Flood
Henry Flood the great Irish politician and statesman was the most high profile man of his family. The circumstances surrounding his birth were somewhat out of the ordinary and the circumstances arising from his death were quite extraordinary.
His father, Warden Flood who later became a very eminent lawyer, met his future wife while studying in the Temple, in London. She was Isabelle Whiteside. Like many a young couple before them they fell in love and Isabelle became pregnant. Warden, being the gentleman he was, proposed marriage and the date was set. Young Henry to be, not being privy to their plans arrived early and so had to bear the stigma of illegitimacy that bedevilled many a good man before and after him.
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FitzGerald
When Maurice FitzGerald decided to assist the deposed King of Leinster in his invasion of Ireland, he cannot have possibly imagined how potent a force his descendants would become over the next seven hundred years. From the Machiavellian pragmatism of Garret Mor to the doomed rebellion of Silken Thomas and the flight of the Wizard Earl, the Kildare FitzGeralds have always been a dynasty of consequence. In the 18th century, a new age of respectability saw the family head elevated in the Peerage as Duke of Leinster. But even in those times, scandal was not far away as the Duke’s son Lord Edward Fitzgerald became embroiled in the Rebellion of the United Irishmen. The outbreak of the Great War in 1914 was ultimately followed by tragedy and ruin, fostered by a compulsive heir whose passion for fast living almost wiped out the Fitzgerald fortunes forever.
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Fennell
Colonel John Fennell (1626 – 1706), an officer in Cromwell’s army was awarded a small estate on the banks of the River Suir outside Cahir, Co. Tipperary. His estate at Kilcommonbeg lay adjacent to the present day Swiss Cottage, erected in 1810 by the Regency architect John Nash. John Fennell was born in the winter of 1626 in Steeple Ashton in the West England county of Wiltshire. It seems likely that his father Robert Fennell was involved with the woollen industry, the economic staple of Wiltshire since Norman times. On 22nd November 1649, John married Mary Davies of Cardiff, in which city the first six of their nine children were born. Presumably Mary and the children also moved to Tipperary in the lead up to the Restoration. The Fennells of Burtown House, Athy, Co. Kildare are the Colonel’s direct descendents. (1)
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Nugent Talbot Everard was born in Torquay and his two first names were given to him in deference to the two great families with whom the Everards were connected – the Nugent/O’Reillys of Ballinlough and the Talbots of Malahide who were also connected with the O’Reillys via Margaret O’Reilly. Margaret was the elder sister of Barbara O’Reilly who had married Thomas Everard.
Nugent was only thirteen when he inherited and was already at Harrow. From there he proceeded to Cambridge and prior to completing his time there he came to live at Randlestown in 1870. John Nevin, the farm manager, and the son of the previous farm manager, William Nevin, had this to say when he wrote in 1940 of his lifelong service to the Everard family:-‘Nugent was the first of the Everard family to make his home in Randlestown for upward of 60 years, previous the house & estate were rented continually. And a great many changes and repair had to take place. The house and yards had to be renovated. Nugent Everard commenced to make his home modern and to live up to a country gentleman’s life, in hunting and sporting. In addition he joined the Meath Militia as a Lieutenant.’
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Esmonde of Wexford & Tipperary
The very distinguished family of Esmonde, a surviving branch of which still lives at Ballynastragh, near Gorey, began their connection with Wexford in the 12th century. It is believed that Geoffrey de Estmont was one of the thirty knights who accompanied Robert FitzStephen to Ireland in 1169 when the latter lead the advance force that landed at Bannow in that year. According to Philip Hore, Geoffrey de Estmont came from Huntington, in Lincoinshire, where a family of Esmondes survived and were ancestors of Lord Worhouse of Norfolk.[1]
[1] Hore Mss in St. Peter’s College
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Ellis
The Leslie Ellis family descends from Sir Thomas Ellis or Ellys of Wyham, a small village near Louth in North Lincolnshire. He was Deputy for Francis Manners, Earl of Rutland, Lord Deputy of Lincolnshire from 1612. As a young man, Rutland was imprisoned alongside his brothers for supporting the Earl of Essex’s ill-fated 1601 rebellion against Queen Elizabeth’s government. However, with the support of the Cecils, he swiftly regained favour and rose to become a prominent courtier during the reign of King James.[i] As Rutland’s Deputy, Sir Thomas almost certainly encountered King James during the Scottish-born monarchs many visits to Rutland’s home at Belvoir. Sir Thomas was created a baronet on 30th June 1660. His grandson, Sir Richard Ellis of Wynham in Lincolnshire, was a zealous non-conformist and author of a book entitled Fortuita Sacra which is extremely rare. Sir Richard was returned to Parliament twice for Grantham, and three times for Boston, commencing in 1722.
[i] In 1618 Rutland personally brought charges of witchcraft against three sisters who he believed responsible for the deaths of his two young sons.
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Donovan of Ballymore, Wexford.
The Donovans of Ballymore have been in occupation of their property since the year 1694. Mortagh Donovan inherited the house and lands from his uncle Thomas Kieran, a wealthy Dublin brewer and an Alderman of the city.
In 1994 the late owner Richard Donovan and his wife Margaret created a most interesting museum of family items from past generations.
Richard died in 2007 and this obituary is a moving tribute that speaks volumes of the man.
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Dick Family History
The Dick family are said to be a family of Viking origin who made their way south from the Orkney Islands to the Scottish Highlands of Invernesshire in the 12th or 13th century AD. In the early 17th century, Robert Dick of this family obtained a grant of land at Dunovarnan, Co. Antrim, from Randall, Earl of Antrim. According to the Dick family history his great-grandson, John Dick, moved to Dublin and married Anne, daughter of William Adair. Their son Qunitin Dick moved to Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, and married Anne, sister of Hugh Herr of Dublin. Quintin died in 1768 leaving three sons and two daughters.
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Dennis
The Dennis family descends in the male line from the Swifts of Herefordshire, kinsfolk of both Jonathan Swift and John Dryden. In the late 18th century, a prudent marriage to the sole heiress of the Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer brought the extensive Dennis estates in Kerry, Cork and Dublin to the family. A similarly lucrative marriage settlement in 1810 introduced Thomas Dennis to West Wicklow when he succeeded to the Pendred estate at Fortgranite outside Baltinglass. Further marriages to the Bakers of Tipperary, the Crosbies of Kerry and the Handcocks of Westmeath further increased their social network. Amongst the dramatis personae of relatives were the Shakespearian scholar Edgar Flower, the artist Kathleen Marescaux, the Crimean War veteran Major John FitzThomas Dennis and the Indian tea magnate Maurice FitzGerald Sandes. In the early 20th century, the inventive Colonel Meade Dennis pioneered the concepts of radio-transmission and submarine detection at his office in Fortgranite. His son and heir, General Meade Dennis, served as principal artillery commander in Montgomery’s successful campaign against Rommel’s army in North Africa.
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de Robeck
The de Robecks have always been fighting men. They descend from a north German family who became all powerful in Estonia during the 17th century. The 2nd Baron de Robeck served with the Franco-American army against the British redcoats in the American War of Independence. His son, the 3rd Baron, fought in Spain during the Napoleonic Wars. The 4th Baron opted for a quieter life, building the present family home of Gowran Grange outside Punchestown and serving as Ranger for the Curragh in the reign of Queen Victoria. His son, Admiral Sir John de Robeck (1862 – 1928, reluctantly witnessed the disastrous attempt to capture the Dardanelles Straits in March 1915. The 5th Baron commanded an artillery battalion in the Great War and married one of the Alexanders of County Carlow. In World war Two, the 6th Baron was instrumental in helping General “Punch” Cowan defeat the Japanese in Burma. The present head of the family is 32-year-old John, 8th Baron de Robeck. A military career is not amongst his plans for the future.
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