The Dillons of Drumraney
The Barony of Kilkenny West was the ancestral home of the de Leon family whose name later changed to Dillon. The de Leon/Dillon family can be traced back to a Henry de Leon who was the secretary to the then Prince John. In 1170 Richard de Clare, who was nicknamed Strongbow, invaded Ireland in support of the exiled King of Leinster Diarmait Mac Muchada. Henry II followed in 1172 and exerted his control over the conquered area and appointed his son Prince John as Lord of Ireland. It was in this capacity that John, in 1185, granted land to Henry de Leon across the County of Meath (which would later be split into Westmeath and Meath). Henry chose Drumraney to be his seat of power and built his manor and castles there. He was also responsible for building several monasteries in the area, one being Athlone Abbey where he was later buried. The family grew and spread over the centuries with branches forming in different parts of Ireland, their fortunes ebbing and flowing with the changing times.
However, there was one descendant of Henry who was going to be responsible for restoring the fortunes of the Westmeath Dillons. He was Theobald Dillon, an Irish military commander and adventurer. In 1582 he was appointed Chief Serjeant and General Collector and Receiver of taxes for Connaught and Thomond. Part of his job was to persuade native Irish landowners to give up ownership of their land to the crown, which would then regrant it back to them, usually with some privileges accorded. Theobald persuaded the land owners in the barony of Costello to sign the land over to him suggesting that he would present it to the crown as a single package saving both time and money. Then, on completion, he would change the ownership back. This they duly did and the land was registered in Theobald’s name, offered to the crown and regranted back to Theobald. However he failed to execute the second part of the deal, that of the transfer back to the local landholders. So, he effectively stole the land in Mayo, but was subsequently allowed to keep it by the crown! He was created the 1st Viscount of Costello and Gallen in 1623 but died the next year. On his death his 2nd eldest son, Sir Lucas Dillon, probably acquired these Connaught estates, which included the Aghamore Parish, as he is known to have settled in an old castle in Loughglynn, situated in Tibohine Parish, which was to be his family’s home from that time. Eventually the title of Viscount passed to Sir Lucas’ grandson, also called Theobald, due to his elder brother’s male line dying out and from then on Loughglynn became the seat of the Viscount Dillons.
It seems likely that the first Seery settler to arrive in Tibohine Parish from Westmeath was somehow connected to the acquisition of these lands by the Dillon family. A Seery match from Lurgan, Killare, Westmeath, which is near Drumraney, shows a common ancestor born about 1347AD and places the line in the approximate area. Whether the move was made after Theobald first acquired them or later when his son moved up there cannot be determined. It is possible that they were estate managers sent to monitor the newly acquired lands or trusted tenants sent in to seed the area.
The only other Seery tester from Westmeath, apart from the two related ones mentioned earlier from Lurgan & Clonmellon, is a Seery with origins to the Castletown Geoghan area. His haplogroup, being a completely different, suggests an NPE event occurring in the distant past.
Loughglynn House
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