The Bowles of Dublin

Dublin, as the capital and largest city in Ireland, has many, many connections to Bowles families of very likely completely different origins. It's a huge puzzle with many missing pieces so I will only record what I've found and feature a couple of lines which I have worked out fairly well.

The earliest reference I've found goes back to a Thomas Bowles in the early 1600's. See Thomas Bowles, Deputy Treasurer of Cromwell's Army in Ireland

Another Thomas Bowles (possibly related to the above) married in Dublin in the 1670's. He was a merchant and owned a quite extensive area of Dublin around St. Bride's and St. Patrick's Churches. His son, Thomas, married Jane Rainsford, the daughter of Alderman and later Mayor of Dublin, Sir Mark Rainsford. Rainsford operated a brewery in St. James Gate, Dublin which was later left to his son who had no interest in the business and who disposed of it to Arthur Guinness. The rest is Irish brewing history but, with a slight twist of fate, you might have been able to go into a pub or bar almost anywhere in the world today to enjoy a pint of a creamy stout named Bowles, sorry .... Guinness. The Bowles do not seem to have benefitted from this connection though as Thomas and Jane both died young in 1704 and prior to Sir Mark's death. They left an only daughter, Isabella, who did inherit some land in the St. James Gate area but that was disposed of by the executors of Thomas and Jane's estate. Other Bowles of this line remained in Dublin though and may have been the origin of the Bowles of Wexford. See Thomas Bowles and Family of Dublin for the full story of this line.

For some miscellaneous other Bowles references from the 1600's and the 1700's see Other Early Bowles References in Dublin

Much later a Robert Bowles, a shoemaker from my own Bowles of Ballickmoyler, co. Laois settled in Dublin sometime in the 1820's and started a Quaker branch of the family. One son of this family founded the Robert Bowles Agricultural Implements Company. See Robert Bowles of Ballickmoyler and Dublin for more on this family.

Another shoemaker, George Bowles, of unknown connection to any of the others, operated an umbrella manufacturing business and a shoemaker shop in Dublin from See George Bowles, Umbrella Maker

See Walter Bowles, gardener, of Tipperary, Carlow and Dublin for the story of Walter Bowles from Tipperary who worked as a gardener at Great Houses in Pentre Ucha, Wales; at Spring House near Bansha, Tipperary; at Johnstown House in county Carlow and finally settled in Dublin by 1870.

There are several references to the Ambrose Bole of Longford line in Dublin

Henry Bowles of Limerick settled in Dublin about 1830. (note: add brief summary of the family in Dublin)

Charles Proby Bowles of Dublin (add a summary)

and more to come .......