  1. Richard, of whom presently.
  2. James (born 1770-71), who (both he and his brother Richard, made considerable fortunes in the timber trade) m. Miss Kenney of the co. Louth, and had:
    1. James Corballis who married Miss Barron, sister of the late Sir H. Winston Barron, co. Waterford, and settled at Ratoath, co. Meath. He had several children, of whom were:
      1. James, now of Ratoath.
      2. William-Richard (dead), who was a Lieutenant in 16th Lancers.

2. Richard Corballis: elder son of John; b. 1769, d. 1847. This Richard m. in 1791 Deborah, dau. of Bartholomew Taylor, of Castlepollard, co. Westmeath, and had a large family, of whom were:

  1. Bartholomew, b. 1794.
  2. John-Richard, of whom presently.
  3. Robert, b. 1797.
  4. Maria.
  5. Margaret.
  6. Elizabeth.
  7. (All three above Nuns at Loretto, Rathfarnham).

3. John-Richard[2] Corballis, Q.C. (b. 1796, d. 1879): second surviving son of Richard; m. in 1828 Jane Eleanor, daughter of Edward Martyn of Tillyra, co. Galway, and had several children, of whom were:

  1. Richard-John (b. 1831), of whom presently.
  2. Edward Christopher (b. 1835) called to the English Bar; d. 1873.
  3. John Bartholomew (b. 1838), late Captain, 10th Foot; d. 1880.
  4. James (b. 1843), now (1886) Colonel, Commanding Royal Dublin Fusileers.
  5. Mary-Deborah (b. 1829, died 1886), who m. Right Honble. Judge Flanagan.
  6. Jane.
  7. Elizabeth.
  8. Fanny (b. 1839), a Nun in Sacré Cœur Convent; d. 1870.

4. Richard-John Corballis, of Rosemount, Milltown, co. Dublin, J.P.: eldest son of John-Richard; and living in 1888.

Notes

[1] Name: This name is only one from “A List of the Papist Proprietors’ names in the county of Dublin, as they are returned in the Civil Survey of the said county” (of Dublin); given in pp. 248-251 of our “Irish Landed Gentry,” here mentioned.

[2] John-Richard: John-Richard Corballis, Q.C., LL.D., was highly and deservedly esteemed by all who knew his useful life in and about Dublin. He was Chairman of the co. Kilkenny; a Commissioner of National Education; and a Member of the Board of Charitable Donations and Bequests. In 1816, he took the gold medal for Science in Trinity College, Dublin, and was the first Roman Catholic who did so since the Reformation. To him, in conjunction with Dr. Jellett (Provost of T.C.D.), Dr. J. Kells Ingram, and W. Cotter Kyle, Esq., Dublin is indebted for the fine statues of Edmund Burke and Oliver Goldsmith, in front of Trinity College: works so creditable to Irish Art.

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