Friday, May 22, 2015

The children of Thomas Fitz Anthony

The children of Thomas Fitz Anthony

Niall C.E.J. O’Brien

Introduction

Thomas Fitz Anthony was a government administrator in Ireland in the first quarter of the thirteenth century. He was seneschal, or chief administrative officer, of the large liberty of Leinster under William Marshal. In July 1215 Thomas Fitz Anthony was made the chief royal administrative officer in Counties Waterford and Cork. In July 2015, the Villiers Stuart family of Dromana (descendants of Thomas Fitz Anthony), County Waterford celebrate with the local community the 800th anniversary of the 1215 grant of Dromana and Decies to their ancestor. For a biography on the life of Thomas Fitz Anthony see http://celtic2realms-medievalnews.blogspot.ie/2015/02/thomas-fitz-anthony-thirteenth-century.html

This article intends to recount how the Villiers Stuart family are descendant from Thomas Fitz Anthony and to give some account of the other children of Thomas and their descendants.

Dromana House - home to the descendants of Thomas Fitz Anthony

Death and family of Thomas Fitz Anthony

Thomas Fitz Anthony died sometime between 19th August 1226 and 27th April 1227. On 20th July 1229 Richard de Burgh was instructed to take the lands of Fitz Anthony into the king’s hand. Following consultation with Godfrey de Turville, Archbishop of Dublin and Richard Duket, de Burgh was to let out the land at the best rents possible.[1]

It appears that Thomas Fitz Anthony was twice married; firstly to a woman called Emma and secondly to a woman called Ilonda. It is not clear which woman had the five daughters left by Thomas Fitz Anthony at his death. Fitz Anthony’s only son, Hamo Fitz Thomas predeceased his father and died without children.[2]

The five daughters and their husbands were: Dionysia married to William de Cantilupe; Helen married to Gerald de Rupe; Isabella married to Geoffrey de Norragh; Margery married to John Fitz Thomas Fitzgerald and Desiderata or Desiree married to Stephen le Ercedekne (Archdeacon).[3] The estate of Thomas Fitz Anthony was divided among his five daughters. It seems that the daughters did not get immediate possession of their respected estates in Counties Waterford and Cork. The crown till held these lands in January 1230 when the heirs asked for relief from debt.[4] By 1260 much of the land of Thomas Fitz Anthony had come into the possession of his son-in-law, John Fitz Thomas Fitzgerald of Shanid (died 1261).[5]

Dionysia Fitz Thomas and William de Cantilupe

In 1236 King Henry III gave a pardon to William de Cantilupe, who married one of the daughters of Thomas Fitz Anthony, of the ten marks which was his portion of the fine charged on Thomas Fitz Anthony, by King John, for having the custody and lands of John Fitz Thomas Fitzgerald.[6]

Dionysia and William de Cantilupe founded the Hospital of St. John at Carrick-on-Suir. Sometime after 1236 William de Cantilupe died. After her husband’s death, Dionysia endowed the hospital with a grant of two carucates of land in her town of Carrick along with a burgage plot in Newtown near Kilmacthomas and another burgage plot in Stradbally in County Waterford. Dionysia died about 1245 and these lands were inherited by her nephew John, son of Geoffrey de Norragh. Between 1247 and 1261 John de Norragh confirmed these lands to the Order of St. Thomas of Acre.[7]

Dionysia and William de Cantilupe left no heirs according to an inquisition taken in 1280 relating to land in County Waterford. On the death of Dionysia Fitz Thomas without heirs, her fifth share of the lands of Thomas Fitz Anthony was seized by the escheator’s office and shared out in equal parts among the other four daughters of Thomas Fitz Anthony.[8]

Helen Fitz Thomas and Gerald de Rupe

Helen Fitz Thomas and Gerald de Rupe had a daughter called Emma who was the first wife of William de Dene. In 1241-45, William de Dene was sheriff of Wexford. In about 1255 and again about 1260 William de Dene was seneschal of Kilkenny. In about 1260 William de Dene and Emma his wife, along with Stephen D’Evreux, were in legal dispute concerning the tenement of Offergus, Co. Cork, with the other heirs of Thomas Fitz Anthony, namely, John Fitzthomas and Margaret his wife, John Norragh and Stephen le Ercedekne and Desiderata his wife. It seems that Offergus was formerly held by Thomas Fitz Anthony and was successively retained by William de Dene as his successors held it for many generations.[9]

Emma de Rupe died before 1261 and William de Dene married Roesia de Longespee. Roesia survived her husband but without leaving any children. Roesia de Longespee married secondly William de Calne and was still alive in 1302.[10] In 1260-1 William de Dene was justiciar of Ireland. In 1261 William de Dene fought in the Battle of Callann in south Kerry and died the same year from his wounds. Gerald de Rupe also fought in the battle and was killed there along with John Fitz Thomas Fitzgerald and his son Maurice.[11]

An inquisition taken in 1280 into the land of Ardsallagh in County Waterford noted that Gerald de Rupe followed Richard Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, in his rebellion against Henry III and had his lands seized as a consequence.[12] It would seem that Gerald de Rupe was later restored to some of the Fitz Anthony lands as his daughter Emma brought these lands to her husband, William de Dene. These lands were inherited by Emma’s three sons, William, Walter and Thomas in quick succession. Thomas de Dene was succeeded by his son Reginald de Dene.

An inquisition in 1302, on the death of Reginald de Dene, found that he held a quarter part of Stradbally, Co. Waterford, 2½ carucates of land at Dronthan, Co. Waterford from Hamo Vasconis, one carucate and 80 acres at Ardsallagh, Co. Waterford and five towns of land at Ballygormill, presumingly in Co. Waterford. Reginald de Dene also held half of Tulachrath (Tallow), and Offergus, Co. Cork from the heirs of Thomas de Clare and 7½ carucates of land around Thomastown, held of Ralph de Monte Hermeri and Johanna, Countess of Gloucester, his wife. All these lands appear to have come to Reginald de Dene as part of the Fitz Anthony inheritance. Reginald de Dene held other lands in County Wexford which seem to be originally Dene property and not connected with Fitz Anthony.[13] The Dene family held the land around Thomastown until Cromwellian times.[14]    

Later members of the Dene family included Sir Thomas de Dene who was seneschal of Wexford around 1319; his son, Fulk Fitz Anthony de Dene who was sheriff of Kilkenny and died in 1370 and his brother, Thomas de Dene, Bishop of Ferns (d.1400).[15]

Helen Fitz Thomas was dead by 1247 and Gerald de Rupe got married again to an unknown woman. By her he left a son, Gerald de Rupe, junior, who in turn was succeeded by his son George de Rupe.[16] 

Isabella Fitz Thomas and Geoffrey de Norragh

In 1233-34 Richard Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, went into rebellion against King Henry III because he disagreed with government policy. The rebellion ended on 1st April 1234 when Richard Marshal lost the battle of the Curragh and died on 16th April from his wounds. Geoffrey de Norragh sided with Richard Marshal and was taken prisoner while his lands were seized by the government. In January 1235 he was released to Gilbert Marshal, the new Earl of Pembroke, on the understanding that he would pay a fine to the Earl.[17] 

Over time Geoffrey de Norragh recovered his standing with the king. On 15th August 1247 the king mandated the justiciar of Ireland to cause Meyler de Bermingham and Geoffrey de Norragh to have 10 marks each as a gift from the treasury of Ireland.[18]

The principal lands of Geoffrey de Norragh seem to have been in Co. Kildare where his family took their surname from the castle and Barony of Norragh, and in Co. Wexford where in 1247 he held Ballydusker in the Barony of Forth. Geoffrey de Norragh was succeeded by his son John de Norragh. This was the John de Norragh involved in the 1260 lawsuit between the heirs of Thomas Fitz Anthony.

John de Norragh succeeded to the lands of his aunt, Dionysia Fitz Thomas, around Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary, and to lands at Carrickbeg, Newtown and Stradbally in County Waterford.[19]

John de Norragh was succeeded by William de Norragh who was Baron of Norragh in the 1280s under Agnes de Vescy, Lady of Kildare. In the 1290s William de Norragh confirmed lands at Ohenegus in Co. Waterford given to Dunbrody Abbey by Thomas Fitz Anthony. This would suggest that the de Norragh family still held Fitz Anthony lands in Co. Waterford even if the estate was small. After the 1290s the family of de Norragh disappear from the records. Their lands in Kildare and Wexford passed to different families.[20]

Desiderata Fitz Thomas and Stephen le Ercedekne

It is not known when Desiderata Fitz Thomas married Stephen le Ercedekne, now known by the family name of Archdeacon. During the lifetime of Thomas Fitz Anthony, Stephen le Ercedekne granted the chapel of Tulach Barry to the Priory of Inistioge which priory had been founded by Thomas Fitz Anthony.

The first of the family in Ireland was Odo Archidiaconus who was witness to a charter to Duiske abbey in about 1204. They acquired lands in the Barony of Galmoy and other property around Donaghmore in the Barony of Fassadinin.[21]

At the division of her father’s estate Desiderata Fitz Thomas received a fifth part. Her share appears to be in Ogenty around Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny. This land became the manor of Dangan by Thomastown and in 1316 was held by Patrick Archdekin. The Archdeacon family held Dangan until the Cromwellian confiscations.[22] 

In 1234 Earl Richard Marshal revolted against King Henry III. After a series of defeats, the Earl fled to his Irish estates. On the plain of the Curragh the Earl’s small force met a much larger force and battle ensued. Earl Richard was injured and died a few days later. His lands were declared forfeit along with the property of his supporters. One of these supporters was Stephen le Ercedekne. It is not known if Stephen le Ercedekne was on the Curragh but the lands he got from Thomas Fitz Anthony were taken by the crown. Some of these lands, particularly in County Waterford, were subsequently granted to John Fitz Thomas Fitzgerald for his support of the crown in the Marshal revolt.[23] It would seem that Stephen recovered some of the Fitz Anthony estate because his later descendants held the Dangan manor which was part of the Fitz Anthony estate. Stephen le Ercedekne also got back some lands in County Waterford by 1237 as he received a stay by the crown from payment of debts due on those lands.[24]

But the le Ercedekne family didn’t lose all involvement with County Waterford. In 1261, on the death of John Fitz Thomas Fitzgerald at the battle of Callann in south Kerry, William le Ercedekne of Kilkenny became sheriff of County Waterford. He was a possible relative of Stephen le Ercedekne.[25]

Stephen le Ercedekne and Desiderata were alive in 1261-2 when they were involved in a lawsuit concerning the Fitz Anthony estate. Stephen le Ercedekne was succeeded by his son, Sylvester le Ercedekne who was in lawsuit with the Priory of Inistioge concerning vestments given by his mother Desiderata and dues from the chapel of Tulach Barry. In 1282 Sir Sylvester le Ercedekne is mentioned in County Kilkenny. Sylvester was succeeded by his son Richard Lercedekne who died before 1318 and was succeeded by his son Raymond Lerecedekne. In 1309 Raymond Lerecedekne was summoned to Parliament in Kilkenny. In 1324 Raymond Lercedekne held the original family lands in the Barony of Galmoy. The family continued to hold this property for many generations. In 1549 Richard Archdekne sued Sir John Grace for the manor of Castletown in Galmoy.[26]

In the previous paragraph we see how the name of le Ercededkne changed over time. Later generations of the family changed their name again to that of Archdeacon while others took the name of MacCody (from Odo Archidiaconus) which was shortened to Cody. Many members stayed in Ireland while others went overseas. The family of James Archdeacon of Virginia (1745) are numerous across the Southern states of the United States.[27]    

Margery Fitz Thomas and John Fitz Thomas Fitzgerald

John Fitz Thomas Fitzgerald came from a junior branch of the Fitzgerald family that settled around Shanid in County Limerick after 1194. His father, Thomas Fitz Maurice Fitzgerald was a younger brother of Gerald Fitzgerald, ancestor of the Earls of Kildare and Dukes of Leinster. Thomas Fitz Maurice Fitzgerald died about 1213 and as his son and heir, John Fitz Thomas, was then a minor, he was taken into royal wardship. Thomas Fitz Anthony, seneschal of Leinster, purchased the wardship from King John.[28] Part of the purchase money was still due in 1236 when William de Cantilupe got a pardon from payment.[29]

After 1213 Thomas Fitz Anthony married his daughter Margery to the young John Fitz Thomas. This marriage was outside the geographical area from where the other marriages of the Fitz Anthony daughters came from. This fact would be a significant factor in the future history of the Fitz Anthony heirs.

When he came of age John Fitz Thomas proceeded to consolidate his family’s lands in West Limerick while expanding outwards. He went west into Kerry and founded the town of Tralee. John Fitz Thomas then turned south into south Kerry and the MacCarthy area of control. Here he faced strong opposition and was forced to build castles across mid Kerry to defend his new lands in the north. In 1261 John Fitz Thomas would renew his attempt to conquer the south but failed and was killed at the battle of Callann.

Shanid Castle one of the chief Fitzgerald castles in Limerick

In 1244 John Fitz Thomas expanded eastward into the Connello area of east Limerick and went south into the Duhallow area of north-west Cork. In point of fact the expansion of the Geraldine lord under John Fitz Thomas was the greatest phase of expansion. Future generations added to the family’s lands but not to the same extent.

It is not clear what lands John Fitz Thomas received at the division of the lands of Thomas Fitz Anthony but it seems most of the lands were in the Decies area of County Waterford. It is possible that outside of Waterford John Fitz Thomas received the Beara area of south-west Cork which was held by Thomas Fitz Anthony. The various campaigns against the MacCarthy Kingdom were to get actual possession of these lands.[30]

But it was in County Waterford that John Fitz Thomas made the greatest gains at the expense of his brothers-in-law. In 1234 when Richard Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, went into rebellion against Henry III, Gerard de Rupe, Geoffrey de Norragh and Stephen le Ercedekne followed the Earl and their Fitz Anthony inheritance was seized by the government. John Fitz Thomas Fitzgerald differed from his brothers-in-law in that he sided with Henry III. This had as much to do with the location of John’s lands as it have to do with his genuine support for the King. Of the Fitz Anthony heirs, it seems that only John held no land in the Lordship of Leinster. Much of John’s lands were in Limerick and Kerry. The other three brothers-in-law named above had land in Leinster and so under feudal law followed their liege lord, Richard Marshal, when he went into rebellion.

The land of the rebels was seized by the government and John Fitz Thomas got some of this land as a reward for supporting the King. It seems that John Fitz Thomas did not get all of the Fitz Anthony estate in Decies but he did get a substantial part of it. But the acquisition of these Waterford lands was not straight forward. There were local gentry, like the Wallensis family of Glenahiry, who challenged the right of John Fitz Thomas to be their overlord. Instead they claimed that Thomas Fitz Anthony had made them direct tenants under the crown.[31]

John Fitz Thomas also had to have long negotiations with the crown to get the Decies with travelling over to England a few times and paying money to the Dublin government. 

After the death of John Fitz Thomas and his son Maurice in 1261 at the Battle of Callann against the MacCarthy kingdom, the Geraldine lands entered a twenty year minority under Thomas Fitz Maurice Fitzgerald. For the life of Thomas Fitz Maurice see the article = http://celtic2realms-medievalnews.blogspot.ie/2015/02/thomas-apa-fitz-maurice-of-desmond_28.html

Thomas Fitz Maurice Fitzgerald successfully recovered and held much of the family estates. He was succeeded by the turbulent career of his son Maurice Fitzgerald yet it was Maurice who went on to become the first Earl of Desmond. The younger brother of the 7th Earl of Desmond became first of the Fitzgerald family to be permanently resident at Dromana by the banks of the river Blackwater and it is here that his descendants continue to reside today in 2015.

Other considerations

It is suggested that the Devereux family of Affane and Offergus were related to the heirs of Thomas Fitz Anthony.[32] John Devereux received lands in these places from Thomas Fitz Anthony with the right to hold directly of the king.[33] It is possible that John Devereux married a sister of Emma, grandfather of Thomas Fitz Anthony, and wife of William de Dene, but there is no definite connection. Yet something could be there as Stephen Devereux, son of John, was named in a lawsuit concerning Offergus in 1260 which only involved the heirs of Thomas Fitz Anthony.[34] The D’Exeter family married the heir of Stephen Devereux and succeeded to Affane and half of Offergus but their story is for another day.

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This article is part of the Dromana 800 celebrations for July 2015. For more information see their website at www.dromana800.com 

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[1] H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of documents relating to Ireland (Kraus reprint, Liechtenstein, 1974), vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 1714
[2] Eric St. John Brooks, Knight’s fees in Counties Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny, 13th-15th century (Stationery Office, Dublin, 1950), p. 46
[3] Eric St. John Brooks, Knight’s fees in Counties Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny, 13th-15th century, p. 48
[4] H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 1864
[5] Gerald O’Carroll, The Earls of Desmond: the Rise and Fall of a Munster Lordship (Author, 2013), p. 2
[6] Eric St. John Brooks, Knight’s fees in Counties Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny, 13th-15th century, p. 47, note 3
[7] Niall Byrne, The Irish Crusade: A History of the Knights Hospitaller, the Knights Templar, and the Knights of Malta in the South-East of Ireland (Linden, Dublin, 2007), p. 126; Eric St. John Brooks, Knight’s fees in Counties Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny, 13th-15th century, p. 47, note 3
[8] H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of documents relating to Ireland, vol. 2 (1252-1284), no. 1474
[9] Eric St. John Brooks, Knight’s fees in Counties Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny, 13th-15th century, p. 47
[10] Eric St. John Brooks, Knight’s fees in Counties Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny, 13th-15th century, p. 49
[11] Eric St. John Brooks, Knight’s fees in Counties Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny, 13th-15th century, p. 48, note 1
[12] H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of documents relating to Ireland, vol. 2 (1252-1284), no. 1474
[13] Eric St. John Brooks, Knight’s fees in Counties Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny, 13th-15th century, pp. 50, 51
[14] Marilyn Silverman, ‘Thomas Fitzanthony’s Borough: Medieval Thomastown in Irish History, 1171-1555’, In the Shadow of the Steeple, No. 6 (1998), p. 62
[15] Kathleen Laffin, History of Kilmacow (author, 1998), pp. 245, 246
[16] Eric St. John Brooks, Knight’s fees in Counties Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny, 13th-15th century, p. 48
[17] H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 2236
[18] H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 2901
[19] Niall Byrne, The Irish Crusade, p. 126
[20] Eric St. John Brooks, Knight’s fees in Counties Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny, 13th-15th century, pp. 154, 157, 158
[21] Eric St. John Brooks, Knight’s fees in Counties Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny, 13th-15th century, pp. 177, 178
[22] Marilyn Silverman, ‘Thomas Fitzanthony’s Borough: Medieval Thomastown in Irish History, 1171-1555’, In the Shadow of the Steeple, No. 6 (1998), pp. 50, 56, 62
[23] Ciaran Parker, ‘Local government in County Waterford in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries: part 1, the office of sheriff, c.1208-1305’, in Decies, number 50 (1994), p. 20
[24] H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 2426
[25] Ciaran Parker, ‘Local government in County Waterford’, in Decies, number 50 (1994), p. 23
[26] Eric St. John Brooks, Knight’s fees in Counties Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny, 13th-15th century, pp. 178, 179
[27] Thomas Boaz, ‘The Archdeacon (Cody) family in the American South 1730-1875’, in the Old Kilkenny Review, 1999, No. 51, pp. 28-43
[28] Gerald O’Carroll, The Earls of Desmond: The Rise and Fall of a Munster Lordship (author, 2013), pp. 1, 2
[29] Eric St. John Brooks, Knight’s fees in Counties Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny, 13th-15th century, p. 47, note 3
[30] Gerald O’Carroll, The Earls of Desmond: The Rise and Fall of a Munster Lordship, pp. 2, 3
[31] H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), nos. 1946, 1947
[32] Eric St. John Brooks, Knight’s fees in Counties Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny, 13th-15th century, p. 220
[33] H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 1980
[34] Eric St. John Brooks, Knight’s fees in Counties Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny, 13th-15th century, p. 220

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