Art Kavanagh - Preston, Taylour, Tisdall & Watson of Meath

Preston, Taylour, Tisdall & Watson ofMeath

Copyright Art Kavanagh 2013

First published 2013

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Preston, Taylour, Tisdall & Watsonof Meath

Kavanagh, Art

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Tableof Contents

Preston of Gormanston

It is statedto be a fact and well documented that whenever the head of thePreston family died appeared outside Gormanston . This fact was noted by the Hon. LucretiaFarrell , a granddaughter ofJenico Preston the 12 th ViscountGormanston, who wrote about it in her diary. She stated on the daybefore my grandfather Jenico, the 12 th Viscount Gormanston died (in 1860) foxes came in pairs intothe demesne from all the country round. They sat under his bedroomwindow which was on the ground floor and howled and barked allnight. They were constantly driven away only to return. We foundthem the next morning crouched in the grass in front of and aroundthe house. In those days there were many hares in the grass infront of the house and the foxes merely wandered through them andthe same among the poultry. On the day of the funeral the keepersaw them all leaving and going across the fields towards the woodswhere the burial took place, but they did not turn up there but alldisappeared. She also recounted that the foxes came also when herfather died but in less numbers. In 1907 the Hon. Richard Prestonwas waking his father on the night he died in the private chapelwhen he heard sounds coming from outside the door. When he openedthe door he saw a large number of foxes some of which walkedstraight into the chapel and around the bier. He left the chapeland left the door ajar and during the night he could hear thewhining of the foxes which continued until about five in themorning. It stopped abruptly and it would seem that not a trace ofa fox was seen thereafter. This account was confirmed by twoservants.

to come to Ireland came in the14 th century. Tradition has it that theyoriginated in Burgundy . Thefirst Irish Preston of notewas Roger de Preston who was appointed a justice in the Court ofCommon Pleas in 1330 in the first year of the reign of Edward III.In the account roll of the priory of theHoly Trinity, Dublin 1337-1346 there is the following entry in 1346: Also inwine bought for the archdeacon of Dublin, Roger de Preston,Nicholas de Suyterbery, and their retinue, on Sunday (Oct. 1) nextafter the feast of St. Michael, after dinner, 6 1/2 pence. Fromthis we can assume that Roger was in the company of both thearchdeacon and Nicholas de Suyterbery and their collective retinuewhen they visited Christ Church in that year.

Because of thedepredations of the Gaelic Irish who were in revival mode at thistime, particularly the Kavanagh Kings ofLeinster, the OByrnes, the ONolans and the OTooles the Anglo Irish beseeched Edward III to send agood sufficient chieftain, stocked and strengthened with men andtreasure, of which they can live, as a good and noble prince isbound to do for his lieges. He sent his third son Lionel the Dukeof Clarence. Lionel arrived in Ireland in the spring of 1361 with ahuge army and equipment and treasure. Lionels first move wasagainst the Leinster chieftains and in an encounter he captured ArtMore the McMurrough and King of Leinster and his tanaiste DonalRiabhach who were promptly imprisoned in Dublin castle where they died of the plague.

Roger dePreston s son Sir Robert de Preston(d.1396) was knighted in the field, in 1361, by Lionel, Duke ofClarence, and obtained a grant forever of the Manor ofGormanston in the Counties ofDublin and Meath. He filled the office ofLord High Chancellor of Ireland. He was also possessed of Carbery,County Kildare which he made his chiefplace of residence. Sir Robert married MargaretBirmingham , daughter and heir of Walter deBirmingham, Lord of Carbery.

Sir Robert was succeededby his only son Sir Christopher Preston ,Knight. Sir Christopher was imprisoned in the Castle of TheTrim for corresponding with the Prior ofKilmainham . The Prior was Thomas BacachButler the second son of the3 rd Earl of Ormonde . Thomassgrandmother was a daughter of Sir John Darcy of Plattin , Meath, so it possiblethat Sir Robert knew the Prior. It is unclear as to the reason forSir Christophers imprisonment.

Sir ChristopherPreston married Elizabeth Laundres (b.abt.1370), daughter and heir of WilliamLaundres, Baron of Naas , in the right ofhis mother, Emma Fitzmaurice , daughter ofWilliam Fitzmaurice, Baron of Naas (so created by Henry II) and hiswife Helen, sister of Richard, Earl of Pembroke, by which marriagethe Prestons obtained the Barony of Naas. Sir Christopher wassucceeded by his only son Christopher Preston, (b. 1380) Baron ofNaas, in the right of his mother, married Jane D'Artois, daughterof Sir Jenico D'Artois, Knight. Christopher was succeeded by hiseldest son Robert.

This man must have been avery talented person, who was good at networking. He was appointedLord Deputy of Ireland in 1478. In the same year he was created aViscount. As the Lord Deputy he was a Member of Parliament inIreland and sat in the Parliaments of 1490 and 1493. His wife wasJanet Molyneux , an English lady. TheViscount died in 1503 and was succeeded by his son, the2 nd Viscount, Sir William Preston .

Sir William, like hisantecedents and most of his peers, was a warrior. In 1504 SirWilliam was part of the large force led by the Earl ofKildare , the Lord Deputy, to the famousbattle of Knockdoe in the province ofConnaught . With Lord Killeen, Sir Williamled the wings of the bowmen. In 1525 he was appointed Lord Justiceof Ireland. His first wife was Anne Burnell a daughter of John Burnell, of Ballgriffin, co.Dublin . He married secondly EleanorDowdall a daughter of Sir Thomas Dowdalland widow of John Nangle ofNavan .

Sir Williams eldest sonwas Jenico Preston , 3rd ViscountGormanston , who was unfortunate enough tomarry Catherine Fitzgerald , daughter ofGerald the doomed 9th Earl Kildare . SirWilliams children included Elizabeth Preston who married firstlyThomas Nangle , Baron of Navan and secondly the 13th Baron Delvin who died in 1559. Three of his sons wereChristopher his successor, Nicholas his second son andMartin whom it is thought may have beenthe ancestor of the Swainston Prestons.

Sir Jenico Preston learned a bitter lesson in loyalty to the Crownas he witnessed the almost total obliteration of his wifes familyfollowing the rebellion of Silken Thomas her brother. Thomas and seven of his uncles lost their livesin the Tower of London despite the fact that many of them were notat all involved in the rebellion. A few years later, in 1541,Jenico voted with his peers in Parliament to agree to the title ofKing of Ireland being conferred on Henry VIII. It was said ofJenico in official circles that he was a man of fair possessions,but of mean wit, less activity and keeps no defence.