Ancient Meath. The Principal Families in the Kingdom of Meath: Dublin [1], Kildare [2], and King's Counties

From Irish Pedigrees; or the Origin and Stem of the Irish Nation, by John O'Hart, 5th Edition, 1892

(a) THE IRISH CHIEFS AND CLANS.

THE following accounts of the ancient chiefs of the territories now forming the counties of Dublin and Kildare, together with some of the princes and chiefs of Meath (of whom a full account has not been given in the Chapter on "Meath") have been collected from the Topographies of O'Dugan, O'Heerin, the Annals of the Four Masters, O'Brien, O'Halloran, MacGeoghegan, Ware, O'Flaherty, Charles O'Connor, Seward, and various other sources. As already mentioned, O'Connor, princes of Offaley; O'Moore, princes of Leix; O'Dempsey, lords of Clanmaliere, all possessed parts of Kildare. The O'Tooles, princes of Imaile, in Wicklow, also possessed some of the southern parts of Kildare; and the O'Tooles, together with the O'Byrnes, extended their power over the southern parts of Dublin, comprising the districts in the Dublin mountains--1. MacFogarty, lords of South Bregia, are mentioned by the Four Masters in the tenth century. 2. O'Ciardha or O'Carey, chiefs of Cairbre O'Ciardha, now the barony of "Carbery" in the county Kildare. 3. O'Murcain or O'Murcan. 4. O'Bracain or O'Bracken, chiefs of Moy Liffey. The O'Murcans and O'Brackens appear to have possessed the districts along the Liffey, near Dublin. 5. O'Gealbhroin, chiefs of Clar Liffé, or the Plain of the Liffey, a territory on the borders of Dublin and Kildare. 6. O'Fiachra, chiefs of Hy-Ineachruis at Almhuin [Allen]; and O'Haodha or O'Hea, chiefs of Hy-Deadhaidh: territories comprised in the county Kildare, 7. O'Muirthe or O'Murtha, chiefs of Cineal Flaitheamhuin (or Clan Fleming); and O'Fintighearan, chiefs of Hy-Mealla: territories also situated in the county Kildare, it would appear in the baronies of East and West Ophaley or Offaley. 8. O'Cullin or O'Cullen, chiefs of Coille Culluin (or the Woods of Cullen), now the barony of "Kilcullen" in the county Kildare. 9. O'Colgan, MacDonnell O'Dempsey, and O'Dunn, were all chiefs of note in Kildare. 10. O'Dubthaigh or O'Duffy, one of the Leinster clans of the race of the Monarch Cahir Mor; and of the same descent as MacMorough, kings of Leinster, and O'Toole and O'Byrne, chiefs of Wicklow. Originally located in Kildare and Carlow, and afterwards in Dublin and Meath, the O'Duffys migrated in modern times to Louth, Monaghan, Cavan, Galway, and Roscommon. 11. O'Fagan or MacFagan are considered by some to be of English descent. D'Alton, in his "History of the County Dublin," mentions some of this family who, in the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, were high sheriffs, in Meath and Dublin. In former times the Fagans of Feltrim, near Dublin, and other parts of that county, were highly respectable, and held extensive possessions. 12. O'Murphy, chiefs in Wexford, were also numerous in the counties of Dublin and Meath. 13. O'Mullen, numerous in Meath, Dublin, and Kildare. 14. MacGiollamocholmog or Gilcolm, and O'Dunchada or O'Donoghoe, are mentioned by O'Dugan as lords of Fingal, near Dublin; and, as mentioned in the chapter on "Hy-Kinsellagh," there was another MacGiollamocholmog, lord of a territory on the borders of Wicklow. 15. O'Muircheartaigh, O'Moriarty, or O'Murtagh, chiefs of the tribe of O'Maine; and O'Modarn, chiefs of Cineal Eochain, are mentioned by O'Dugan as chiefs of the Britons or Welsh; and appear to have been located near Dublin. 16. MacMuireagain, lords of East Liffey, in the tenth century.

(b) THE NEW SETTLERS IN DUBLIN AND KILDARE.

As explained in the account of the grant of the Kingdom of Meath to Hugh de Lacy by King Henry the Second, De Lacy and his barons became possessed of the greater portion of the present county Dublin; Hugh Tyrrell got the territory about Castleknock, which was long held by his descendants, as barons of Castleknock; the Phepoes got Santry and Clontarf, and, according to MacGeoghegan, Vivian de Cursun got the district of Raheny, near Dublin, which belonged to Giollamocholmog.

In Dublin:--In the county and city of Dublin, the following have been the principal families, from the twelfth to the eighteenth century, but some of whom, it will be seen, are of Irish descent:--Talbot, Tyrrell, Plunket, Preston, Barnwall, St. Lawrence, Taylor, Cruise, Cusack, Cogan, White, Walsh, Wall, Warren, Wogan, Woodlock, Darcy, Netterville, Marward, Phepo, Fitzwilliam, Fleming, Fitzsimons, Archbold, Archer, Allen, Aylmer, Ball, Bagot, De Bathe, Butler, Barry, Barret, Bermingham, Brett, Bellew, Blake, Brabazon, Finglas, Sweetman, Hollywood, Howth, Hussey, Burnell, Dowdall, Dillon, Segrave, Sarsfield, Stanihurst, Lawless, Cadell, Evans, Drake, Grace, Palmer, Eustace, Fyan or Fynes, Foster, Gough, Berrill, Bennet, Brown, Duff, Nangle, Woder, Tuite, Tew, Trant, Peppard, Luttrell, Rawson, Vernon, Delahoyde, Usher, Garnet, Hamilton, Domville, Coghill, Cobb, Grattan, Molesworth, Latouche, Putland, Beresford, Shaw, Smith, etc. For accounts of all those families and others, see D'Alton's Histories of Dublin and Drogheda.

In Kildare:--In the county Kildare, the following have been the chief families of Anglo-Norman and English descent:--Earl Strongbow (a quo, probably the names "Strong" and "Stronge") having become heir to the kingdom of Leinster, as son-in-law of Dermod MacMurrough, king of that province, as already mentioned, gave grants of various parts of Leinster to his followers. Amongst other grants, Strongbow gave in Kildare to Maurice Fitzgerald, Naas and Offelan, which had been part of "O'Kelly's Country;" to Myler Fitzhenry he gave Carbery; to Robert de Bermingham, Offaley, part of "O'Connor's Country;" to Adam and Richard de Hereford, a large territory about Leixlip, and the district called De Saltu Salmonis or the Salmon Leap (on the banks of the river Liffey, between Leixlip and Celbridge), from which the baronies of North and South "Salt" derive their name; and to Robert FitzRichard he gave the barony of Narragh. The family of De Riddlesford, in the reign of King John, got the district of Castledermot, which was part of the territory of O'Toole, prince of Imaile, in Wicklow; and Richard de St. Michael got from King John the district of Rheban, near Athy, part of "O'Moore's Country;" and from the St. Michaels, lords of Rheban, the manors of Rheban and Woodstock in Kildare, with Dunamase in the Queen's County, passed to the Fitzgeralds, barons of Offaley, A.D. 1424, by the marriage of Thomas Fitzgerald with Dorothea, daughter of Anthony O'Moore, prince of Leix. As already mentioned, the county Kildare, in the thirteenth century, became the inheritance of Sibilla, one of the daughters of William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, by Isabella, daughter of Strongbow, and grand-daughter of Dermod MacMurrough, King of Leinster; and Sibilla having married William Ferrars, Earl of Derby, he became in right of his wife lord of Kildare; which title passed (by intermarriage of his daughter Agnes) to William de Vesey, a nobleman of the De Vesey s, barons of Knapton in Yorkshire; and this William de Vesey was appointed by King Edward the First lord justice of Ireland, and was lord of Kildare and Rathangan. But having some contests with John FitzThomas Fitzgerald, baron of Offaley, who charged him with high treason, it was awarded to decide their disputes by single combat. De Vesey, having declined the combat and fled to France, was attainted, and his possessions and titles were conferred on Fitzgerald, who, A.D. 1316, was, by King Edward the Second, created earl of Kildare; and his descendants were, in modern times, created dukes of Leinster (see the "FitzGerald" pedigree). The other chief families in Kildare have been those of Aylmer, Archbold, Bagot, Burgh or Bourke, Butler, Brereton, Burrough, Boyce, Dungan or Dongan, Keating, Eustace or FitzEustace, Preston, Lawless, Wogan, Warren, White, Woulfe, Ponsonby, Nangle, Hort, etc. Some of the Aylmers of Kildare became barons of Balrath in Meath; and Arthur Woulfe, chief justice of the Queen's Bench, who was created "Viscount Kilwarden," was of the Wolfes or Woulfes of Kildare.

The following have been the noble families in the counties of Dublin and Kildare since the reign of King John:--

In Dublin:--As already explained, the De Lacys were lords of Meath and of a great part of Dublin. In the year 1384, Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford, and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, was created Marquis of Dublin and Duke of Ireland; and, in the present Royal Family of Great Britain and Ireland, some of the dukes of Cumberland were earls of Dublin. Talbot, a branch of the Talbots, earls of Shrewsbury, Waterford, and Wexford, have been celebrated families in Dublin and Meath, chiefly at Malahide and Belgard in the county Dublin; and were created barons of Malahide, and barons of Furnival: of these was Richard Talbot, the celebrated duke of Tyrconnell, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, under King James the Second. The Plunkets, great families in Dublin, Meath, and Louth, were created barons of Killeen and earls of Fingal; and branches of them, barons of Dunsany in Meath, and barons of Louth; William Conyngham Plunket, formerly Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was created "Baron Plunket." Preston, viscounts Gormanstown, and some of them viscounts of Tara. St. Lawrence, earls of Howth. Barnwall, viscounts of Kingsland, and barons of Turvey; and also barons of Trimblestown in Meath. De Courcey, barons of Kilbarrock. Fitzwilliam, viscounts of Merrion. Rawson, viscounts of Clontarf. Beaumont, viscounts of Swords; the Molesworths, viscounts of Swords. Temple, viscounts Palmerstown or Palmerston. Treacy, viscounts of Rathcoole. Patrick Sarsfield, the celebrated commander of the Irish forces under King James the Second, was created "Earl of Lucan;" and the Binghams are now earls of Lucan. The Marquis of Wharton, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, was created earl of Rathfarnham; and the family of Loftus, viscounts of Ely, were also earls of Rathfarnham. Luttrell, earls of Carhampton. Leeson, earls of Miltown. Harman, viscounts of Oxmantown (the name of an ancient district in the vicinity of Dublin); and the family of Parsons, earls of Rosse, in the King's County, are barons of Oxmantown. Wenman, barons of Kilmainham. Barry, barons of Santry. Caulfield, earls of Charlemont, resided until lately at Marino, Clontarf. Brabazon, earls of Meath, have extensive possessions in Wicklow and Dublin. And Thomas O'Hagan, of Dublin, Lord Chancellor of Ireland under the Gladstone Administration, was A.D. 1870, in the peerage of the United Kingdom, created "Baron O'Hagan."--See the "O'Hagan" pedigree.

In Kildare the following have been the noble families since the Anglo-Norman invasion: Fitzgerald, barons of Offaley, earls and marquises of Kildare, and dukes of Leinster. The title of "Earl of Leinster" was, A.D. 1659, borne by the family of Cholmondely; and the title of "Duke of Leinster" was, A.D. 1719, held by a descendant of Duke Schomberg. De Vesey or De Vesci, lords of Kildare and Rathangan. De Lounder, barons of Naas; Preston, also barons of Naas. St. Michael, barons of Rheban. FitzEustace, barons of Kilcullen in Kildare, of Portlester in Meath, and viscounts of Baltinglass in Wicklow. Bourke, barons of Naas, and earls of Mayo. Bermingham, barons of Carbery. Wellesley, barons of Narragh. Allen, viscounts of Allen in Kildare, and barons of Stillorgan in Dublin. Burgh, barons Down. Pomeroy, barons Harberton, and viscounts of Carbery. Agar, barons of Somerton, and earls of Normanton. Lawless, barons of Cloncurry. The barons De Roebeck. Moore, earls and marquises of Drogheda, and barons of Mellifont in Louth, reside at Monasterevan in Kildare. Scott, earls of Clonmel; and the family of Clements, earls of Leitrim, have seats in Kildare.

NOTES:--

[1] Dublin: The grant of the Kingdom of Meath by King Henry the Second to Hugh de Lacy, A.D 1172, included that part of Bregia, containing those parts of the present county Dublin, north of the river Liffey. This grant, King John confirmed to Walter de Lacy, lord of Meath, the son of Hugh; and gave him, besides, his fees in Fingal, to hold to him and his heirs for ever.

Parts of the territories of Moy Liffey and Bregia, with a portion of Cualan (or Wicklow), were formed into the county Dublin, A.D. 1210, in the reign of King John. In the sixteenth century, according to D'Alton's "History of Dublin," the county Dublin extended from Balrothery to Arklow --thus comprising a great part of the present county Wicklow.

[2] Kildare: In the reign of King John, parts of the territories of Moy Liffey, Offaley, Leix, and Cualan, were formed into the county Kildare; but it was only a "liberty" dependent on the jurisdiction of the Sheriffs of Dublin, until A.D 1296, in the reign of Edward the First, when Kildare was constituted a distinct county. It was called Coill-Dara, or the "Wood of Oaks," as oak forests abounded there in ancient times; or, according to others, Cill-Dara or the "Church of the Oaks," as it is said that the first church founded at the present town of Kildare was built amidst oak trees.

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