"Et in Arcadia ego: the story of Clifford and of a childhood on the Blackwater in the 1940's"
Venue: Dromana House
Date: Sunday, 15th November 2015
Time: 1pm lunch followed by a presentation
Tickets: includes 2 course lunch €30 booking essential (numbers limited)
Enquiries: bgrubb@eircom.net
Telephone: 024 96144
Clifford is dramatically situated overlooking the Blackwater between Mallow and Fermoy. It was built in about 1790 by Richard Martin, a Cork solicitor who was Seneschal of the Manor of Mallow and descended through the Mansergh family during the nineteenth century. From 1925 until 1946 it was home of the Walton family. This talk is a nostalgic evocation of the story of Clifford and of a childhood spent in what was then the remote countryside of North Cork.
Julian Walton is a former secondary schoolteacher and librarian with a lifelong interest in history. Since he "retired" in 2006, he has been Resident Historian at Dunhill Multi-Education Centre in County Waterford, where he lectures on aspects of local history. He is author of The Royal Charters of Waterford and of many articles in historical journals. His most recent publications are On This Day volumes one and two, which are based on a series of short programmes broadcast on Waterford local radio between 1994 and 2012.
This house was occupied by Richard Martin in 1814 and by Thomas Lloyd in 1837 and at the time of Griffith's Valuation, when he held the property from Edward Beatty. The buildings were valued at £26. Clifford passed by marriage to the Mansergh family of Grenane, County Tipperary and at the time of the sale in 1879 was inhabited by Captain C.S Mansergh, who held it on a lease dated 1868. The representatives of E. Charles Mansergh of Clifford owned 511 acres in County Tipperary in the 1870's. In 1942, the Irish Tourist Association survey reported that it was the residence of the Walton family and that the estate had been reduced to 40 acres. This house was recently renovated.
