In 1695 Thomas Duckett (1) purchased five hundred acres of land in Kneestown, Palatine, Co. Carlow from British landlord Thomas Crosthwaite from Cockermouth near the Lake District, Scotland. Thomas Crosthwaite owned a vast amount of land in Ireland at that time. However, Thomas Duckett (1) did not make use of this land until the 1700’s when he built a mansion house on a site replacing a smaller house on or close to where Ducketts Gove now stands.
In the early years of the Duckett’s, marriage contributed greatly to their wealth and expansion of the Demesne. Thomas Ducketts (1) wife, Judith de la Poer was the heiress of the wealthy Pierce De La Poer of Killowen in County Waterford, grandson of the Hononary Pierce De la Poer, of Killowen, Brother of Richard, first Earl of Tyrone. Thomas Duckett (1) had only one son, also named Thomas (2) as successor and heir. The Duckett family extended their estate, and their wealth grew throughout the eighteenth century.