Reverend Thomas Goff (1772 - 1844) property, propinquity and Protestantism

This study is concerned with the life of Reverend Thomas Goff (1772-1844) a Church of Ireland minister, landowner and sometimes army chaplain. Goff was a keen, if sometimes sporadic, diarist leaving nine volumes covering the years 1796 to 1844 and extending to more than 185,000 words. These diaries form the main source for this study but various other sources both primary and secondary are extant. The most important of these are copies of the three wills of Goff, his father Robert Guff, and his brother, also Robert. In addition there are two boxes of deeds and other documents in the National Archives of Ireland as part of the Landed estates court archive; these are supplemented by a small number of records in the Registry of Deeds in Dublin. His property in Oakport, County Roscommon, then in possession of his son Thomas William, was offered for sale by the Landed Estates Court in 1863, nearly twenty years after his death. Goff's career as a clergyman and army chaplain can be followed in the parliamentary papers. Newspapers can also be used to follow those aspects of his life along with records of his charitable donations and his engagement with charity sermons in aid of many causes. The various activities of his father and brother in connection with the Roscommon grand jury and assizes can also be followed in this way. In the tithe applotment books also in the National Archives of Ireland Goff is mentioned as a tithe recipient in his parishes of Coolock (1810 - 1813) and Tallaght (1813 - 1829) in County Dublin and his sinecured parish in County Wexford. He also appears as a tithe payer in the various parishes in which he is a landholder most notably in Counties Roscommon and Kilkenny.