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Charles William Francis inherited Charleville Estate on the death of his father, the 3rd earl in 1859. He was a minor on inheriting the title, being just seven years old at the time. He never married and died on Staten Island, New York in 1874 at the age of 22. His coming of age the previous year was a grand affair in Tullamore with much celebrations and festivities in the town. As the 4th earl died with no male heirs, the earldom passed to his uncle Alfred, who had been his guardian in his minority.

Dr William Moran, parish priest of Tullamore (1949-1965), is remembered by the people of Tullamore with affection and respect. To many parishioners he was seen as a character and there are few of the older parishioners who have not some humorous story to relate concerning him. Dr Moran came to Tullamore from Trim in October 1949 where he had been parish priest. He was a native of Castletowngeoghegan near Tullamore and was educated at St. Finian’s (Navan) and Maynooth College where he was ordained in 1910. He received a doctorate in divinity in 1913 and after four years as a curate in Mullingar and Collinstown he was appointed professor of dogmatic theology in Maynooth in 1917. In 1932 he became prefect of the Dunboyne establishment and librarian in 1932. From there he moved to Trim and in 1949 to Tullamore.

Although a competent parish administrator who gave his full support to the local schools building programme of the 1950s, Dr Moran was happiest among his books and produced a number of books and pamphlets on religious topics including his well known catechism. He also published a number of historical articles including this booklet on the history of Tullamore in 1962. But if Dr Moran was interested in the past he was also a forward thinking practical man. He seemed to take a special delight in running the annual Corpus Christi procession from the organ gallery of the church with the ‘Tannoy’ system he purchased in 1951. With this system Dr Moran could broadcast a Maynooth choir for the procession together with a taped recording of his own sermon while he walked around the church and listened, presumably, admiringly, to the whole event. With his background in theology and his wide reading, Dr Moran had no shortage of material for his sermons and was a fascinating preacher who held the congregation spellbound for the duration of his homily.

Dr Moran celebrated the golden jubilee of his ordination in June 1962 and sung a high mass in the presence of Dr Kyne of Meath and Dr Cronin of the Philippines. The sermon was preached by Dr Philbin of Clonfert. After a short illness Dr Moran died at the age of 79 in October 1965. Although he had been responsible for many improvements at Clonminch cemetery he desired to be buried in the church grounds in a plot chosen by himself. His funeral was attended by thousands of parishioners and about 150 priests, many of them old students of their former professor. His tombstone is now incorporated in the wall of the entrance to the east transept of the new Church of the Assumption, Tullamore (rebuilt in 1986 after the fire of 1983).

Moran’s history of Tullamore was assisted by the notes of Fr John Johnson of Harbour Street who did a lot of work but did not publish it. Moran’s history was the first to be published based on a research process with footnotes and a good spread of sources. A recording of his lecture on Tullamore given at St Mary’s Hall in 1962. This was published as Early history of Tullamore (Athlone, 1962, reprinted by Offaly History, Tullamore, 1989)

Eldest daughter of Francis Berry Homan Mulock, of Ballycumber, King’s County who on 16th October 1900 married Captain Claude Beddington (1868-1940), of South Street, Park Lane, London. Captain later Lieutenant-Colonel Beddington was, at this time serving with the Westmoreland and Cumberland Imperial Yeomanry. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Philharmonic Society of London. In 1929, as Mrs Claude Beddington she published 'Book of reminiscences, All that I have Met'. In later life she resided at 11 Welbeck House, Welbeck Street, London. She died on 19th December 1963. Of the marriage there was issue, two sons and a daughter Guy (1902-25), Sheila (1906) and Niall (1912).

Sir Mathew de Renzi was born in Cologne, Germany and was a cloth merchant in Antwerp. In 1604, he moved to London, but shortly became bankrupt and fled via Scotland to Ireland where he arrived in Dublin in 1606, penniless. He immediately set about becoming a landowner and made important establishment contacts in Dublin such as Sir Arthur Chichester, then Lord Deputy. A polyglot (fluent in Latin, Italian, English, German, French and Spanish), he also learned colloquial and classical Irish from the Old Irish family of MacBruideadh from the Thomond area of Limerick. This was a strategic move on De Renzi’s part, so intent was he on acquiring land in a Gaelic lordship. Having travelled around Ireland to the port towns of Galway, Limerick and Waterford, he arrived in West Offaly sometime in 1612. The area, known as Delvin MacCoghlan, roughly equating to the barony of Garrycastle, comprised the modern day towns of Ferbane, Banagher, Cloghan and Shannonbridge. He acquired around 100 acres in Clonony, living in Clonony Castle, and in direct opposition to Sir John (Seán Óg) MacCoghlan, the hereditary chieftain of the area. He had many disputes with Seán Óg and dispatched letters to the Lords Deputy in Dublin outlining his various grievances.

De Renzi’s 100 acres in the midlands grew to over 1000 in the following years. He also had properties in Westmeath, Wexford and Dublin. In around 1620, he sold his interest in Clonony, became a government administrator in Dublin and was knighted in 1627. Not much is known of his marriage, but that he had two sons, Mathew (d.1712) and Francis DeRenzy. In 1630, he purchased lands in the vicinity of Tinnycross, County Offaly on behalf of his eldest son. Mathew Jr subsequently sold his interest in these lands in 1704 and title passed to the Cox family of Ferns. Sir Mathew died in 1634 at the age of 57. Mathew Jr commissioned a memorial to him in St Mary’s Church Athlone in 1635. When the church was rebuilt in 1820, this memorial was re-inserted at the rear of the church where it can still be seen today.

George Cunningham, FSA, D.Litt., (hc UL), M.Litt., MA (hc NUI Galway), author, historian, editor, publisher and bibliophile is a former primary school principal (Coolderry Central School, Birr) and a community activist at many levels, focusing on the promotion of heritage and the environment. He has been involved with promoting the south tip of Offaly since his first guided tour to Ely O Carroll territory in 1973, and was part of the first voluntary archaeological survey of Offaly in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He is also the founder and life president of Roscrea Heritage Society/Centre .

Now a national director of Crann, he has revived its South West Midlands branch, incorporating it into Roscrea’s Tidy Towns. He has taught and lectured at all levels and gave seventeen years public service to the Governing Authority, many years as Deputy Chair, of UL and chairman of its library development committee. Chairman of the Bolton Library Board, 1994 to 2010. He directed the Roscrea Conference (1987 to 2017) and the Spring conference in April 2017 was the 60th consecutive gathering at the Cistercian Abbey, Roscrea.

Prominently associated all his life with all aspects of Irish heritage and a noted bibliophile, his personal library contains in excess of 20,000 volumes. A major book project has been ongoing since 1987; to date over 65,000 books have been donated to schools, colleges, and charitable institutions. He has written or edited some sixteen books and hundreds of minor publications mainly on the Irish midlands and on the Burren.

Laurence Parsons, 2nd Earl of Rosse, Baron of Oxmantown, 5th Baronet, was born on 21 May 1758 to Sir William Parsons, 4th Baronet, and Lady Mary Clere. From 1782-1790. Laurence Parsons represented Dublin University in the Irish House of Commons. In the following years of 1791-1801, he sat as a Member of Parliament for King's County. In May 1797
Laurence Parsons married Lady Alice Lloyd, and they had five children. After the Act of Union in 1801, he sat for King's County in the British House of Commons until 1807, when he succeeded his uncle as the 2nd Earl of Rosse. He soon after became one of the Postmasters General of Ireland, in 1809. From 1809-1841 he sat in the House of Lords as an Irish Representative Peer, and served as Custos Rotulorum of King's County from 1828 until his death on the 24th of February 1841. The 2nd Earl of Rosse was succeeded by his son, William Parsons.

Sir William Parsons, 1st Baronet of Bellamont, was born around the year 1570 to James Parsons and Catherine Fenton. In 1602 he succeeded Sir Geoffrey Fenton as Surveyor General of Ireland. He was later knighted for his work as Surveyor General and was created a baronet on 10 November 1611. In 1639 he represented the county of Wicklow in Parliament and was constituted Lord-Deputy, first with Lord Dillon in 1640, and again with Sir John Borlace, Master of the Ordnance. Sir William Parsons was married to Elizabeth Lany of Dublin, who was notably the niece of Sir Geoffrey Fenton. In 1643 he was removed from government, and imprisoned on charges of treason. Sir William Parsons died at Westminster in February of 1650. His grandson, Sir William Parsons, succeeded him as 2nd Baronet of Bellamont.

Sir Richard Parsons, 1st Viscount Rosse, Baron of Oxmantown, and 3rd Baronet of Bellamont, was the son of Sir William Parsons, 2nd Baronet of Bellamont, and his wife Catherine. He succeeded his father as the 3rd Baronet of Bellamont in 1658. On 2 of July 1681 he was elevated to the peerage as Baron of Oxmantown and Viscount Rosse. He married his first wife Anne Walsingham and had no children. After her death he married a second time to Catharine Brydges, the daughter of George Lord Chandos, and they also had no children before she died. In 1685 he married a third time to Elizabeth Hamilton, the niece of Sarah Duchess of Marlborough, and they had two sons and three daughters. Sir Richard Parsons died in 1702, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Sir Richard Parsons.

Sir William Parsons, 4th Baronet of Birr Castle, was born on 6 May 1731 to Sir Laurence Parsons, 3rd Baronet of Birr Castle, and Lady Mary Sprigge. He succeeded his father as the 4th Baronet of Birr Castle in 1749. In 1764 He became the head of the Parsons family upon the death of Richard Parsons, 2nd Earl of Rosse (of the first creation). Sir William Parsons die on 1 May 1791, and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son, Sir Laurence Parsons.

Lord Laurence Parsons, 1st Earl of Rosse, Viscount of Oxmantown, Baron of Oxmantown, was born 26 July 1742 to Sir Laurence Parsons, 3rd Baronet of Birr, and Lady Anne Harman. As a second son he did not inherit the baronetcy, which instead passed to his half-brother William, in 1749. He married Lady Jane, the eldest daughter of Lord Edward, 1st Earl of Kingston, and they had one daughter, Frances. On 25 September 1792 he was elevated to the peerage as Baron of Oxmantown, a title which would pass on to his nephew, William’s Son, Sir Laurence Parsons. On 6 October 1795 he was elevated to the peerage again, and given the Viscounty of Oxmantown. In February 1806, he was created the Earl of Rosse. On the 20th April 1807, Lord Laurence died without any sons, his viscounty expired, but the title of Earl of Rosse was passed on to Sir Laurence, 5th Baronet of Birr Castle.