My 5x great-grandmother was Maria SMYTH. Her marriage announcement to Thomas WOODS of King’s County (now Offaly) puts her at Borris Castle in Borris-in-Ossory, County Laiois (also known as Queen’s County), Ireland.[1]
I was recently searching for the ancestors of Maria Smyth of Borris Castle who married Thomas Woods of Birr in October 1789. I came across this website on Borris Castle where they found a possibility that Maria’s father William SMYTH was a grandson of the Thomas SMYTH the Bishop of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe from 1695-1725. I’ll call him the Bishop of Limerick for short.
That, I thought, would be fascinating. There is a possible links from Bishop of Limerick to the Royal family through Queen Elizabeth’s mother. The National Library of Ireland reference several documents relating to such a possibility.
More importantly – as far as my husband was concerned – there are links from the Bishop of Limerick family to the Guinness beer family as shown in the chart prepared by Gertrude Thrift.[2]
The link is not a direct one, but from the wife of William SMYTH. Her cousin Olivia Whitmore was married to Arthur Guinness.
The chart is not complete and only shows that William SMYTH is the grandson of the Bishop of Limerick and related to the world of Guinness. It indicates “a son” [of the Bishop of Limerick] as the father of William.
First, I needed to establish some facts about Maria’s father – our William SMYTH.
William SMYTH of Borris-in-Ossory
Our ancestor William SMYTH leased the castle and grounds in Borris-in-Ossory in 1784 from James STEPHENS.[3] However, he was already living there. There is a deed in 1663[4] from CROSBY to SMYTH stating William was living in Borris-in-Ossory at that time, and other deeds in the intervening years that also confirm the same location.
I was also able to locate the death announcement showing that our William died at Borris Castle in 1807[5].
At the Castle of Borris-in-Ossory, William Smith, Esq. who, through a well spent life, lived respected and esteemed, and is most deservedly regretted by a numerous circle of relations and friends.
His wife Anne died in 1808.[6]
William and Anne are most likely the couple indicated in the marriage indexes for Ossory Marriage Licences in 1753.[7] From deeds and other documents, we know they had at least four daughters, including my 5xg.gma Maria.
William SMYTH related to Guinness?
We have established that our William was in Borris-in-Ossory from at least 1663 onwards.
The William SMYTH that married Mary GRATTAN was living in the city of Dublin in 1768.[8]
As the two Williams cannot be the same person, I can confirm we are not related to Guinness (sorry Paul).
William SMYTH grandson of Bishop of Limerick?
The Bishop of Limerick left 10 sons when he died – so there are a lot of possibilities for grandsons. One of those sons was James.
A genealogy site focused on one of James SMYTH’s daughters discusses the possibility that William is a son of James (a son of the Bishop of Limerick). This is based on the premise that William signed the marriage agreement for Thomas SMYTH (a confirmed son of JAMES) to Judith FORD[9] in 1772. He states that William is also mentioned in other deeds concerning Thomas.
I don’t know that I would agree that it must be a brother of Thomas, it could just as easily have been a cousin or another close relation. The deed does, however, confirm that the William SMYTH involved in these documents lives in Dublin.
James’s will, proved in 1766, indicates only two sons – Thomas and Carew.[10] So it is unlikely that William was the son of James, or, if he was, he was not still alive in 1766. Therefore, he could not have been the same William that signed the marriage settlement of Thomas six years later. Nor could he be our Willilam as he did not pass until 1807.
I did find an abstract of the will written by John SMYTH (son of the Bishop of Limerick) in 1779 and probated in 1781.[11] He leaves the residue of his estate to his son William, so we know that John had a son William. That means that there is at least one William SMYTH who was a grandson of the Bishop of Limerick.
Edward (another son of Thomas, Bishop of Limerick) had his will probated in 1778.[12] In it he left £500 to his nephew William SMYTH of the city of Dublin.
All other wills, where available, for the sons of Thomas SMYTH the Bishop of Limerick, were reviewed and no other William was found.
It is most likely then, that the only grandson of the Bishop of Limerick named William was the one in Dublin married to Mary GRATTAN.
Conclusion
William, son of John, grandson to the Bishop married Mary GRATTAN as we see above. He could not be the same as our William as they were living in separate places concurrently.
It appears there was only one William who was a grandson of the Bishop of Limerick.
All documents found identifying the William SMYTH that is the grandson of the Bishop of Limerick indicate that he is the William living in Dublin.
All documents found identifying to the William SMYTH that is related to Arthur Guinness indicate that he is the William living in Dublin.
That leads us to the only conclusion possible – we are neither related to Thomas SMYTH, Bishop of Limerick, nor to Arthur Guinness. As we are not related to the Bishop of Limerick, we are also related to the King (at least through that line).
However …
In doing these searches I was able to locate the ancestors of our William SMYTH – stay tuned for the next blog post to find out more.
[1] Marriage Announcements. 1789. Dublin Evening Post. 27 October. WOODS, Thomas and SMITH, Maria. p 2d. http://www.findmypast.co.uk : accessed 15 February 2023.
[2] Thrift Gertrude. Thrift’s abstracts Bundle 15 nos. 3632-3717 (Bundle 15 contains pedigrees & other genealogical information for over 100 families) Bundle 16 nos. 3718-3936. File 3661. http://www.findmypast.co.uk : accessed 13 July 2025.
[3] Ministry of Justice, Ireland. Transcripts of memorials of deeds, conveyances and wills. STEPHENS to SMYTH, William 26 January 1784. b418 p1 272268. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSJ4-HSWS-5?cat=185720&i=314&lang=en : accessed 24 June 2025.
[4] Ministry of Justice, Ireland. Transcripts of memorials of deeds, conveyances and wills. 18 January 1763. CROSBY, John to SMYTH, William. b267 p222 171613. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSJW-ZQ9V?cat=185720&i=165&lang=en : accessed 13 July 2025.
[5] Death announcements. Limerick Gazette. 21 April 1807. SMYTH William. http://www.findmypast.co.uk : accessed 06 July 2025.
[6] Death Announcements. (1808). Limerick Gazette. 27 December. SMYTH, Anne. p 1. http://www.findmypast.co.uk : accessed 21 June 2025.
[7] Marriage Indexes (PR) Ireland. Shinrone, Kings, Ossory Marriage Licenses. 12 July 1753. SMITH, William and FINN, Anne. http://www.rootsireland.ie : accessed 12 July 2025.
[8] Ministry of Justice, Ireland. Memorial b273 p 33 173486. 05 December 1768. SMYTH to GRATTAN. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSH3-M7Z6-5?view=fullText&keywords=Martha%20Grattan&lang=en&groupId= : accessed 14 July 2025.
[9] Ministry of Justice, Ireland. Memorial 306 380 203777. 03-04 October 1772. SMYTH, Thomas and FORD, Judith. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSJW-C9VL-T?view=fullText&keywords=Judith%20Ford&lang=en&groupId= : accessed 13 July 2025.
[10] Ireland. Genealogical Office & Betham, W. (1820). SMYTH, James. Genealogical abstracts of Prerogative wills, ca. 1550-1800, compiled by Sir William Betham, New Series Volume 25: Sm-St. https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000541495 : accessed 22 June 2025.
[11] Thrift Gertrude. Thrift’s abstracts Bundle 5 nos. 1052-1162 File 1090. 1779 SMYTH, John. http://www.findmypast.co.uk : accessed 13 July 2025.
[12] Thrift Gertrude. Thrift’s abstracts Bundle 5 nos. 1052-1162 File 1087. 1778 SMYTH, Edward. http://www.findmypast.co.uk : accessed 13 July 2025
