Tullamore was part of the first English plantation of Offaly in the 1570s. By the mid-1500s the lands that were originally ruled by the O'Molloy clan were securely "planted" and in the hands of the Moore family. From this point on a dynasty was established which endured into the late nineteenth century, commencing with the grant of the Tullamore area, comprising some 5000 acres, to Sir John Moore in 1622. At that time the Tullamore estate included a ruined castle, ten cottages and two water mills. Sir Robert Forth, who leased the lands from Thomas Moore (son and heir of Sir John), built a mansion house c.1641 in what is now the Charleville demesne. Charles Moore, Lord Tullamore, grandson of Thomas, eventually regained possession of the estate and when he died in 1674 it went via his sister to Charles William Bury. Charles William was later (1806) created the 1st Earl of Charleville in a second creation of the title.