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You are probably right- they were absentee landlords over this estate. After the political changes in1922 they it seems lost almost all their land. Amongst the big houses in the region Bowen's Court was the only not to be burned down aound that time and was even occupied by the IRA for preservation. It was remembered that during the Famine around 1845-50 that the Bowen's used all of their profits from their sale of fruit in London to import food and established kitchens to feed their tenants. It seems that they were landowners but also recognized as decent people. Elizabeth Bowen is modest about why Bowen's Court was saved in her book. See also St. John Cole Bowen at Norvals pt inter alia.