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Lord William Clere Leonard Brendan Parsons, 7th Earl of Rosse, Baron of Oxmantown, 10th Baronet of Birr Castle, was born 21 October 1936 to Lord Laurence Parsons, 6th Earl of Rosse, and Anne Messel. Lord Brendan Parsons attended Eton College, Aiglon College, University of Grenoble, and Christ Church, Oxford. He served as an officer in the Irish Guards from 1955-57 and worked for the United Nations from 1963-80. On 15 October 1966 he married Alison Margaret Cooke-Hurle. He succeeded his father as the 7th Earl of Rosse in 1979. During hias first thirty years as earl, Lord and Lady Rosse facilitated research by A.P.W. Malcomson resulting in the production of a comprehensive Calendar of the Rosse Papers in 2008. Lord Rosse lives at the family home of Birr Castle, County Offaly, with the Countess of Rosse. They have three children: Lawrence Patrick Parsons, Lord Oxmantown (b.1969), Lady Alicia Parsons (b.1971), and the Honourable Michael Parsons (b.1981).

William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, Baron of Oxmantown, 6th Baronet of Birr Castle, was born in June of 1800 to Lord Laurence Parsons, 2nd Earl of Rosse, and Lady Alice Lloyd. He served as a Member of Parliament from 1821-1834. Lord Rosse married Lady Mary Field, daughter of John Wilmer Field on 14 April 1836. Upon the death of his father, Laurence Parsons, 2nd Earl of Rosse in 1841, William became the 3rd Earl of Rosse. He was also President of the British Association from 1843-1844. Lord Rosse was president of the Royal Society from 1845-1854, while he also served as an Irish representative peer. From 1862-1867 he was chancellor of Trinity College, Dublin. Lord Rosse was an avid scientist, a passion that he shared with his wife, Mary Rosse, and is best known for building the 'Leviathan of Parsonstown,’ a 72-inch telescope. It was built in 1845 and was the largest telescope in the world. As an astronomer, he was first to discover the spiral nature of some nebulae (now called spiral galaxies), and naming the Crab Nebula. He died 31 October 1867, and was succeeded by his son, Laurence Parsons, 4th Earl of Rosse.

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.

Parsonstown’s Poor Law Union was established on the 8th of May 1839. It was formed from an elected Board of Guardians, with John Drought as chairman, comprising twenty-nine elected members and nine ex-officio Guardians with all members meeting weekly. Parsonstown Union’s area of operation covered 234 square miles from two counties: from Offaly (King’s) – Banagher, Drumcullen, Eglish, Ferbane, Frankfort, Kilcoleman, Kinnety, Lemanagan, Letter, Lusmagh, Seirkyrans, Parsonstown, Shannon Bridge, Shannon Harbour and Tissarin. From County Tipperary – Aglishcloghane, Ballingarry, Dorha, Lockeen, Lorha and Uskeane. The Union was abolished in 1925, with the Board of Guardians powers being transferred to the county councils' Board of Health.

Rural district councils were created through the Local Government (ireland) Act, 1898, and were eventually abolished after the partition of Ireland, by the Local Government Act of 1925.