TOPICS

DUNGIVEN TOWN
DUNGIVEN CASTLE
DUNGIVEN PRIORY
DUNGIVEN TOWNLANDS
BANAGHER GLEN
BANAGHER CHURCH
THE SKINNER’S COMPANY
PELLIPAR ESTATE
ACCOMMODATION
GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES
FOLKLORE
SONGS OF DUNGIVEN
BOOKS OF DUNGIVEN
XTRAS

THE SKINNERS COMPANY

The Skinners were one of twelve London Companies whom were the basis of the Ulster Plantation. Before the plantation had even begun the Government of the City of London had asked twelve London Companies to take part in the Ulster Plantation by funding it and becoming landlords of Irish estates. The Skinners' Company were one of the twelve London companies known as the 12 Livery Companies. The were not fussed on taking part; there was money to be made on the long run, they agreed, but they had to raise an awfully high sum of money first, which the Skinners could not afford. However, tremendous pressure from the Government of the City of London was put on the London company and so they agreed to take their share of land in Ulster.

The land was shared out as follows-

• Each company was given land in the County of Coleraine

• The decision as to who would get what land was done in 'First out of the Hat' form

• The first company out of the hat was the Goldsmiths company, they got the richest part of County Coleraine (Clondermot) and the last company out of the hat was the Skinners, they got the worst part of County Coleraine, a massive 49,000 acres of terrible land.

The Skinners called their Manor (49,000 acre land, which, by the way was broken up into different divisions making it very difficult to *defend because it was sprawled across the county) Pellipar because it was a more interesting name than some of the boring manors like the Drapers of Draperstown. Also, Pellipar was translated in Latin as Skinner.

*DEFENSE WAS IMPORTANT for the land in county Coleraine given to the Livery Companies was of course owned by others before the plantation. The Irish natives had been robbed of their land by the English and Scottish settlers that came to Ireland as tenants of the Livery Companies' land. The Irish natives were not happy about this and some of them were known to attack the settlers (planters). This is why the person whom had the **lease of Pellipar and controlled the running had to build several bawns and castles for safety and defense of the native Irish.

**The livery companies leased their lands to middlemen, or first farmers. They then leased the land they were leasing to English and Scottish Planters- Confused?

the Company's Land is rented out to:

a middleman, who then rents this land to:

the English and Scottish Planters coming to settle in Ireland

INFORMATION ON THE PAST MIDDLEMEN OF THE SKINNERS COMPANY LAND (PELLIPAR):

1. Captain (later Sir) Edward Doddington: He had a lease of  58 years, he built Dungiven Castle and Bawn & Brackfield Castle and Bawn, he built 12 houses in Dungiven and near Brackfield he built two villages of twelve houses each, he married Anne Beresford, he died in 1618.

2. Lady Anne Beresford (later, Lady Doddington and then Lady Cooke): She had a lease of 61 years, she lived in Skinners Hall (Dungiven Castle and Bawn) when she married Edward Doddington and when he died she then obtained her lease, she married Sir Francis Cooke and buried him a few years later, she died in 1679.

3. Edward Carey: he was also known as Captain Edward Carey- son of George Cary who was married to Lady Cooke's sister, he obtained his grand aunt's (Lady Cooke's) lease of Pellipar Estate, he built the Second Manor House of Pellipar on the site of the Present Dungiven castle in the town (the castle he built did not need to be a bawn at this stage of the Ulster Plantation), he died in 1686.

4. (later Colonel) Edward Carey, son of Captain Edward Carey: he lived at 2nd MHoP (castle built by his father), he was a popular landlord who held games and sports on the castle grounds and was easy with the rent situation, he died in 1753

5. Henry Carey: he was son of Colonel Edward Carey, he obtained the lease before his father died because the Skinners had it transferred to him, he became an MP, he was much like his father in the sense that he was fond of sport etc. being held in the castle grounds, then in the late 1700 the castle and the Careys started to deteriorate because there was no one to take over from Henry (who was also known as Edward) and the debts started mounting. When Henry died in 1797 he had already passed the lease on to an up coming family called the Ogilbys and the Careys began to be forgotten. It is rarely talked about on tours of the Old Priory but, behind the locked doors of the chancel, opposite the tomb of Cooey na Gall there lies a flat inscribed gravestone which marks the resting place of Carey. A long forgotten detail of Dungiven's history by the locals.

6. Robert Ogilby: he was a linen merchant from Limavady, he obtained his lease from Henry Carey who was eager to get rid of it in 1794, his ease was 61 years, he lived at the 3rd MHoP which was called Pellipar House and still is. It is situated at the bottom of the town off the Ballyquinn road to Limavady. He began work on restoring the old Carey castle (he totally rebuilt it) but the new castle was never finished. It had the main part of it built but it was never finished due to the death of Robert Ogilby in 1839. He never intended to live in the castle although it was an intended gentleman's residence.

7. Robert Leslie Ogilby: He was the nephew of Robert Ogilby and obtained the lease in 1825 because Robert Ogilby's son was not competent enough to run the estate, he lived at the 4th MHoP (Dungiven Manor) which was situated on Main Street Dungiven until it was knocked down in 1985, James, Robert's son continued to live in Pellipar House, the estate was in bad shape when he took over, he died in 1872.

The death of Robert Leslie Ogilby ended the family lease of 61 years or there abouts. This meant the Skinners were back as direct landlords and the middlemen were cut off the system. They were extremely angry with the way the series of middlemen had treated their property from the 17th Century. 1973 after the death of the last middleman they sent officials of the company to inspect the estate and were annoyed at the way the Castle at the top of the town had been left in ruins. They brought a claim against the Ogilby Trustees and tried to obtained repair costs for the castle, Dungiven Manor and 100 houses in Dungiven town from them. The surveyor of the company, surname Burnell, produced plans for the restoration work of the castle. But these plans were never carried out as the claims made to the trustees did not come out the better for the Skinners, getting few money from the trustees. The outcome of the claim did not allow the restoration work to be carried out. The Skinners then realised it was time to get out. The running of the estate was more bother than it was worth. They began to sell off their land in 1888 and completed this task in 1897. The castle was sold to the oldest son of Robert Leslie, Captain Robert Alexander Ogilby and he died in 1902, passing ownership to his son, the last of the Obilbys of Pellipar- Colonel Robert James Leslie Ogibly. He also owned Pellipar House and lived in it on his few visits to Dungiven, prefering to live in London and dying in 1964. Robert J. L. Ogilby sold the castle to a man from Dungiven called James Mc Closkey in 1925.

TO START A WEBSEARCH OF THE HISTORY ETC. OF THE SKINNERS' COMPANY, CLICK HERE TO http://www.skinnershall.co.uk/company.htm

FURTHER INFROMATION WILL BE GIVEN ON 'THE MIDDLEMEN' AT A LATER DATE IN A FORTHCOMING SECTION 'THE MIDDLEMEN'

To find out about the beautiful Pellipar House and the last remaining part of the Skinners' estate which was sold to the last of the Pellipar Ogilbys, go to PELLIPAR in the contents menu.