“Thomas Coghlan, Esq.--or, in attention to local phraseology, ‘the Maw’
[that is, Mac], for he was not known or addressed in his own domain by
any other appellation--was a remarkably handsome man; gallant, eccentric;
proud, satirical; hospitable in the extreme, and of expensive habits. In
disdain of modern times he adhered to the national customs of Ireland,
and the modes of living practised by his ancestors. His house was ever
open to strangers. His tenants held their lands at will, and paid
their rents, according to the ancient fashion, partly in kind, and the
remainder in money. ‘The Maw’ levied the fines of mortmain when a vassal
died. He became heir to the defunct farmer; and no law was admissible,
or practised, within the precincts of Mac Coghlan’s domain, but such as
savoured of the Brehon code. It must be observed, however, that, most
commonly, ‘the Maw’s’ commands, enforced by the impressive application
of his horse-whip, instantly decided a litigated point! From this brief
outline it might be supposed that we were talking of Ireland early in the
seventeenth century, but Mr Coghlan died not longer back than about the
year 1790. With him perished the rude grandeur of his long-drawn line. He
died without issue, and destitute of any legitimate male representative
to inherit his name, although most of his followers were of the sept of
the Coghlans, none of whom, however, were strictly qualified, or were
suffered by ‘the Maw,’ to use the Mac, or to claim any relationship with
himself. His great estate passed at his decease to the son of his sister,
the late Right Hon. Denis Bowes Daly, of Daly’s-town, county of Galway,
who likewise had no children, and who, shortly before his death in 1821,
sold the Mac Coghlan estate to divers persons, the chief purchaser being
Thomas Bernard, Esq. M. P., in whom the larger proportion of the property
is now vested.”