of Shannon who died in 1868. This tomb bears the inscription, "A sorrowing wife placed this stone in memory of the best and most affectionate of husbands". Earls of Shannon For the next two hundred years the history of Castlemartyr was closely linked with that branch of the Boyle family which have the title Earl of Shannon. In 1676, the town was incorporated with a charter, with its corporation and parliamentary representation in the control of the Boyle family. In 1689 it was a centre of Protestant resistance against the rule of James II, but was swiftly defeated by Irish Army (Kingdom of Ireland) forces under Justin MacCarthy who also put down a larger rising at Bandon. After Orrery's death in 1679, his title was passed on to his oldest son. Orrery's second son had four sons of his own, Roger, Henry, Charles and William, and it was this Henry who became a member of the Privy Council of Ireland, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. He was elevated to the peerage in 1756 as Baron Castlemartyr, Viscount Boyle, Earl of Shannon. It was he who provided the land for the construction of a new church in the village (St. Anne's Church of Ireland) when an act of Parliament allowed for the dismantling of Ballyoughtera Church and the re-use of some of the stones on the new church. It was also Henry Boyle, 1st Earl of Shannon, who was primarily responsible for the construction and expansion of Castlemartyr House. He also set about beautifying the estate between the years 1733 and 1764 and these improvements are mentioned in Smith's History of Cork. On Henry's death in 1764, the estate went to his son, Richard, who like his father attained high political office. Richard carried out further extensions to the mansion house. It was also during this period that Lancelot "Capability" Brown landscaped the estate and planted woods. Richard Boyle, 2nd Earl of Shannon received £15,000 in compensation when the borough was disenfranchised under the Acts of Union 1800. Famine Prior to the Great Famine (1845-1849), baptismal figures in the parish of Imogeela indicate a young and expanding population with an average of 238 baptisms between the years 1836 and 1840. The decline, however, in the years immediately after the Great Famine indicate that, by 1888, baptismal figures dropped to