Thomas Stack, of the Stack family which had its seat at Crotta, owned Glanballyma and neighbouring townlands. Because of their support for the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and the Catholic Confederation, the Stacks' land was declared forfeit following the Act for the Settlement of Ireland in 1652. After the Act of Settlement of 1662, Glanballyma was granted to Henry Ponsonby in 1666. Ponsonby was a soldier, in Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army, one of many rewarded with Irish land for service or in lieu of wages.