One of the stories handed down generation to generation in Bohola, Co. Mayo, relates to Oliver Cromwell rewarding one of his loyal soldiers by granting him the deeds and possession of Barleyhill Farm. The soldier subsequently sold the deeds and possession to a local man named McManus. McManus was a tough landlord and cared nothing for the people. He would not entertain any trespass to his land and to ward off trespassers he drove pointed iron stakes into the ground around his estate. The McManuses were a Catholic family and remained so throughout their history. Their burial vault is situated on the hillside of the old burial ground at  Bohola.

The early Barleyhill estate was much larger than it is today. Many of the families who lived on the estate have now disappeared. The highest rate of annuity was £15.00. and it was paid on the buildings of Barleyhill House. The tenants on the McManus estate were all tenants at will - that meant that if they paid their rent on the Gale days they were not usually dispossessed. The McManus family prospered and sometime in the 1790's the family built the present Barleyhill House. The date engraved on the coach house is 1795. A tower, started in McManus times at the back of the house remains incomplete - there are windows and doors but no floors.

By the time the French arrived in Mayo in August 1798 the McManuses had been the landowners in Bohola for over a century. The story is told that McManus, on hearing that the French soldiers were approaching, gave orders to remove all the valuables from the big house and bury it under the floor of a tenant's house. McManus met the French army at Turlough. A man named Jordan was leading them - believed to be a descendant of the same clan that built Straide Abbey and Roslevin House. The soldiers had planned to travel to Ballylahan but decided instead to take the other route, passing through Bohola. When they reached  Barleyhill House there was a banquet prepared for General Humbert on the lawn and a bull was roasted on one of the gates. Some men from Bohola joined the uprising and set off with the French Army.

From Barleyhill House the French sent out raiding parties to the big houses in the locality to get horses. One of the raiding parties took horses from a family in Carrowgalda then crossed the Gweestin River. More horses were taken between Ballyvary and Bohola. The story is also told of a local man who was asked to steal a horse and a cart of hay and bring it to the French camp at Swinford which he did and was paid for doing.

In due course the French arrived at Ballinamuck and were defeated by the English and taken as prisoners. The Irish rebels were then at the mercy of the English and hundreds were hanged on the battlefield. One young fellow facing the death penalty was a tenant on the Barleyhill Estate. His widowed mother, hearing of her son's plight,went to McManus and pleaded with him to intercede. McManus refused and the lad was subsequently hanged. The widow cursed the McManus Family and it is said that the McManuses never had a day's luck in the years that followed.

Like many big old Irish houses there is an interesting ghost story associated with Barleyhill House. The story has been handed down through generations of the Deane family of Carrowgowan House and is recently told by Madame MacDermot of Coolavin House, Ballaghaderreen - a descendant of the Deane family. Madame MacDermot's great-grand uncle, Edward Deane was invited to dine with Mr. McManus in Barleyhill House one warm summer evening in the year 1820. As he waited in the entrance hall for his host he looked idly through a window which looked into the courtyard at the front of the house. There he noticed a fine gentleman dresssed in period clothes astride a magnificent white horse. Not recognising the man his curiosity was aroused but at that moment a servant arrived to take him into dinner.

Enjoying the entertaining conversation of his host, Edward soon forgot about the stranger he had seen. Just as dinner was about to be served, however, he remembered the stranger he had seen earlier and mentioned that perhaps they should wait for the other guest. A startled Mr. McManus told Edward that he was the only guest and when Edward related what he had seen to his host both men went out to the courtyard but no one was to be seen. On hearing Edward's description of the man he had seen in the courtyard, Mr. McManus recalled the story of a young man tragically killed in the grounds of Barleyhill House when he fell from his horse some years previously.

After the Great Famine many landlords went into debt and the Encumbered Estates Act was passed in the House of Commons in 1849 to help bankrupt landlords. In 1851 there was a public sale of McManus lands in Barleyhill and Rathruane. At this time McManus was in debt to the tune of £13,900 and was permitted to sell by the new Act. In all, the property, including the house, amounted to over 1,400 acres. It was sold to a Mrs. Perry for £9,000.

In 1867 the Aitken family came to Bohola from Scotland. The family bought Barleyhill House and some land. Almost two hundred years after Barleyhill House was built it is still an impressive landmark in the parish. No longer is it the rich landlord's house but the home of the local vet, now retired, Jonny Aitken and his family. The house is in immaculate condition with many of its original contents still being used by the Aitken family. The huge table in the dining hall seats twenty people and the memories of lively banquets which took place over two hundred years ago are deeply engraved in its rich mahogany surface. The old sundial at the front of the house is no longer used to tell the time, but it too brings reminders of life in another Bohola - and another century when the McManuses ruled supreme.

Reference:

The Parish History of Bohola, Co. Mayo.

(Article from 'Heart and Hand' Journal 7)