Edward Lee

Jane, who would become Countess of Belvedere, was born in 1775.
When the Earl died in 1814, Jane hired a King’s council, Arthur Boyd, to
establish her title to the estate. This he did and he also won Jane herself.
They married in 1816 and named their son George Augustus Boyd. The
present village was laid out by the Countess. A village green was created
where originally there had only been a swamp. The beautiful crescent
of Georgian houses was also constructed, as was the courthouse, the
Protestant school and the Methodist chapel. The Countess was known as
a kind and caring landlord, noted for looking after the welfare of her
tenants. When she died in 1836, she left a vastly superior village which is
the Tyrrellspass we know today. In 1846, the Rochfort name was added
and the family were known as Boyd-Rochfort.
John Wesley
John Wesley and his younger brother Charles founded Methodism
during the second half of the 18th Century. Originally it was a
movement within the Church of England, where men and women
met to study the Bible, pray together and encourage each other in
their faith. Essentially a working class movement, Methodism appealed
to people who felt they didn’t have the fine manners or clothes to go to
regular church services. Because of this, Methodist preachers realised
that they needed to go out to the ordinary people. This was known as
‘field preaching’, where the preacher would set up in village greens or
market places or anywhere he could attract an audience. Many poor Irish
peasants, listening to their words of salvation, responded positively to
the Preachers’ message that God was also concerned for them and their
condition.
On the 9th August 1747, John Wesley visited Ireland for the first time,
landing at George’s Quay, Dublin. In all, Wesley made twenty one visits
to Ireland between 1747 and 1789. On one tour in August of 1762, Wesley
arrived in Tyrrellspass. In his diary he noted, ‘Aug 2, Sun. I baptized
Joseph English (late a Quaker), and two of his children. Abundance of
people were at Tyrrellspass in the evening, many more than the house
Model Employer and Man of Moral Courage
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