Portrait of Elizabeth Mansfield (née Woulfe)
Family tradition states that
this portrait was painted by the Kilkenny artist, John Comerford (1770-1832).
Comerford initially painted full-sized portraits but later specialized in
miniatures, for which he was renowned. These early full-sized portraits by him
are rare. The painting originally hung in the hall at Morristown Lattin, Co
Kildare.
The subject of the portrait
is (‘Bess’) Elizabeth Woulfe, of Monadiha, Rathgormack Co Waterford. Her hair
is strikingly decorated with pearls and flowers. She also wears a piece of
jewellery attached to a ribbon and a rose in the centre. She is wearing a blue
silk dress trimmed with lace around the neck.
Her father Walter Woulfe
succeeded to the family estates through his mother, Mary Power, after the death
of his uncles Nicholas and Thomas Power. The Woulfe estates were in
Carrick-On-Suir, Co Tipperary, and Rathgormack, Co Waterford. Elizabeth married
John Mansfield in 1785. By this time, he had moved the family base from
Ballinamultina to Yeomanstown, Co Kildare. John died in 1817 and the estates
passed to his younger son Walter Henry Mansfield.
The Mansfield family of
Morristown Lattin date from the time of Henry II when Sir Rodolphus Mansfield
settled in Ireland from Nottinghamshire. He was granted estates in counties
Armagh, Derry, Waterford, Cork, and Limerick. He made his home at Killongford
and Ballinamultina, Co Waterford. The estates of his descendant, Walter Mansfield,
were confiscated due to his participation in the 1641 Rebellion. After the
Restoration he recovered only part of the estate, the lands at Ballinamultina.
In order to build up their estates once again the Mansfields (who remained
Catholic) married into prominent families such as the Woulfes, Eustaces, and
Lattins. Elizabeth’s husband John Mansfield’s great grandfather Richard married
Dorothea Hore of Shandon House, Dungarvan. Richard held a commission in Col.
Bagnall’s regiment of infantry in the army of James II and was present at the
Battle of the Boyne.
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| Elizabeth Mansfield (nee Woulfe) |