KEARNEY, Gerry. The Persse Family of County Galway. Genealogy and History. Illustrated.

Oranmore: Published by Gerry Kearney, 2016. Octavo. pp. 414. Pictorial wrappers. Signed by the author. A very good copy.

The Persse family, believed to be related to the powerful Percy family of Northumberland, England, descended from Revd Robert Persse, a ‘man of God’, who arrived in Ireland before 1602 ‘to preach the Gospel’. His sons survived the worst excesses of the 1641 rebellion and a grandson, Revd Dudley Persse, set up the first family estate in the wilds of County Galway in 1677, courtesy of lands granted by King Charles II. By the nineteenth century, Dudley’s descendants had acquired additional lands in Galway, King’s County (Co. Offaly), Kilkenny, Mayo and Roscommon. The nineteenth century also saw family members become increasingly prominent in the commercial, maritime, political, social and sporting affairs of Galway. Other family members who emigrated were similarly successful, particularly in England, the United States and Australia. Circumstances in the early decades of the twentieth century contrived to almost eliminate the Persse connection with Galway. Today, apart from the literary legacy of Isabella Augusta Persse, Lady Gregory, the extensive, and occasionally controversial, history of the Persse family remains relatively unknown. This is their story.

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