Aristocratic Women in Ireland, 14501660
Irish Historical Monograph Series
ISSN 17401097
Series editors
Marie Therese Flanagan, Queens University, Belfast
Eunan OHalpin, Trinity College, Dublin
David Hayton, Queens University, Belfast
Fearghal McGarry, Queens University, Belfast
Previous titles in the series are listed at the back of the volume.
Aristocratic Women in Ireland, 14501660
The Ormond Family, Power and Politics
Damien Duffy
THE BOYDELL PRESS
Damien Duffy 2021
All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system, published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of the copyright owner
The right of Damien Duffy to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
First published 2021
The Boydell Press, Woodbridge
ISBN: 978-1-78327-593-9 (print)
ISBN: 978-1-80010-081-7 (ePUB)
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Cover image: Upper body image of the effigy of Margaret Fitzgerald Countess of Ormond (d. 1542) in the Cathedral Church of St Canice, Kilkenny city. Grateful appreciation to the Dean of The Cathedral Church of St Canice Kilkenny city for permission to use cover image.
Dedicated to my grandmothers, Ellen Ennis and Bridget Judge
Preface
This is an account of the lives of aristocratic Anglo-Irish women in late medieval and early modern Ireland. It is an in-depth cross-generational exploration of the lives of those women born or married into the house of Ormond. It is underpinned by an assessment of their individual and collective significance in negotiating the preservation and advancement of that dynastys political, landed, economic and social interests, from the chronic instability of the Wars of the Roses, through the vicissitudes of the Tudor, Stuart, Commonwealth and Restoration eras. In gauging the relative significance of the Ormond womens experiences and contributions, their roles in both private dynastic and wider public circles are explored within the wider interpretative context of aristocratic families elsewhere in Ireland, England and France.
The cross-generational approach allows for a chronological and comparative examination of all aspects of each of these womens lives, roles and contributions (private, public, social, economic, confessional and political) which is intimately intertwined with analysis of the wider Butler familys changing political fortunes, succession challenges, shifting dynastic alliances, and financial difficulties over the course of two centuries of profound change and periodic upheaval in Ireland.
Acknowledgements
My late uncle Sean Mulligan inspired my love for history from a young age and would have been pleased by my writing of this book in light of the ending of his own education like so many of his generation at primary school level. The loss in 2014 of the widely respected and jovial John Bradley has been profound both as a friend and respected historian not to mention his vast knowledge of the Ormond dynasty and his passion for the personalities and politics covered here. My father, whose education also concluded at primary level, was immensely proud of my endeavour to pursue this task from day one, and in his final months continued to support and assure me of his pride, admiration and interest in my work.
I send sincere gratitude to Professor Marian Lyons, Maynooth University, and Professor Mary ODowd of Queens University Belfast for their expert advice, support and encouragement for this work.
To my mother Agnes and my siblings Ronan and Louise and their families, I extend my gratitude for their support and patience throughout the period of writing this book.
To my partner Noel, who has consistently supported and shared this experience with me, I am thankful for his questions, patience and encouragement and for his constant support and wisdom. His positive energy from start to finish has sustained and inspired me, as several of these Ormond women became household names among us. His calmness and curiosity, reassurance and love, have been a vital source of good humour and motivation.
My wider circle of family and friends have been wonderfully supportive and shown great curiosity for which I am also mindful and to whom I extend my gratitude.
List of Abbreviations
AFMAnnla roghachta ireann: Annals of the kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters from the earliest period to the year 1616, ed. and trans. John ODonovan (7 vols, Dublin, 1851)
Anal. Hib.Analecta Hibernica including the reports of the Irish Manuscripts Commission (Dublin, 1930)
Ann. Conn. Annla Connacht (A.D. 12241544), ed. A. Martin Freeman (Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies, 1944)
Archiv. Hib.Archivium Hibernicum (Catholic Record Society of Ireland, 1912)
BL British Library
Bod. Lib. Bodleian Library, Oxford University
Butler Soc. Jn. Journal of the Butler Society (1968)
Cal. Carew MSSCalendar of the Carew Manuscripts preserved in the archiepiscopal library at Lambeth, 15151624 (6 vols, London, 186773)
Cal. close rollsCalendar of close rolls, Henry VII (2 vols, London, 195563)
Cal. fine rollsCalendar of the fine rolls, Henry VI, xix (145261) (London, 1939)
Cal. inquisitionsCalendar of inquisitions formerly in the Office of the Chief Remembrancer of the Exchequer prepared from the manuscripts of the Irish Record Commissioners, ed. Margaret Griffith (Irish Manuscripts Commission, Dublin, 1991)
Cal. Ormond deedsCalendar of Ormond deeds, ed. Edmund Curtis (6 vols, Dublin, 193243)
Cal. papal lettersCalendar of entries in the papal registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland: papal letters, 11981304 (London, 1893)
Cal. pat. & close rolls, Ire.Calendar of the patent and close rolls of Chancery in Ireland, of the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary and Elizabeth, ed. J. Morrin (3 vols, Dublin, 18613)
Cal. patent rollsCalendar of patent rolls 145261; Edw. IV, 14611467; Hen. VI, 14671477; Edw. IV, 14761485; Hen. VII, 14941509; Edw. VI, 154749; 15631566, Elizabeth I (London, 1897)
Cal. S. P. dom., 15801625Calendar of state papers, domestic series, Elizabeth I and James I, 15801625 (London, 1872)
Cal. S. P. Ire.Calendar of state papers relating to Ireland (24 vols, London, 18601911)
Cal.Salisbury MSSCalendar of the manuscripts of the Most Hon. the Marquis of Salisbury: preserved at Hatfield House, Hertfordshire
