James Dillon | |
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Earl of Roscommon | |
Tenure | 1622–1641 |
Successor | Robert, 2nd Earl of Roscommon |
Died | March 1641 |
Spouse(s) | Eleanor Barnewall |
Issue Detail | Robert & others |
Father | Lucas Dillon |
Mother | Jane Bathe |
James Dillon, 1st Earl of Roscommon (died March 1641) fought for the crown in the Nine Years' War. He was ennobled despite being a Catholic after his son Robert turned Protestant.
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James was born in Ireland, the eldest son of Lucas Dillon (c. 1530 – 1593) and his first wife Jane Bathe. [2] At the time of his birth, his father was a lawyer but would later become a judge and finish his career as Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer. His father's family was Old English and descended from Sir Henry Dillon who came to Ireland with Prince John in 1185 during the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland. [3] His family held substantial lands in Meath, Westmeath, Longford, and Roscommon.
James's mother was a daughter of James Bathe (c. 1500 – 1570), who preceded James's father as chief baron of the Irish Exchequer. She was James's father's first wife. His father's second marriage was childless. [4] James was one of 12 siblings, who are listed in his father's article.
Dillon's father remarried in 1575 to Marion Barnewall, née Sharl (or Sherle), the widow of Sir Christopher Barnewall (1522–1575) of Turvey House, Dublin. [5] [6] Marion, his stepmother, had 15 children from her first marriage, among them Eleanor with whom James fell in love.
Dillon married Eleanor Barnewall, also called Helen, his step-sister through his father's second marriage. She was a daughter of Sir Christopher Barnewall of Turvey. [7] [8] [9]
James and Eleanor had 13 children, seven sons: [10]
—and six daughters: [20]
Dillon's father died in February 1593 in Dublin. [28] [29] There must have been some complications with the inheritance as Dillon obtained special livery of his inheritance in 1595 when he was about 30. [30]
In 1599, during the Nine Years' War (1593–1603), Dillon raised a troop of 25 horse loyal to Elizabeth I at his own expense, to help keep order in County Roscommon. Dillon was knighted, probably by the new Lord Deputy Mountjoy in November 1600. [31] [32]
His eldest son, Robert, the future 2nd earl, and his grandson James, the future 3rd earl, were both raised as Catholics but conformed to the established religion, while Dillon himself stayed Catholic. Robert converted before 1619. [33] James, born in 1605, [34] was at a young age converted by James Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh. [35]
On 24 January 1620 Dillon was raised to the peerage with the title of Baron Dillon of Kilkenny-West, in the Peerage of Ireland. [36] This elevation was announced in a ceremony performed by the chief governor of Ireland, Lord Deputy Oliver St. John, in the Presence Chamber of Dublin Castle on 25 January. [37]
On 5 August 1622 Lord Kilkenny-West was advanced to the dignity of Earl of Roscommon. [38] His baronial dignity became a subsidiary title, which he gave as a courtesy title to his heir apparent as is the custom. His eldest son Robert, therefore, was styled Lord Kilkenny-West from 1622 on. [39]
Lord Roscommon was a signatory of a response to Charles I from the Lords of the Pale that established a military force to protect The Crown's interests in Ireland. [40] In 1627, he was a Commissioner for raising money for the King's Army in Meath, Westmeath and Longford.
His wife predeceased him on 11 October 1628. [41]
On 14 July 1634, Lord Roscommon took his seat in the Irish House of Lords. [42] This was the first Irish Parliament called by King Charles I.
He died in March 1641 [43] and was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son, Robert as the 2nd Earl of Roscommon. [44]
Timeline | ||
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Age | Date | Event |
0 | 1565, estimate | Born [lower-alpha 2] |
4–5 | 1570 | Father appointed Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer [45] |
9–10 | 1575 | Father married 2ndly Marion Barnewall, née Sharl, after James's mother's death [5] |
21–22 | 1587, about | Married Eleanor (or Helen), 2nd Daughter of Sir Christopher Barnewall by Marion Sharl, his stepmother [8] |
27–28 | 1593, Feb | Father died in Dublin [46] [29] |
29–30 | 1595, 8 Apr | Had special livery of his inheritance. [30] |
33–34 | 1599 | Raised a troop of 25 horse loyal to Elizabeth I at his own expense |
34–35 | 1600, 21 Jan | Mountjoy, appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland [47] |
37–38 | 1603, 24 Mar | Accession of King James I, succeeding Queen Elizabeth I [48] |
37–38 | 1603, 30 Mar | The Treaty of Mellifont ended Tyrone's Rebellion. [49] |
38–39 | 1604, Nov | Daughter Jane married Christopher Dillon of Ballylaghan, the heir apparent of Theobald Dillon, 1st Viscount Dillon |
39–40 | 1605, about | Birth of grandson James, the future 3rd Earl [34] |
49–50 | 1615, 2 Jul | Oliver St John, appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland [50] |
54–55 | 1620, 24 Jan | Created Baron Dillon of Kilkenny-West [36] |
56–57 | 1622, 5 Aug | Elevated to Earl of Roscommon [38] |
59–60 | 1625, 27 Mar | Accession of King Charles I, succeeding King James I [51] |
62–63 | 1628, 11 Oct | Wife died [41] |
62–63 | 1634, 14 Jul | Took his seat in the Irish House of Lords [42] |
75–76 | 1641, Mar | Died [43] |
Henry Folliott, 1st Baron Folliott (1568–1622) was an English soldier in the Irish army. He fought in the Nine Years' War and then in the suppression of O'Doherty's rebellion at the Siege of Tory Island.
Theobald Dillon, 7th Viscount Dillon of Costello-Gallin supported King James II, was attainted on 11 May 1691, and fell in the Battle of Aughrim during the Williamite War. His attainder was reversed in favour of the 8th Viscount on 20 June 1694.
Lucas Dillon, 6th Viscount Dillon was an Irish peer who recovered title and lands after the restoration of King Charles II.
Henry Dillon, 8th Viscount Dillon was an Irish soldier and politician. In 1689 he sat in the Patriot Parliament. He fought for the Jacobites during the Wiiliamite War, defending Galway against Ginkel and surrendering it in 1691 after a short siege. He obtained the reversal of his father's attainder in 1696 recovering his father's lands.
Thomas Dillon, 4th Viscount DillonPC (Ire) (1615–1673) held his title for 42 years that saw Strafford's administration, the Irish Rebellion of 1641, the Irish Confederate Wars and the Cromwellian Conquest of Ireland. He was a royalist and supported Strafford and Ormond. He sided with the Confederates for a while but was a moderate who opposed Rinuccini, the papal nuncio.
Theobald Dillon, 1st Viscount Dillon, was an Irish military commander and adventurer. He held extensive lands in eastern Connacht and north-western Leinster, some acquired by sharp practices. He was a loyal supporter of Elizabeth I of England in her Irish wars.
Sir Roger Jones, 1st Viscount RanelaghPC (Ire) was joint Lord President of Connaught with Charles Wilmot, 1st Viscount Wilmot. He commanded the government forces in Connaught during the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and the beginning of the Irish Confederate Wars defending Athlone against James Dillon until February 1643.
Sir James Dillon, 3rd Earl of Roscommon was an Irish magnate and politician. He was born a Catholic but converted at a young age to the Church of Ireland. He supported Strafford during his term as governor of Ireland. In the Confederate Wars and the Cromwellian conquest he was a royalist. He died in 1649, but was nevertheless included as the fifth on the list of people that were excluded from pardon in Cromwell's 1652 Act of Settlement.
Christopher Plunket, 2nd Earl of Fingall and 11th Baron Killeen was an Irish politician and soldier. In 1641 he negotiated with the rebels on behalf of the Old English of the Pale and pushed them to join the rebellion. He fought for the rebels at the siege of Drogheda. He joined the Confederates and fought in their Leinster army, notably at Dungan's Hill. When the Confederates fused into the Royalist Alliance, he fought under James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond in the Battle of Rathmines where he was wounded and taken prisoner. He died of his wounds two weeks later in captivity at Dublin Castle.
Richard Butler, 1st Earl of Arran (1639–1686) was Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1682 to 1684 while James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde, his father, the Lord Lieutenant, was absent in England. He sat in the Irish House of Lords as Earl of Arran and in the English one as Baron Butler of Weston. When William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford was accused of treason during the Popish Plot, Arran braved the anti-Catholic hysteria and voted not guilty.
Sir William Parsons, 1st Baronet of Bellamont, PC (Ire), was known as a "land-hunter" expropriating land from owners whose titles were deemed defective. He also served as Surveyor General of Ireland and was an undertaker in several plantations. He governed Ireland as joint Lord Justice of Ireland from February 1640 to April 1643 during the Irish rebellion of 1641 and the beginning of the Irish Confederate War.
Nicholas Netterville of Dowth, County Meath, Ireland, was born in 1581, and succeeded his father, John Netterville, in the family estate on 20 September 1601. Although an enemy accused them of being "but a mean family" the Nettervilles had in fact been in Ireland since before 1280 and had been established at Dowth for centuries; they were related to many of the leading families of The Pale including the Earl of Kildare, Lord Slane, Lord Howth and the Luttrells of Luttrellstown Castle. Nicholas was the grandson of Luke Netterville, judge of the Court of King's Bench (Ireland) and nephew of the leading barrister and statesman Richard Netterville. His mother was Eleanor Gernon, daughter of Sir James Gernon of Castleton, County Louth. Being "a person of many good qualities" he was created, 3 April 1622, Viscount Netterville, of Dowth in the County Meath, taking his seat, 14 July 1634. He died in 1654 and was buried at Mountown, County Dublin.
Sir Bartholomew Dillon was a leading Irish judge of the sixteenth century who held the offices of Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer and Lord Justice of Ireland.
Sir Christopher Barnewall (1522–1575) was a leading Anglo-Irish statesman of the Pale in the 1560s and 1570s. He was the effective Leader of the Opposition in the Irish House of Commons in the Parliament of 1568–71. He is remembered for building Turvey House, where he sheltered the future Catholic martyr Edmund Campion, for his impressive tomb in Lusk Church, and for the eulogy to him in Holinshed's Chronicles, which was written by his son-in-law Richard Stanyhurst.
Sir Lucas Dillon, also called Luke, was a leading Irish barrister and judge of the Elizabethan era who held the offices of Attorney General for Ireland and Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer. He supported the Lord Deputy Henry Sidney in the cess controversy and the Lord Deputy John Perrot in the Desmond Rebellions. He was held in high regard by Queen Elizabeth, but was accused by his enemies of corruption and maladministration.
Carey or Cary Dillon, 5th Earl of Roscommon, PC (Ire) (1627–1689) was an Irish nobleman and professional soldier of the seventeenth century. He held several court offices under King Charles II and his successor King James II. After the Glorious Revolution he joined the Williamite opposition to James and was in consequence attainted as a traitor by James II's Irish Parliament in 1689. In that year he fought at the Siege of Carrickfergus shortly before his death in November of that year.
Robert Dillon, 2nd Earl of RoscommonPC (Ire) was styled Baron Dillon of Kilkenny-West from 1622 to 1641 and succeeded his father only a year before his own death. He supported Strafford, Lord Deputy of Ireland, who appointed him keeper of the great seal. Dillon was in December 1640 for a short while a lord justice of Ireland together with Sir William Parsons.
Sir Robert Dillon of Newtown near Trim was an Irish judge of the Tudor era. He served as Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas for more than twenty years, despite repeated calls for his removal on the grounds of age and ill health.
Luke Plunket, 3rd Earl of Fingall (1639–1684) was an Irish soldier and politician. He was one of the signatories of the Catholic Remonstrance of 1661.
Sir Lucas Dillon of Loughglynn (1579–1656) was in 1628 one of the negotiators of the Graces; he was MP for Roscommon in the two Irish Parliaments of Charles I. At the Irish Rebellion of 1641 he sided with the rebels and joined the Irish Catholic Confederation, where he served on the Supreme Council.