Moore Hall

George Moore died in 1799. His son, John Moore, was deeply involved in national politics. During the uprisings against English rule in 1798, General Humbert landed at Killala to aid the Irish cause with an expeditionary force of French troops on Thursday 23th August 1798. Unfortunately for Humbert, by this time the main action of the 1798 Rebellion had already been fought and lost at Vinegar Hill in County Wexford. Despite this, Humbert’s expedition had some initial success, as they routed a 6,000-strong British and Protestant loyalist militia army in the Battle of Castlebar, causing them to flee in such panic that the event would become famously known as the Castlebar Races. Following the battle, John Moore was appointed President of the Connacht Republic by Humbert. Buoyed by this success, the small force marched towards Dublin only to be comprehensively defeated by an overwhelming force at the Battle of Ballinamuck in County Longford. The defeated French officers were taken as prisoners of war to Dublin to be exchanged for British officers. The Irish, however, were not so fortunate. General Lake ordered many of them to be executed as he considered them to be British citizens, and therefore traitors. John Moore was arrested in Castlebar. He was sentenced to transportation, but died en route in Waterford City.

George Moore inherited the lands after his father’s death. His son, George Henry Moore, was a politician, landowner, and horse-trainer. He was a notorious gambler, but he also travelled extensively across Russia, Syria, and Palestine. After he inherited in 1840, he returned to the family home on the shores of Lough Carra, where he and his brother, Augustus, established a successful race horse stable, winning back much of the wealth that he had previously lost in his younger more feckless years. During the height of the Great Famine in 1846, he entered his horse Coranna in the Chester Gold Cup and won the huge sum at the time of £17,000. He used that money to give every one of his tenants a cow, he also chaired two committees to dispense relief aid in Mayo and imported 1,000 tons of flour, distributing it to tenants at half-cost. After Augustus died during a race, George Henry Moore cut down on his gambling and sold his horses. He was politically active, serving as a Member of Parliament, and taking up the cause of the Tenant League. This led him to become unpopular with his peers, and he lost his seat in 1852. He was also associated with the Irish Republican Brotherhood, and maintained a keen interest and passion for Irish independence until his death in 1870.