The new Protestant settlement in the lordship of Clonmore, centred around Hacketstown, proved resilient to the 1641 rebellion and attracted investment, including by Dublin bureaucrats and landed and military figures. Entrepreneurial Catholics turned to trade in response to the penal laws. Unusually, in the period 1852-74 most leaseholders, including Catholics, achieved security of tenure, subject to fixed rents. In 1874-5, Henry Parnell (brother of Charles Stewart), owner of the lordship, had the Landed Estates Court auction its heavily encumbered 13,000 acres which were purchased, piecemeal, mainly by large-scale local landowners, sitting tenants and Dublin-based professionals.
