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Maurice Roche, 8th Viscount Fermoy

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Maurice Roche
Viscount Fermoy
Tenure1635–1670
PredecessorDavid, 7th Viscount Fermoy
SuccessorDavid Roche, 9th Viscount Roche
Born1597
Died1670
Spouse(s)Ellen Power
Issue
Detail
David, John, & others
FatherDavid, 7th Viscount Fermoy
MotherJoan Barry

Maurice Roche, 8th Viscount Fermoy (1597–1670) was an magnate and soldier in southern Ireland, and a politician of the Irish Catholic Confederation. He joined the rebels in the Irish Rebellion of 1641 in January 1642, early for Munster, by besieging Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, a Protestant, in Youghal. He fought for the Confederates in the Irish Confederate Wars and sat on three of their Supreme Councils. He fought against the Parliamentarians in the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland and was excluded from pardon at the surrender in 1652. At the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 he recovered his title but not his lands.

Birth and origins

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Family tree
Maurice Roche with wife, parents, and other selected relatives.[a]
Eleanor
FitzGerald
Maurice
6th Viscount
d. 1600
Catherine
FitzGerald
David
7th Viscount

1573–1635
Joan
Barry
Maurice
8th Viscount
1597–1670
Ellen
Power
David
9th Viscount
d. 1681
John
10th Viscount
d. 1694
Catherine
Condon
David
11th Viscount
d. 1703
Naval Officer
Legend
XXXSubject of
the article
XXXViscounts
Fermoy

Maurice was born in 1597,[3][4] probably in Castletownroche, County Cork, Munster, Ireland. He was the eldest son of David Roche, 7th Viscount Fermoy and his wife, Joan Barry.[5] At the time of his birth, his grandfather was the 6th Viscount Fermoy (also counted as the 1st). His father was heir apparent and would succeed as the 7th Viscount in 1600.[6] His father's family, the Roches were Old English and descended from Adam de Rupe who had come to Ireland from Wales with Robert FitzStephen during the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland.[7]

Maurice's mother was a daughter of James de Barry, 4th Viscount Buttevant, by his wife Ellen MacCarthy Reagh.[8] His mother's family, the de Barrys, were Old English like his own and descended from Philip de Barry, who had come to Ireland from Wales in 1183.[9]

He was one of nine siblings, which are listed in his father's article. Of note are Redmond Roche, MP for County Cork, and Ellen, who married Charles MacCarthy, 1st Viscount Muskerry as his second wife.

Marriage and children

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About 1625 Roche married Ellen (Eleanor), daughter of John Og Power, son and heir of Richard Power, 4th Baron Power of Curraghmore[10][11] and sister of John Power, 5th Baron Power of Curraghmore.

Maurice and Ellen had two sons:

  1. David (died 1681), succeeded as the 9th Viscount but died in London unmarried[12][13]
  2. John, succeeded as the 10th viscount and married Catharine Condon,[14]

—and at least one daughter:

  1. Ellen, married William, Lord Castle Connell[15]

Viscount

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He succeeded his father as the 8th Viscount Fermoy on 22 March 1635.[16] He is also counted as 3rd Viscount.[17] Lord Fermoy took his seat in the House of Lords of the Parliament 1640–1649 on 26 October 1640.[18][19]

Irish wars

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Ireland suffered 11 years of war from 1641 to 1652, which are usually divided into the Rebellion of 1641, the Confederate Wars, and the Cromwellian Conquest. This eleven years' war in turn formed part of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms,[20] also known as the British Civil Wars.[21]

Phelim O'Neill launched the Rebellion from the northern province of Ulster in October 1641.[22] Fermoy was one of the first in the southern province of Munster to join the rebels and was the leader of the Confederates in Munster in the early times. In January 1642 Fermoy, together with Garret Barry, besieged Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, the most powerful of the Munster Protestants, in Youghal.[23] The siege was soon relieved from Lismore Castle by troops under his sons-in-law George FitzGerald, 16th Earl of Kildare, and David Barry, 1st Earl of Barrymore.[24] On 2 March 1642 Donough MacCarty, the 2nd Viscount Muskerry, joined the rebellion.[b][26] Muskerry was Fermoy's nephew by marriage as Muskerry's father had married Fermoy's sister Ellen in 1599 as his second wife.[27] In March and April, Muskerry and Fermoy[28] with 4,000 men[29] unsuccessfully besieged William St Leger, the Lord President of Munster, in Cork City.[30] In May and June 1642, Muskerry, Garret Barry, Patrick Purcell of Croagh, and Fermoy attacked Limerick.[31] The town opened its gates willingly,[32] but the Protestants defended King John's Castle in the Siege of Limerick. The castle surrendered on 21 June.[33] Fermoy was among the losers when Murrough O'Brien, 6th Baron of Inchiquin defeated the insurgeants at the Battle of Liscarroll on 3 September 1642.

When the insurgents organized themselves in the Irish Catholic Confederation, Fermoy was elected a member of the first Supreme Council, sitting from November 1642 to May 1643;[34] and was re-elected for the second Supreme Council sitting from May 1643 to November 1643.[35]

He then lost influence but made a come back in the seventh Supreme Council.[36]

Later life

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Fermoy was excluded from pardon of life and estate in the Commonwealth's Act of Settlement on 12 August and therefore lost his estates.[37]

At the Stuart Restoration he regained his title but not his estates.[38]

Death, succession, and timeline

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Fermoy died on 22 March 1670 and was succeeded by his son David, a naval officier.[39][13]

Timeline
Age Date Event
0 1597 Born[3][4]
2–3 1600, 24 Oct Father succeeded as 7th Viscount Fermoy[6]
3–4 1601, 22 Sep The Spanish landed at Kinsale[40]
5–6 1603, 24 Mar Accession of King James I, succeeding Queen Elizabeth I[41]
15–16 1613, Mar Father took his seat in the Parliament of Ireland
27–28 1625, 27 Mar Accession of King Charles I, succeeding King James I[42]
27–28 1625, about Married Ellen, daughter of John Power[10]
34–35 1632, 12 Jan Thomas Wentworth, later Earl of Strafford, appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland[43]
37–38 1635, 22 Mar Succeeded his father as the 8th Viscount Fermoy[16]
43–44 1641, 12 May Strafford beheaded[44]
43–44 1641, 23 Oct Outbreak of the Rebellion[45]
44–45 1642, Jan Besieged Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork in Youghal.[46]
44–45 1642, 3 Sep Was among the losers of the Battle of Liscarroll
44–45 1642, Nov Elected to the 1st Supreme Council of the Irish Catholic Confederation[34]
47–48 1645, 21 Oct Giovanni Battista Rinuccini, the papal nuncio, landed in Ireland.[47]
48–49 1646, 5 Jun Battle of Benburb[48]
51–52 1649, 30 Jan King Charles I beheaded.[49]
51–52 1649, 23 Feb Giovanni Battista Rinuccini, the papal nuncio, left Ireland[50]
51–52 1649, 15 Aug Oliver Cromwell landed in Dublin[51]
53–54 1651, 3 Sep Battle of Worcester[52]
54–55 1652, 12 May Fall of Galway[53]
60–61 1658, 3 Sep Oliver Cromwell died.[54]
62–63 1660, 29 May Restoration of King Charles II[55]
72–73 1670, 22 Mar Died[39]

Notes and references

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Notes

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  1. ^ This family tree is based on genealogies of the Viscounts of Fermoy,[1] and the earls of Clancarty.[2] Also see the lists of siblings and children in the text.
  2. ^ Muskerry changed sides on Ash Wednesday 1642.[25] Calculations with the Easter Calculator of the University of Utrecht or that of the IMCCE show that Ash Wednesday fell on 2 March in 1642.

Citations

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  1. ^ Burke 1866, pp. 454–456Genealogies of the viscounts of Fermoy
  2. ^ Burke 1866, p. 344Genealogies of the earls of Clancarty
  3. ^ a b Ó Siochrú 2009, paragraph 1. "Roche, Maurice (1597–1670), 3rd Viscount Fermoy"
  4. ^ a b Dunlop & Cunningham 2004, p. 460, right column, line 20. "He was succeeded by his son Maurice Roche, eighth Viscount Roche of Fermoy (1592/3–1670) ..."
  5. ^ Cokayne 1926, p. 299, line 15. "VII. 1600. 7. David (Roche), Viscount Roche of Fermoy [I. [Ireland] ], only surv. [surviving] s. [son] and h. [heir] by his 1st wife."
  6. ^ a b Burke 1866, p. 455, left column, line 54. "... 24 October 1600, he [Maurice, the 6th Viscount] d. [died] at his seat at Glanogher ..."
  7. ^ Burke 1866, p. 454. "The family of Roche was established in Ireland by Adam de Rupe of Roch Castle, co. Pembrokeshire, who accompanied Robert FitzStephen to that country in 1196."
  8. ^ Dunlop & Cunningham 2004, p. 460, left column. "Roche married, before 1593, Joan daughter of James FitzRichard Barry, Viscount Buttevant, and his wife, Ellen MacCarthy Reagh."
  9. ^ Furnivall 1896, p. 126. "Nat longe ther aftyr, come into Irland Richard de Cogan, Miles brother, wyth fair meygne from the kynge I-sent; & ther-aftyr yn the begynnyge of Marce come Phylype de barry, a man ..."
  10. ^ a b Dunlop & Cunningham 2004, p. 460, right column, line 28. "About 1625 he married Ellen, daughter of John Power, son and heir of Richard, Lord Power."
  11. ^ Burke 1866, p. 443, left column. "Richard le Poer ... d. [died] 2 August, 1607, having had issue, I. John (Oge) his heir who d.v.p. [predeceased his father] ..."
  12. ^ Cokayne 1926, p. 300. "9. David (Roche), Viscount Roche of Fermoy [I.], s. and h., in 1650 'had a good party in the West of Ireland' in the Rom. Cath. interest. He d. unm., 1681, in London."
  13. ^ a b Burke 1866, p. 456, left column, line 10. "David Roche, Viscount Fermoy, a naval officer, was drowned near Plymouth, in the great storm of 1703, and dying unm. [unmarried] was s. [succeeded] by his nephew "
  14. ^ Burke 1866, p. 456, left column, line 4. "II. John, m. [married] Catharine Condon, and had issue,"
  15. ^ Burke 1866, p. 456, left column, line 8. "I. Ellen, m. [married] to William, Lord Castle Connell."
  16. ^ a b Dunlop 1897, p. 68, left column, bottom. "He died in the odour of loyalty at Castletown Roche on 22 March, 1635, and was buried on 12 April at the Abbey, Bridgetown."
  17. ^ Ó Siochrú 2009, Beginning. "Roche, Maurice (1597–1670), 3rd Viscount Fermoy, politician, was son and heir of David Roche (qv) and Joan, daughter of James FitzRichard, Viscount Buttevant."
  18. ^ Dunlop & Cunningham 2004, p. 460, right column, line 30. "He took his seat by proxy in the House of Lords on 26 October 1640 ..."
  19. ^ House of Lords 1779, p. 136, left column. "Die lunae, 26o Octobris 1640o ... Maurice Viscount Fermoy is brought in, and placed by his proxy, the earl of Ormond ..."
  20. ^ Morrill 1991, p. 8. "Yet there never has been any agreement amongst historians about what to call the crisis in England in the 1640s. Contemporaries in England saw it as 'The Troubles' or 'The Great Civil War'" or as the 'Great Rebellion'; while contemporaries in Scotland saw it as the 'Wars of the Covenant' and contemporaries in Ireland as the 'War of the Three Kingdoms'.
  21. ^ Pocock 1996, p. 172. "Irish historians ... object, or so I have been told, to the term 'the British Isles' for reasons with which I can sympathise."
  22. ^ Dunlop 1895, p. 205. "In accordance with the final arrangements for the rebellion, Sir Phelim on the evening of 22 Oct. surprised Charlemont Castle ..."
  23. ^ Townshend 1904, pp. 100–101. "... in the beginning of January [1642] Youghal had surrendered to the Irish under Lord Roche and General Barry. ... My Lord [Cork] had some small notice of their coming, and therefore got with all his men into the castle ..."
  24. ^ Townshend 1904, p. 101–102. "... Lord Cork's sons-in-law, the Earls of Kildare and Barrymore, ... were under arms with 4,000 men ... These marched in good order and better resolution ..."
  25. ^ McGrath 1997a, p. 203, line 20. "He declared for his co-religionists on Ash Wednesday 1642 ..."
  26. ^ M'Enery 1904, p. 172. "Lord Muskerry joined the insurgents early in March [1642]."
  27. ^ Ohlmeyer 2004, p. 107, left column, line 31. "Donough's mother died in or before 1599 when his father married as his second wife Ellen (d. [died] in or after 1610), widow of Donnell MacCarthy Reagh and daughter of David Roch, seventh Viscount Fermoy."
  28. ^ McGrath 1997b, p. 266, line 6. "In April 1642 he [St Leger] was besieged in Cork by Theobald Purcell, Richard Butler, and Lords Roche, Ikerrin, Dunboyne and Muskerry."
  29. ^ Bagwell 1895, p. 320, right column, line 52. "In April 1642, during the siege of Cork by Muskerry with four thousand men, Inchiquin ..."
  30. ^ Bagwell 1909, p. 3. "... besieged in Cork 'by a vast body of enemy lying within four miles of the town, under my Lord of Muskerry, O'Sullivan Roe, MacCarthy Reagh, and all the western gentry ...' "
  31. ^ M'Enery 1904, p. 163, penultimate line. "The principal men among the besiegers were General Gerald Barry, Patrick Pursell of Croagh, County Limerick, lord Roche, lord Muskerry ..."
  32. ^ Meehan 1882, p. 28, line 11. "The inhabitants ... opened their gates to the confederates ..."
  33. ^ Adams 1904, p. 255. "... capitulated on the 21st of June [1642]. Lord Muskerry took possession the next day."
  34. ^ a b Cregan 1995, p. 510 top. "First Supreme Council, 11 November 1642 – May 1643 ... Viscount Roche ..."
  35. ^ Cregan 1995, p. 510 middle. "Second Supreme Council, May 1643 – November 1643 ... Viscount Roche ..."
  36. ^ Cregan 1995, p. 511 lower. "Seventh Supreme Council, 17 September 1646 – 17 March 1647 ... Viscount Roche ..."
  37. ^ Firth & Rait 1911, p. 599. "That James Butler Earl of Ormond, James Touchet Earl of Castlehaven, Ullick Bourk Earl of Clanrickard, Christopher Plunket Earl of Fingal, James Dillon Earl of Roscomon, Richard Nugent Earl of Westmeath, Morrogh O Brien Baron of Inchiquin, Donogh Mac Carthy Viscount Muskerry, Theobald Taaff, Viscount Taaff of Corren, Richard Butler Viscount Mountgarret, Roch Viscount Fernjoy ... be excepted from pardon for Life and Estate."
  38. ^ Ó Siochrú 2009, Last paragraph, penultimate sentence. "After the restoration of Charles II in 1660, Fermoy petitioned in vain for the return of his estates."
  39. ^ a b Ó Siochrú 2009, Last paragraph, last sentence. "He [Fermoy] died in relative poverty in 1670 and was succeeded by his son and heir David."
  40. ^ Joyce 1903, p. 172. "On the 23d of September, 1601, a Spanish fleet entered the harbour of Kinsale with 3,400 troops ... "
  41. ^ Fryde et al. 1986, p. 44, line 1. "James I ... acc. 24 Mar. 1603 ..."
  42. ^ Fryde et al. 1986, p. 44, line 16. "Charles I. ... acc. 27 Mar. 1625 ..."
  43. ^ Asch 2004, p. 146, right column, line 23. "Wentworth was appointed lord deputy on 12 January 1632 ..."
  44. ^ Burke 1866, p. 577, left column, line 3. "He [Strafford] suffered death with characteristic firmness on Tower Hill, 12 May 1641."
  45. ^ Warner 1768, p. 6. "... the twenty-third October [1641] ... seized all the towns, castles, and houses belonging to the Protestants which they had force enough to possess;"
  46. ^ Townshend 1904, pp. 100–102. "... in the beginning of January [1642] Youghal had surrendered to the Irish under Lord Roche and General Barry. ... My Lord [Cork] had some small notice of their coming, and therefore got with all his men into the castle ..."
  47. ^ Coffey 1914, p. 152, line 16. "... [Rinuccini] landed at Kenmare October, 21st [1645]."
  48. ^ Cusack 1871, p. 317. … encamped at Benburb. Here, on the 5th of June A.D. 1646 he [Owen Roe O’Neill] won a victory …
  49. ^ Fryde et al. 1986, p. 44, line 17. "Charles I. ... exec. 30 Jan. 1649 ..."
  50. ^ O'Sullivan 1983, p. 278. "... the San Pietro, the vessel which had brought him to Ireland and on which he now proposed to depart ... on the morning of the 23rd February 1649, Rinuccini quitted 'the place of his refuge' and went on board."
  51. ^ Coffey 1914, p. 213. "Cromwell landed in Dublin on August 15th [1649]."
  52. ^ Atkinson 1910, p. 420.
  53. ^ Cusack 1871, p. 320. "The town [Galway] surrendered on the 12th of May 1652."
  54. ^ Firth 1888, p. 181, left column. "... he [Cromwell] died at three o'clock on the afternoon of 3 Sept. [1658] ..."
  55. ^ Fryde et al. 1986, p. 44, line 39. "Charles II. ... acc. 29 May 1660 ..."

Sources

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Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by Viscount Fermoy
1635–1670
Succeeded by
David Roche