Mary, Countess of Rosse, was born Mary Field, daughter of John Wilmer Field, in 1813. She married Lord William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse on 14 April 1836, moving from Yorkshire to Birr Castle, King’s County. She and Lord Rosse shared an interest in astronomy, and with significant financial investment on Lady Mary’s part they built the largest telescope in the world at the time, the ‘Leviathan of Parsonstown.’ Along with her interest in astronomy, Mary Rosse was an accomplished blacksmith, and aided in construction of the telescope. Her scientific interests brought her to become close friends with the cousin of the 3rd Earl, Mary Ward, who was a frequent visitor at Birr Castle. As the Countess of Rosse, she carried out significant renovations to Birr Castle under the advice of her uncle, Richard Wharton Myddleton. Through her many projects, she managed to employ over 500 men during the Great Famine of 1845-47. Overshadowing her renovations of Birr Castle, and aid in building the Leviathan of Parsonstown, Mary Rosse is best known for her work in early daguerreotype and glass plate photography. Her work was praised by a family acquaintance, William Henry Fox Talbot, and she joined the Dublin Photographic Society. In 1859 her work won her a silver medal for the best paper negative from the Photographic Society of Ireland. Mary Rosse had four children who survived to adulthood: Laurence (1840-1908), Randal (1848-1936), Richard Clere (1851-1923), and Charles (1854-1931). She died in 1885.
William Edward Parsons, 5th Earl of Rosse, Baron of Oxmantown, 8th Baronet of Birr Castle, was born 14 June 1873 to Laurence Parsons, 4th Earl of Rosse, and Lady Frances Cassandra Hawke. Before inheriting the earldom, Lord Oxmantown was commissioned into a militia battalion of the West Yorkshire Regiment in 1896, and was swiftly promoted to Lieutenant. A year later, he was commissioned as a regular officer in the Coldstream Guards, and later transferred to the Irish Guards on its formation in 1900, and promoted to Captain. On 19 October 1905 he married Lady Frances Lois Lister-Kaye, daughter of Sir Cecil Lister-Kaye, 4th Baronet and Lady Beatrice Adeline Pelham-Clinton. Upon the death of his father, William Parsons became the 5th Earl of Rosse and head of the Parsons family. He was promoted to Major in 1906 and resigned in 1908. In 1911 he was elected a Representative Peer. Lord Rosse returned to military service to fight in the First World War, was wounded in action, and died on 10 June 1918.
Laurence Michael Harvey Parsons, 6th Earl of Rosse, Baron of Oxmantown, 9th Baronet of Birr Castle, was born 28 September 1906 to Lord William Edward Parsons, 5th Earl of Rosse, and Lady Francis Lois Lister-Kaye. He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford, where he was a member of the Railway Club. Laurence Parsons succeeded his father in 1918 as the 6th Earl of Rosse. On 19 September 1935, he married Lady Anne Messel, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Leonard Charles Rudolph Messel. Lady Anne Messel was previously married to Ronald Armstrong-Jones, and was the mother of Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, who in 1960 married the Princess Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. The 6th Earl of Rosse died on 5 July 1979 and was succeeded by his son, Sir William Brendan Parsons.
Superior of Irish Mission: 30 September 1812-28 September 1817; 29 September 1821- May 1830
Vice Provincial: 1834-1836
Born in Galway, 4 September 1848, and educated at St Ignatius College, Galway , he entered the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) on 7 November 1865 at Milltown Park, Dublin. He studied philosophy in France and theology at Louvain, Belgium. He spent three years teaching at Spring Hill, New Orleans, at Clongowes Wood College, Kildare and at St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg. He was ordained in Louvain. When the school at Tullabeg was amalgamated with Clongowes Wood College in 1886, he spent time at Tonchiennes, Belgium. He taught at the Sacred Heart College, Limerick and spent many years on the missions . He joined the community at St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin where he spent the rest of his life. He was a gifted musician (violin) and a noted librarian. He died 3 February 1907.
Joseph Fuller, the eldest son of Ann Fuller and Abraham Fuller of Kinnegad, was born in the year 1698. He married Lydia Roberts, daughter of Isaac Roberts, and they had five children: Ann (3 Dec 1725 - 31 July 1773), John (2 Feb 1726 - 5 Jan 1772), Abraham (19 Aug 1728 - 7 Jan 1800), Joseph (19 May 1732 - 16 July 1762), and Robert (d 1762).
Abraham Fuller was born in 1753, the eldest son of Elinor (Pakenham) Fuller and Abraham Fuller of Violet Hill. As an adult he became a Barrister at Law, and on 7 Aug 1776 he married Catharine Williams, daughter of Adam Williams, Attorney of Bride Street , Dublin, and also of Williamstown, Edenderry, County Kildare. They had two sons and six daughters: Abraham (1777 - 1838), Martha, Adam (28 Feb 1782 - 15 June 1858), Lydia, Ann, Catherine. Their three youngest daughters all died very young, and were closely followed on 20 May 1783 by their mother Catharine Fuller. Abraham Fuller died 2 May 1842.
Maria Blanche was the daughter of Dr Matthew Stritch of Dublin. On 4 December 1817 she married Adam Fuller of Woodfield at St. Peter's Church in Dublin. They had three sons: Joseph Thomas Fuller (b 7 Sep 1818), Captain Adam Henry Fuller (b 24 Oct 1822), and Reverend Abraham Stritch Fuller (b 20 Nov 1826).
Their eldest son Joseph, who was very wild and heavily contributed to the financial troubles of the family, was sent to live in America. In order to generate income, Woodfield House was let out in 1851, and Adam and Maria Blanche Fuller moved to a house in Sandymount, County Dublin. Adam Fuller died on 15 June 1858.
Maria Blanche Fuller died at the age of 66 at 6 Cartwait Park, Kingstown, County Dublin on 5 October 1864.
Rafael Ricardo Jose Gaspar Fuller, only son of Doctor Adam Henry Fuller and Marcelina Dolores Caballero, was born 14 March 1866. In adulthood he served as the consul for Paraguay in New York. He married Esperanza Viscay, and they had one daughter, Esperanza Alice Fuller, on 8 June 1928 in Paraguay. Rafael Fuller died in Pilar, Paraguay in 1941.