Search Results for 'Marquess of Sligo'

According to a Browne family tradition, the first Browne to settle in Ireland was Phillipus de Browne who in 1172 was appointed Governor of Wexford. He had three sons, one of whom, Walter, settled in County Galway, where his posterity still remains. By around the year 1300, the Brownes seemed to have settled in the Athenry area. They were one of the 14 families from the Irish lower classes who rose to become Galway’s prime merchant families, and who famously were known as The Tribes of Galway.

A rare life-size masterpiece by a 19th century French sculptor, which has stood in Westport House for generations, is to be auctioned by Sotheby’s to secure the future of the stately home.

On July 15 1960, Jeremy Altamont, the 11th and present Marquess of Sligo, together with his father and mother — Denis and Jose Sligo — first opened the doors of their family home to visitors in an attempt to save and retain the historical home, which was built in 1730, in the hands of their family. From 5,000 visitors in 1960 the numbers of visitors have steadily increased to about 60,000 a year, with more than four million visitors welcomed by Westport House and Pirate Adventure Park over the years.