A Letter from Denis H. Kelly of Castle Kelly - 1832.

A letter from the antiquarian D. H. Kelly of Castle Kelly, dated 1832. On "Smith & Co. / Turkey Farm 1831" watermarked paper. The letter has a very early example of the straight line MOUNT TALBOT namestamp, a postage due of 1/3 (in manuscript on front) and a very well preserved wax seal.

(To read a transcription of the letter see HERE)

The Kellys were settled at Castlekelly, Ballygar, Barony of Killian, Co. Galway, from the late 17th century. Colonel Charles O'Kelly supported the Jacobite cause and a clause in the Treaty of Limerick allowed for the restoration of his estate at Aghrane, where he wrote an account of the Williamite Wars.

John Kelly of Clonlyon inherited Aghrane from his cousin Denis Kelly of Dublin in 1734.The family became Protestants in the 1740s. Their estate straddled the county border so that parts of the Kelly Estate were in the parishes of Athleague and Killeroran, Barony of Killian, Co. Galway and in the parishes of Athleague and Tisrara, Barony of Athlone, Co. Roscommon.

In 1828 Denis Kelly of Castle Kelly was a member of the Grand Jury Panel of Co. Roscommon. He was in correspondence with O'Curry (see here *) and O'Donavan (see here **) during the Ordnance Survey. In May 1863 Denis Henry Kelly advertised for sale his 13,154 acre estate of Castle Kelly in the barony of Killian, Co. Galway and his 1,709 acre estate in the barony of Athlone, Co. Roscommon. In the 1870s Denis H. Kelly of Araghty, Athleague, owned 576 acres in Co. Roscommon.

Aghrane Castle or Castle Kelly is a 16^th century tower house with 19^th century additions. Lithographs of the entrance to Castle Kelly, Castle Kelly house and Ballygar town are included in the sales rental of 1863. It was bought by the Bagots, sold by them to the Department of Agriculture in 1910 and demolished in 1919.

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