Our Dillon origins.

There are many Dillon Families in Ireland. Tracking our ancestry beyond the known has been a lot of work and there may be many mistakes. There have been many sons born to many generations of Dillons, all with estates entailed to sons or brothers, and quite a bit of intermarrying between cousins. According to the pedigree from a supposed original Dillon who came in the train of King John in 1185, there were living descendants (in 1954) in the following branches (in seniority order):

1. Dillon of Costello-Gallen, County Mayo, (Viscounts Dillon).
2. Dillon of Rathmile (Rathmoyle), County Roscommon.
3. Dillon of Mount Dillon, County Roscommon.
4. Dillon of Kilcornan (Ireland) and,
later, of Terrafort (France), (Counts Dillon).
5. Dillon of Clonbrock, Co. Galway, (Lords Clonbrock).
6. Dillon of Lismullen, County Meath, (Baronets of Lismullen).

We are descended from the Dillons of Costello-Gallen, County Mayo, (Viscounts Dillon).

Charles, 12th Viscount Dillon, married Henrietta Phipps (one of the ladies in the picture) in Bruxelles. He was 31 and she was 19. Charles was born in London on 6 November 1745. He died at Loughlynn House, Co.Roscommon on 9 November 1813, and is buried at Ballyhaunis.

Henrietta only survived for six years after the marriage. She died on 1 September 1782. Their two children were Henry Augustus Dillon (13th Viscount) and Frances Charlotte (who married Sir Thomas Webb). Charles married again in 1787 to Marie Rogier of Malines. They had three children - Charlotte, Henrietta, and James William Dillon.

'The 12th Viscount Dillon, Charles, was an Englishman who owned the Parish of Loughlynn, and three of four parishes in Mayo. Before his marriage he lived in the Old Castle at the farmyard in Loughlynn, where two towers stood beside an old church. One of the towers still stands; the other was taken down. It was he who built the historic house at Loughlynn as it stands today in the heart of the west Roscommon Lake District. The village is surrounded by six lakes, including "Loch Glinne" which is an artificial lake, built by the Lord of the Manor as a birthday present for his wife (don't know which one). 'The cold castle at the farmyard was burned and while the new house was being built, Lord Dillon lived in Dublin, coming now and again to see the work All the out-offices left intact were turned into a national school and afterwards into a cavalry barracks by the yeoman, Lord Dillon's bodyguard.' (ref.website)

The Manor, now a Francisan Convent is still in perfect condition. The ruins of Gala Castle, on the north side of the lake, is believed to be the original site of Loughglynn. Nearby Errit Loch is one of the most renowned fishing spots in Roscommon. (taken from Loughlynn, Roscommon, GoIreland)

'Every Saturday, mass was celebrated by either the parish priest or the curate and Lord Dillon attended this mass. Had the British government known that Lord Dillon was a Roman Catholic, the property would have been taken from him. Eventually this information did leak out and the British government sent two detectives to find out if it were true. All the neighbours would tell them of Lord Dillon's presence as mass was that they could hear his footsteps coming into the chapel but they never saw him as mass, the reason being that a screen separated Lord Dillon from the people.'