Sir Walter Synnot

Sir Walter Synnot (1742–1821), son of Richard Synnot, settled in the parish of Ballymoyer, County Armagh in 1778 and leased eight townlands from the See of Armagh. The family had originally been large landowners in the County of Wexford, but their lands were taken from them by Cromwell, after Colonel David Synnot resisted Cromwell's troops at the Sack of Wexford. The family was involved not only in the linen trade but also owned lead mines in the vicinity.

According to Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837): "The lands were heathy and barren previously to 1778, when Sir Walter Synnot erected a house and became a resident landlord; scarcely a tree or shrub was to be seen, and the agricultural implements were of the rudest kind. He constructed good roads in the vicinity, planted forest trees to a considerable extent, and by his example and liberal encouragement of every improvement both as to their habitations and system of agriculture, affected a great change in the habits of the peasantry, and in the appearance of the country, which is now in an excellent state of cultivation, yielding abundant produce; the cultivation of green crops has been introduced, and is practised with success."

Ballymoyer House was described in the Parliamentary Gazetter of 1844 as follows: ‘The mansion built by Sir Walter Synnot and the demesne attached to it is laid out and planted in a tasteful style. Three mountain streams after debouching from the glens of their upper course, unite in the lawn and form a scene both beautiful and romantic.’

Synnot was appointed High Sheriff of Armagh in 1783. He married Jane Seton (a descendant of John Seton, 1st Baron Parbroath and a relative of the American Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton and her grandson Monsignor Robert Seton). They had three children, Marcus, Walter and Maria (who died aged 18). These children are featured in the painting by Joseph Wright of Derby, which was formerly at Ballymoyer but is now in the possession of the National Gallery of Victoria. An etching was made in 1782.

The second son, Captain Walter Synnot, became a colonist in Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) with his children, including Monckton Synnot and the family were prominent pastoralists in the Colony of Victoria.

After the death of Jane Seton, Synnot married Ann Elizabeth (née Martin) and had three more children, including Richard Walter Synnot, a barrister, whose children were the subjects of the portrait by George Richmond. Synnot lived with his new wife and family in Italy for some years and died in Rome in 1821, where he was buried in the same tomb as his daughter Elizabeth (from second wife). His wife's sister Selina Martin wrote Three Years In Italy which covers this period.

By 1838 the Synnot family had bought the eight townlands and continued to improve the estate. By the latter part of the 1870s they owned 7,321 acres (29.63 km2). In 1901 the demesne had passed through marriage to the Hart-Synnot family who presented it to the National Trust in 1937.

Ballymoyer, the house and estate, is a National Trust property open to the public.

Descendants of Synnot included Brigadier-General Arthur Henry Seton Hart-Synnot, Sir Walter Synnot Manifold MP and the Australian Admiral Sir Anthony Synnot.