Eliza (Dizzie) Townsend (Mrs. Lionel Fleming), in Ballydevlin, Goleen, West Cork c 1820s, no roads, rooms lit by smokey candles made of mutton fat, a diet of cabbage, sea weed, mutton, salt ling, salted pork, pigs head and crubeens, playing Handel and Mozart with the Rev O’Grady.
Rev. O’Grady: Re the Coghlans and Dowes of Carrigmanus through the Simpson family. Daughter of Susanna Goodwin Bishop Simpson and Joshua Dowe (father of Dr. of Joshua Isaac Dowe), was: Susanna Dowe 1803–1873 BIRTH ABT. 1803 Schull, Cork, Ireland DEATH 10 MAY 1873 • Kilmoe, Goleen, Co Cork, Ireland 1st cousin 4x removed She married Rev. Thomas O’Grady of Carrigmannus. Henry Baldwin Long farmed on Carrigmanus lands (as did Richard Long ) until the family moved for a short while (abt. 1915 – 1929) to Moneens, near Bantry which was also owned by Thomas, thus confirming family connection. The Christian names of “Simpson and Goodwin” carry on through the O’Grady family.
Until Richard Griffith completed the road from Skibbereen to Crookhaven in 1824 there was only a saddle path. When the road opened, for the first time, wheeled vehicles came to the western area.
Her Father:
Rev. Horace/Horatio Townsend, pre 1824, Derry, Rosscarbery, noted agriculturalist, 13 children of whom Dizzie married Lionel Fleming JP, Ballydevlin later Newcourt. Managed estates of Lord Shannon in Timoleague until his death. 1835 Subscriber Lewis Topographical Dictionary of Ireland 1837.
From excellent Townsend family history site:
http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~townsend/tree/record.php?ref=5D05
Notes for Eliza Townsend (Dizzie)
Married 10 January 1819. Lionel John Fleming (1) of Newcourt (2) was the son of Becher Fleming (1760-1837) of Newcourt (3), Co Cork and a barrister. Lionel’s grandmother was Mary Townsend [506] who married Thomas Somerville of Castlehaven. Lionel’s sister, Martha Fleming, married John Sealy Townsend [333]. See 1958 Edn Burke’s Irish Family Records – Fleming.
Dizzie attended school at Clifton, Bristol ca 1807 with her sister Katherine Townsend [5D06].
According to the book “The Irish Country House” by Peter Somerville-Large, Lionel’s father sent the couple after their marriage to Ballydevlin House, near Goleen on the north side of Roaring Water Bay, in order to keep Lionel occupied until he inherited the Newcourt estate. The entry for the parish of Kilmoe in Samuel Lewis’ Topographical Dictionary of Ireland 1837 reflects this. Life at Ballydevlin was very basic and all supplies had to come from Skibbereen, thirty miles away, and the couple found themselves very isolated. Although she ran a school and helped the poor, Dizzie found life at Ballydevlin very lonely compared with the hustle and bustle of Derry and implored her father to persuade her father-in-law to relinquish the Newcourt estate in favour of Lionel. This cut no ice and it was not until 1837 that Lionel inherited the estate.
Notes for Eliza Townsend (Dizzie) Married 10 January 1819. Lionel John Fleming (1) of Newcourt (2) was the son of Becher Fleming (1760-1837) of Newcourt (3), Co Cork and a barrister. Lionel’s grandmother was Mary Townsend [506] who married Thomas Somerville of Castlehaven. Lionel’s sister, Martha Fleming, married John Sealy Townsend [333]. See 1958 Edn Burke’s Irish Family Records – Fleming. Dizzie attended school at Clifton, Bristol ca 1807 with her sister Katherine Townsend [5D06]. According to the book “The Irish Country House” by Peter Somerville-Large, Lionel’s father sent the couple after their marriage to Ballydevlin House, near Goleen on the north side of Roaring Water Bay, in order to keep Lionel occupied until he inherited the Newcourt estate. The entry for the parish of Kilmoe in Samuel Lewis’ Topographical Dictionary of Ireland 1837 reflects this. Life at Ballydevlin was very basic and all supplies had to come from Skibbereen, thirty miles away, and the couple found themselves very isolated. Although she ran a school and helped the poor, Dizzie found life at Ballydevlin very lonely compared with the hustle and bustle of Derry and implored her father to persuade her father-in-law to relinquish the Newcourt estate in favour of Lionel. This cut no ice and it was not until 1837 that Lionel inherited the estate.
Fleming Family History:
http://nycnuts.net/ancestors/fleming/contents/index.html
https://durrushistory.com/2015/06/27/godwin-swift-letters-crookhaven-1757-2/
https://durrushistory.com/2015/06/29/griffith/
Courtesy Peter Somerville Large.
West Cork History 
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