Moore

As with the Moores of Tullamore and Charleville, the Moores of Monasterevan are said to descend from a Saxon family active in Kent during the middle Ages. Thomas de la More held the Manor of More Place in Ivy Church in the days of Henry II. They later moved to Moore Court at Benenden, a property that still exists, albeit in considerably altered form. The first mention of a family member in Ireland is Sir Edward Moore, a senior figure in Queen Elizabeth’s army, who married Elizabeth Clifford, widow of Sir William Brabazon, former Vice-Treasurer of Ireland. As a reward for his services to the Crown, Sir Edward received a phenomenal estate exceeding 50,000 acres in Counties Louth and Meath. This included the lease on the dissolved abbey of Mellifont in County Louth, which became the Moore’s family home until 1725. Mellifont Abbey had formerly been the principal Irish base of the Cistercians, a zealous Catholic order who traced their origins back to the days of the enigmatic Knights Templar.

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