John Eyre, of Eyre Court

• Burke, Bernard, Sir. A genealogical and heraldic history of the landed gentry of Great Britain & Ireland 6th ed. London : Harrison 1879. Vol I. page 531

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FUNERAL OF THE LATE JOHN EYRE, ESQ. The deceased Mr. Eyre was first cousin to Mr. Blake, of Balmain (N.S.W., Australia). (Newspaper Sydney Morning Herald, N.S.W., Australia,22 July 1856 p.3, From Saunders' Newsletter.) Ballinasloe, (Ireland) Thursday Night, 21st February (1856) According to arrangement, the funeral obsequies of late John Eyre were performed to-day. Three o'clock had been named as the precise time at which the funeral cortege would leave the castle, but longbefore that hour the various avenues to the family mansion of the deceased were densely filled by bodies of the Eyrecourt tenantry, and masses of the surrounding peasantry of both sexes. The town of Eyrecourt seemed enveloped in a cloud of gloom : heartfelt sorrow was depicted in every countenance, and business was entirely suspended, every shop having remained closed since the time of the melancholy occurrence. The Eyre family are of very ancient origin, and related to many of the leading houses of Galway and the King's county, Ireland. The progenitor of the line in Ireland got possession of the property in the reign of William the Conqueror, and the estates descended regularly from father to son until the time of the late Lord Eyre, who had two daughters, who died without issue. The property then passed into the hands of a collateral branch - the late Lieutenant-Colonel Eyre, father of the deceased. A large amount of incumbrances fell on the Eyre property, in consequence of the electioneering tendencies, and other similar propensities of the late Colonel Eyre, and out of thirty two thousand green acres, besides bog and mountain, but a comparatively small portion remained to the present inheritors. The deceased came by his death on Monday last while hunting his own pack, a sport he had a great delight in. His horse stumbled in attempting a leap of no great magnitude, and the rider having been suddenly unseated was precipitated to the ground, causing dislocation of the neck, and instantaneous death. Mr. Eyre's huntsman was the first to come to his assistance, and almost immediately after, his son, Captain John Eyre, late of the Galway Militia. When it was found that the gallant spirit which oft led the sport of the field had fled for ever, great was the sorrow and dismay which pervaded a numerous meet. The remains were conveyed to Kill Lodge, the seat of John P. Geoghegan, Esq., and subsequently in the carriage of Captain Burrill, to Eyrecourt Castle. It was agreed that no carriages should be allowed to enter the lawn, and at three o'clock, when the mournful procession left the castle, there could not have been less than six thousand persons on foot within the precincts of the demesne. The principal gentry of the King's County and Galway were either present or represented on the occasion. The remains of the deceased were interred in the family vault in Eyrecourt Churchyard. The Burial Service was read by the Rev. B. R. Eyre, assisted by the Rev. Mr. Wilson. Amongst those present on the occasion were - John Eyre, Esq., and Marmaduke Eyre, Esq., sons of the deceased. John Eyre, Esq , Hassop Park. Rev. R. B. Eyre, and Robert Eyre, Esq., Earlston, relatives. Thomas Stratford Eyre, Esq. the Earl of Clancarty John Algie, Esq. John P. Armstrong, Esq. ; William Armstrong, Esq. Rev. Mr. Bunbury Patrick Blake, Esq. ; Valentine Blake, Esq. Captain Burrill Thomas Curran, Esq. Peter Callanan, Esq. Rev. Mr. Coen, P.P. Rev. Mr. Coghlan, P.P. Martin Colahan Esq. Joseph Henry Cowan, Esq. ; Lieutenant Cowan James Daly, Esq., Cooling Thomas Davis, Esq. Rev. William Derry, P.P. John Doolan, Esq. Rev. Adolphus Drought Cuthbert Fetherston, H. Esq. John P. Geoghogan, Esq. Persse Grome, Esq. Birr ; Rev. Thomas Grome J. Hawks, Esq. Thomas Hynes, Esq. ; Rev. Mr. Hynes, R.O.C. G. C. Kenny, Esq. John Lambert, Esq., Aggart Walter Lawrence, Esq., Bellevue Andrew Lyons, Esq. John D. Mahon, Esq. W. H. Masters, Esq. John Hubert Moore, Esq. Mr. Moyode Ambrose O'Kelly, Esq., Gurtray Mr. Persse Wm. T. Potts, Esq., and Harry T. Potts, Esq., Coreen Castle Ryan. Esq., R.M. George Sanderson, Esq. Thomas Seymour Esq, Walter Seymour, Esq John T. Seymour Esq. Rev. David Seymour ; William Seymour, Esq. Robert Stannard, Esq. Captain Stoney, Birr Frederick Le Poer Trench Christopher Usher, Esq., Eastwell; William Usher, Esq. Samuel Wade, Esq. ; Thomas Wade, Esq., Fairfield Rev. Mr. Wilson. &c., &c.