"....in the Civil Survey of 1654 the plain between the Drowes and the Erne,

the property of Thomas Lord ffolliott, is firmly described as part of the

barony of Tirhugh and the county of Donegal."

....."Henry Folliott was born at Pirton Court in Worcestershire in 1569, the son of Thomas Folliott and Katherine Lygon. He had one elder brother, Sir John Folliott, who inherited the English lands of the family and a branch of

whose family subsequently settled at Hollybrook in Co. Sligo. Henry married Anne, daughter of Sir William Stroude of Stoke-under-Hamden, Co. Somerset, and they had seven children. In May 1594 Henry Folliott was based in the Ballyshannon (Co. Donegal) area, presumably in the military service of the crown....

"In December 1607 the Earl of Tyrconnell complained of "sundry rapes and extortions" of the soldiers of Sir Henry Folliott and for "the said Sir Henry's house, every month there were six beeves and six muttons taken up by his own officers within the barony of TISHERE (Tirhugh) without any payment"... In June 1608 the Castle of Lough Eske was delivered to Sir Henry, and in the same year he sacked Tory Island and killed rebels there".

"(During the "Plantation of Ulster",) The Barony of Tirhugh, in which Ballyshannon is situated, was granted to Servitors (ex-army officers), to the Church and to Trinity College, Dublin; The Irish were allowed to remain in the barony and it was planted relatively thinly with Scots and English. Henry Folliott, because of his military service to the Crown, acquired much of the lands in the Ballyshannon area by grant and he also plurchased additional land... (including subsequently the lands of the former Abbey of St. Barnard of Asheroe, located at the present site of Ballyshannon)....

"Henry, First Baron Folliott of Ballyshannon, had seven children. Thomas, who became the Second Baron, Michael, Arthur, Charles, Anne, Elizabeth and Frances, who married Sir Robert King, M.P. for Boyle. The First Baron died in 1622.... The inheritance of the First Baron passed to his eldest son Thomas who was only nine years old at the time of his father's death in 1622. During his long minority he was in ward to the King from the 26th February 1623 to 30th May 1634. Thomas, Second Baron of Ballyshannon, married Rebecca French, relict of a Mr. Waterhouse of Dublin. They had four children: Henry, Anne, Rebecca and Elizabeth. An indication of the extent of the Folliott property in the Barony of Tirhugh can be gleaned from the following survey in the 1650's:

"Parish of Innishmacsaint.... 1034 acres....

Parish of Kilbarron.... 1187 acres....

Parish of Drumhome.... 520 acres....

Trinity College Lands.... 703 plus acres....

"The Folliotts also held land in Fermanagh, including the Manor of Dumkyn, and in England where Thomas 2nd Baron resided at Ferney Hall in Worcestershire.....

"The Jacobite-Williamite Wars saw much military activity in this area. King James II on his arrival in Dublin in 1689 passed an act ...(attainting diverse rebels including Thomas Folliott, John Folliott, and Lord Folliott of Belashannan(sic)").... After King William established his authority in Ireland the parliament passed an ...(act annulling the attainders)...

"Sir John Folliott, brother of the First Baron, had a son, Major John, who served in the army in Ireland and whose residence was at St. Finbarres, Cork. Major John Folliott was appoined Commissioner of Donegal in 1646 and he leased Ballymacaward (which was part of the holdings of Trinity College).

In 1665 Major John paid taxes on three hearths in Ballymacaward. His two sons Francis and John were engaged in the Inniskilling regiments in the Jacobite-Williamite Wars. John took over the lease on Ballymacaward on the death of his father in 1682. Francis Folliott, Parkhill, Ballyshannon, was M.P. for Ballyshannon in 1692 and uniquely, his brother John was also M.P. in 1692. John Folliott died in 1697 and his wife Lucy remained at Ballymacaward until her death in 1730. Thomas, Second Baron Folliott, died at Ferney Hall, Worcestershire, and was bured in the Chancel of Onibury Church nearby in 1696. In 1697 Henry Folliott was created Lord Folliott and became the Third Baron of Ballyshannon. On acquiring his title he retired as M.P. for Ballyshannon, an office which he had assumed in 1695.

"The Third Baron, ... Lord Henry Folliott married Elizabeth Pudsey of Langley, Co. Warwick, and they had one daughter, Rebecca, who died in 1697.

On the 17th October 1716 Henry died at his home, Four Oaks Hall, Co. Worcester, and he was buried at Sutton Coldfield. As he died without surviving issue, all the unentailed property was divided between his five sisters. The entailed property went to the next male heir, Lieutenant General John Folliott. With the death of Henry Folliott in 1716 the title, Baron of Ballyshannon, became extinct and much of the Folliott property was sold... (to William Connelly, Speaker of the Irish Parliament)...

"Lieutenant General John Folliott who had inherited the Third Barons' estate in 1716 also inherited the estate of Robert Folliott, Sligo, who died in 1746. In this way the Sligo property (including Hollybrook) and the Ballyshannon estate of the Folliott family, came into one ownership. On the death of Lieutenenat General John Folliott at Lickhill, Worcestershire, in 1762, the estates in Worcestershire, Sligo, and what remained of the Donegal estate went to his namesake and cousin John Folliott, who had been born in Ballyshannon in 1696, the eldest son of the previously named Francis...."

It should be obvious to all concerned that WORCESTERSHIRE, as well as Counties Somerset and Warwick figure large in the fortunes of the Folliotts, and it should also be clear that the same English Counties are the home of many Strongs. It seems almost too much of a coincidence that Strongs are in turn found as tenants in the very lands held by the Folliott family in Donegal and Fermanagh, and perhaps in Sligo and Cork as well (although the situation in the latter two counties has not been verified by me at this time).