In the Autumn of 2012, I visited Co Wicklow, Ireland, to the ancestral home and townlands related to my Willoughby family ancestors. Charles Willoughby and his wife Sarah (nee Langrill) came to Canada in the autumn of 1849. Their daughter Sarah who married John Barber were my great-grandparents.

The Willoughbys were tenant farmers on the Coolattin Estate for several generations. The progenitor(s) likely came from the Sheffield, Yorkshire area to work on the estate lands of Lord FitzWilliam, some as farmers and some as masons - and perhaps with other trades or skills. Charles' father was John Willoughby (mother Sarah). John's parents were George and Mary Willoughy who were born in the 1750s.

Jane and I enjoy watching Downton Abbey and each time I see an episode I am reminded of the Coolattin Estate and particularly of Coollattin House. I was privileged to have a personal tour and to be able to take some pictures of the estate house, now part of a beautiful local golf course, near Shillelagh. The restoration and ruins reveal the upstairs and downstairs life of earlier days.

I'd almost forgotten I'd thrown up some pictures on-line of Coolattin House, upon my return from Ireland. You can check them out 'here'.

The name Coollattin is also spelled Coolattin. More information can be found at: Our Wicklow Heritage.