Massy, Henry William (1816-1895), magistrate and justice of the peace

Henry William Massy was born on 12 January 1816 as the youngest son of the Reverend William Massy from his second marriage to Elizabeth Evans. He served as Magistrate and Justice of the Peace for counties Tipperary and Limerick and gained the rank of Major in the Tipperary Artillery Militia. He had a long-term clandestine love affair with Maria Cahill, who was socially his inferior and thus unacceptable to his parents. They eventually married in 1862 and divided their time between England and France with their eight children, seven of whom were born out of wedlock. He died at Grantstown Grove, county Tipperary on 20 November 1895.