Dundas of Bolusty

They were one of the early families of "the Whealt", an area of rich farmland on the south shore of Lower Lough Erne which was shadowed by a large rock outcropping, called the Whealt.  The earliest Bolusty records date back to 1703 with William Dundas of Bolusty as Parish Inquisiter and then in 1704 he was Church Warden.  He also seems to have been the Great Great Grandfather to the William, John and Moses Canadian lines according to research by John James Dundas in 1999.  This research is preserved on acid free paper in the Enniskillen Castle archives.  Bolusty More and Bolusty Beg townlands were home to many generations of Dundas.

"Perched high upon the side of Poolaphouca mountains, about one-third of a mile from the road between Enniskillen and Belleek," with "the hills of Lurg and the mountains of Donegal beyond, and to the right the woods and mansion of Castle Archdale overlooking Lough Erne, is Bolusty House. It was said to be built by William's Men. This ancient barony of Toora "is said to have once been divided between the Dundasses and the M'Briens, and the house of Bolusty was, in all probability, built by a Dundas. A house in the neighbourhood now in ruins, and once occupied by Mr Hugh Dundas, had a stone bearing the date 1744". "It is a genteel cottage of the olden type, with its two good rooms, and two bedrooms off each reception room, after the old style; shutters for windows, and an ancient brass knocker on the door". Trimble goes on to say that James Dundas of Bolusty made his will in 1789. In it he left land to his son James, and money to his sons Robert, James and Patrick. Patrick was to live in the house with his mother, Anne. William, another son, was an executor along with Robert and Patrick. He forgave a debt to James Dundass of Drumbad, maybe a cousin or nephew. A witness was John Dundass. James Dundas of Bolusty was of the Rosscor Branch. He had an older brother Francis, and both were the sons of James Dundass, who made his will in 1733. The latter was the son of John Dundass of the Rosscor family.[1]

[1] Trimble, WC, Trimble's History of Enniskillen, Vol III< pages 783-4