Reference was made last Monday to Charles Strickland who for many years in the mid-19th century acted for land agent to the Dillon family in Ireland, not least at Loughglynn, County Roscommon where Strickland lived during the course of his career. He was particularly concerned for the welfare of tenants on the estate for which he held responsibility, not just during the years of the Great Famine, but in its aftermath. Therefore in 1854 he persuaded his employer to provide the necessary funds to erect a new national school opposite the entrance to Loughglynn; this opened to both boys and girls in February 1856. It is a handsome, sturdy building, like the main house faced in limestone, of eight bays and with an entrance in the pedimented porch. At some date it was adapted into a hall, but has since been abandoned and fallen into as pitiful a state as the main house with which it was once connected.
Thank you Robert. My Great, Great Uncle was Sir George Strickland Kingston, who was the person who chose the spot on which the Australian city of Adelaide was built. He was born in Bandon County Cork. To date I have not found any family Strickland connection in Ireland.
I went to this school.It wa a torture chamber of a place.We were freezing in winter.Bad memories.
Robert
this I assume is the same Charles Strickland who ‘founded’ Charlestown, Co. Mayo, a new market town on the Sligo border, and adjacent the old town of Bellahy.
Its the nearest town to my home village of Carracastle..Co. Mayo
Thank you for getting in touch. Yes, the same Charles Strickland, you can see I mentioned him in the previous piece on Loughglynn…
Legend has it that my ancestors worked for Strickland or Dillon before coming to America. Hubert and Julia (Freeman) Leonard had 11 children, eight of whom survived. The family immigrated to Nebraska in the U.S. in 1885. One of the children, James G. Leonard returned to Loughglynn in the 1960s or 70s and supposedly found the initials he had carved at the schools many decades before. If not the truth, then it’s certainly an entertaining legend that has been handed down.