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