Bourne of Castleconnor
In 1655, Sir Richard
Coote’s Regiment of Horse of the Cromwellian Army was disbanded in County Sligo,
and land seized from Catholics was distributed to the veterans. Among these was
one James Byrne (with variations in related documents of E.J. Byrne and James
Birne), who had been the Quartermaster of Coote’s Regiment. Byrne received a
grant of 1214 acres in the barony of Tireragh, which is where Easky and
Castleconnor are located. In 1689, Thomas Burne, tanner, of CastleCanur, County
Sligo, was listed on a James II Bill Of Attainder. The Bourne(s) Families of
Ireland, written by a descendant, attributes the origins of the Castleconnor
branch of the Bourne family to French Huguenots who were with Cromwell’s army.
The book identifies as possible ancestors Thomas Burne of Castleconnor,
mentioned in a 1665 document, and James Burne, mentioned in a 1678 document.
The book does not connect the latter with James Byrne of Coote’s Regiment,
perhaps because the spelling of Byrne implies Catholic, albeit apostate
origins; but it is possible that James Byrne was the founder of the Protestant
Bourne family of Castleconnor. An abandoned Catholic cemetery in Easky contains
several tombstones with spellings Bourne and Bournes, however, which shows that
spelling alone is not proof of one’s family or faith.
(source: “The Clan O’Byrne of Leinster”
by Paul J. Burns, published in 2001)
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