Their remarkably comprehensive family archives demonstrate the sometimes contradictory political and economic forces bearing down on such Anglo-Irish families during the second half of the eighteenth century.

Sir James, the fourth baronet, was the most energetic and active member of the family. He was simultaneously a loyal upholder of the British connection, the Protestant constitution and the rights of the Irish parliament. He maintained a voluminous correspondence with leadingËœfigures in the cultural and political life of the time, including Dr Samuel Johnson, David Garrick and Prime Minister William Pitt the Elder. As an enlightened 'improving' landlord he championed schemes for Irish economic development and, despite the difficult physical environment on his estate, he energetically experimented with tree planting, with flax cultivation, linen manufacture, crop rotations and selective livestock breeding. Issues underpinning the Protestant Ascendancy.