Forfeiture of the Barony
The Skryne inheritance passed to James Nugent, eldest son of William and Janet, but his lands were forfeit to the English Crown after he took part in the Irish Rebellion of 1641, and the title lapsed.
Baron Skryne was the title of the holder of an Irish feudal barony: the title derived from the parish of Skryne, or Skreen, in County Meath. It was not recognised as a barony in the Peerage of Ireland, but was habitually used firstly by the de Feypo family and then by their descendants, the Marwards. The Barons of Skryne were not entitled as of right to sit in the Irish House of Lords, although it seems that in practice the holder of the title was often summoned to the Irish Parliament. [1] The title fell into disuse in the seventeenth century, when the family estates were forfeited to the English Crown. Thomas Marward, having been the last Baron of Skryne, died in 1568 without male inheritors. [2]
Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath in 1173 granted the lands of Skryne and Santry to his lieutenant Adam de Feypo, [3] who was the first of his family to use the title Baron of Skryne. Despite Adam's loyalty to Hugh de Lacy, his son Richard, second Baron Skryne, witnessed a charter in 1210 forfeiting the de Lacy inheritance. [4] A later Richard, perhaps the first Richard's grandson, died in the reign of Edward I leaving an underage son, Simon. In 1302 Simon, by then an adult, brought a successful lawsuit against his former guardian Theobald de Verdon for wasting his inheritance. [5] The last of the de Feypo barons of Skryne, Francis, founded an Augustinian friary and a chantry about 1340. [6]
Francis's daughter and heiress Katherine de Feypo married Thomas Marward in about 1375. [7] Lord Francis's eldest son and heir John de Feipo along with his son, also called John, had died before Francis and Katherine became heiress to Skryne. Robert de Feipo, Katherine's surviving brother must have been somewhat out of sorts as he should have been the rightful heir. There had been de Feypos holding the title of Baron for five generations. Robert lived in Santry Castle near Dunboyne [8] and his descendants also used the title Baron Skryne.
When the Marwards first adopted the title Baron Skryne is uncertain, but it was certainly before 1414, when Thomas Marward, Baron Skryne, was killed taking part in putting down a rebellion by O'Connor Fahy. [9] His son, also called Thomas, being a minor, was made a Royal ward, and in 1422 King Henry VI of England granted the wardship to Stephen de Bray, the Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas. [10] The elder Thomas's widow Joan was given the required royal licence to remarry whom she pleased in 1415. [11] In 1459 an Act of the Parliament of Ireland authorised a payment of 10 shillings to Richard Marward, Baron of Skryne, for his services. [12] A few years later Anne Marward, described as the daughter of Baron Skryne (almost certainly Richard, who died in 1478), married as his first wife Sir Alexander Plunket (died 1503), a future Lord Chancellor of Ireland. [13] Walter Marward, Baron Skryne (died 1487), who was probably Anne's brother, was apparently a man of some consequence, who married Margaret St Lawrence, daughter of the powerful Anglo-Irish peer and statesman Christopher St Lawrence, 2nd Baron Howth. After Skryne's death, she remarried Sir William Darcy of Platten, another leading Anglo-Irish statesman and writer on political issues. [14]
William Nugent, the second son of Richard, Baron Delvin, married Janet Marward, only daughter and heiress of Walter Marward, baron of Skryne, who died c. 1565, and inherited with this marriage the manor of Santry among other possessions. [15]
In the sixteenth century, the Marward family were involved in two notable scandals. In 1534 James Marward, Baron Skryne, grandson of Walter and Margaret, was murdered by Richard FitzGerald, younger son of Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare, supposedly at the instigation of James' wife, Maud Darcy, who later married Fitzgerald. [16] James left an only son Thomas (or Walter) who died about 1565, leaving a daughter and heiress, Janet, titular Barones of Skryne. Her mother, Janet Plunket, daughter of Sir John Plunket, remarried the leading judge Nicholas Nugent, who was given wardship of his step-daughter. Nugent apparently conspired with his favourite nephew, William Nugent to kidnap Janet and force her into marriage with William. [17] Despite the scandal surrounding the marriage, it could not be dissolved. William died in 1625 and Janet in 1629.
The Skryne inheritance passed to James Nugent, eldest son of William and Janet, but his lands were forfeit to the English Crown after he took part in the Irish Rebellion of 1641, and the title lapsed.
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Incomplete list
Skryne or Skreen is a village in County Meath, Ireland. On and around a hill between the N2 and N3 roads, it is 10 km south-east of the centre of Navan and 35 km north-west of the centre of Dublin. The village is on the far side of the Gabhra valley from the Hill of Tara. The Hill of Skryne is higher than the neighbouring Hill of Tara. Skreen gives its name to the surrounding barony, civil parish and townland.
Alexander Plunket was an Irish statesman and judge of the fifteenth century.
Rowland FitzEustace, 1st Baron Portlester was an Irish peer, statesman and judge. He was one of the dominant political figures in late fifteenth-century Ireland, rivalled in influence probably only by his son-in-law Garret FitzGerald, the "Great" Earl of Kildare.
Plunkett is an Irish surname derived from the Gaelic Ó Pluingceid. It is associated with Ireland, and possibly of Norse or Norman origin; it may be spelled O'Plunket, Plunket, Plunkit, Plunkitt, Plonkit, Plonkitt, Plonket, Plonkett, or Ó Plunceid, and may refer to:
de Lacy is the surname of an old Norman family which originated from Lassy, Calvados. The family took part in the Norman Conquest of England and the later Norman invasion of Ireland. The name is first recorded for Hugh de Lacy (1020–1085). His sons, Walter and Ilbert, left Normandy and travelled to England with William the Conqueror. The awards of land by the Conqueror to the de Lacy sons led to two distinct branches of the family: the northern branch, centred on Blackburnshire and west Yorkshire was held by Ilbert's descendants; the southern branch of Marcher Lords, centred on Herefordshire and Shropshire, was held by Walter's descendants.
Cusack is an Irish family name of Norman origin Cussacq, which is originally from Cussac in Guienne (Aquitaine), France. The surname has diminished in common use in England, but is still common in Ireland, where it was introduced during the Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century.
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William Nugent (1550–1625) was a Hiberno-Norman Irish rebel in the 16th century Kingdom of Ireland, brother of Christopher, fourteenth baron of Delvin, and the younger son of Richard Nugent, thirteenth baron of Delvin, from whom he inherited the manor and castle of Ross in County Meath. His mother was Elizabeth Preston, daughter of Jenico Preston, 3rd Viscount Gormanston, and widow of Thomas Nangle, feudal Baron of Navan.
Adam de Feypo is first mentioned in The Red Book of the Echequer 1166, p283 (England) as being one of the knights of Hugh de Lacy in Herefordshire, England. He was possibly a castellan of one of the de Lacy castles on the Welsh border. As the holdings of de Feypo in Herefordshire appear to have been modest it is no surprise that he reappears in Ireland in 1171 where there are great 'possibilities'.
Sir Thomas Cusack (also spelt Cusacke or Cusake) (1490–1571) was an Anglo-Irish judge and statesman of the sixteenth century, who held the offices of Master of the Rolls in Ireland, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland, and sat in the Irish House of Commons. He was one of the most trusted and dependable Crown servants of his time, although he led a somewhat turbulent private life.
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Nicholas Nugent was an Anglo-Irish judge, who was hanged for treason by the government that appointed him. He had, before his downfall, enjoyed a highly successful career, holding office as Solicitor General for Ireland, Baron of the Irish Court of Exchequer, and Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas, but he was ruined by the rebellion of his nephew William Nugent, which he was accused of supporting.
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