Letterfrack, during the Great Famine, Ellis becoming the resident landlord in Letterfrack in 1849. As Quakers the Ellises wanted to help with the post-Famine relief effort. They leased nearly 1,000 acres of rough land and set about reclaiming it, farming it and planting it with woodland. They built a schoolhouse, housing for tradesmen, a shop, a dispensary, and a temperance hotel. The Property was sold to John Hall in 1857, a staunch protestant and supporter of the Irish Church Mission to Roman Catholics, the ICM used the building with the aim of converting catholics to protestantism, after 25 years without much success he sold it in 1882 under the impression he was selling it was a Protestant buyer for £3000 for 1000 acres.