Rosaleen Tonson Rye (b. 1932) (Part 1)

Track 1: Rosaleen Tonson Rye discusses the history of Ryecourt Estate, the entailment of the property of her father John Coghill Tonson Rye, and his arrival from England in 1931 at the age of twenty-one to take over the 700 acre estate. Track 2: Her grandfather Reginald, his role in World War I, and his death as a result of the Black Flu. A discussion on her maternal family, the Coghills of Rathmore House, Kinsale, and the period when Ryecourt was looked after by agents. Track 3: Rosaleen discusses her education, growing up in the 1930s and 1940s and she recalls some of the tenants who lived on the estate. Track 4: Looking through old photographs and family papers and diaries, Rosaleen recalls her governesses and living in a temporary house, built by her father after the burning of Ryecourt during the Troubles. Track 5: The family’s long association with hunting in the area, and her own involvement in the sport. Track 6: The sport of hunting, and her father’s passion for it, and also for horse racing. His time serving in World War I. The main source of income on the estate came from Castlemore Lime Quarry. Track 7: Her father’s stance on Irish nationality. A vivid account of the interior of Ryecourt, as it was. A discussion on connections with the Herberts of Muckross, and the Baldwin and Poole families. Track 8: The dedicated family cemetery on the estate, and local animosity towards the family during the Troubles. Three houses of the gentry in the locality were burnt at that time. Track 9: Memories of the old single gauge train which went through the estate, and the horse cars carrying the burnt lime from the kiln. The draining of a 120-acre bog, now planted in forestry, and the running of the farm after her parents’ death in 1981.