Charles MacCarty, Viscount Muskerry (1633 or 1634 – 1665), called Cormac in Irish, commanded a royalist battalion at the
Battle of the Dunes during the
interregnum. He was heir apparent to
Donough MacCarty, 1st Earl of Clancarty
Sir Donough MacCarty, 1st Earl of Clancarty (1594–1665), was an Irish magnate, soldier, and politician. He succeeded as 2nd Viscount Muskerry in 1641. He rebelled against the government, demanding religious freedom as a Catholic and defendin ...
but was killed at the age of 31 at the
Battle of Lowestoft
The Battle of Lowestoft took place on during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. A fleet of more than a hundred ships of the United Provinces commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Jacob van Wassenaer, Lord Obdam attacked an English fleet of equal size comm ...
, a sea-fight against the Dutch, during the
Second Anglo-Dutch War
The Second Anglo-Dutch War or the Second Dutch War (4 March 1665 – 31 July 1667; nl, Tweede Engelse Oorlog "Second English War") was a conflict between England and the Dutch Republic partly for control over the seas and trade routes, whe ...
, and thus never succeeded to the earldom. He was buried in
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...
.
Birth and origins
Charles (i.e. Cormac) was born in 1633 or 1634, probably at
Macroom Castle
Macroom Castle, in the centre of the town of Macroom, was once residence and fortress of the Lords of Muskerry. The castle has changed owners many times, has been besieged, burned, and rebuilt. The MacCarthys of Muskerry owned it with some inter ...
, County Cork, Ireland, his parents' habitual residence. He was the eldest son of
Donough MacCarty and his wife Eleanor (or Ellen) Butler. He is also known as Cormac and this seems to have been his original name, whereas Charles seems to be a later English or French adaptation. At the time of his birth, Charles's father was the 2nd Viscount Muskerry, but he would be advanced to
Earl of Clancarty
Earl of Clancarty is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Ireland.
History
The title was created for the first time in 1658 in favour of Donough MacCarty, 2nd Viscount Muskerry, of the MacCarthy of Muskerry dynasty. He had ...
in 1658. His father's family were the
MacCartys of Muskerry, a
Gaelic Irish
The Gaels ( ; ga, Na Gaeil ; gd, Na Gàidheil ; gv, Ny Gaeil ) are an ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man in the British Isles. They are associated with the Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic languag ...
dynasty that branched from the
MacCarthy-Mor line with Dermot MacCarthy, second son of Cormac MacCarthy-Mor, a medieval
Prince of Desmond. This second son had been granted the Muskerry area as
appanage
An appanage, or apanage (; french: apanage ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture. It was common in much o ...
.
Charles's mother (1612–1682) was the eldest sister of
James Butler, the future Duke of Ormond. Her family, the
Butler dynasty
Butler ( ga, de Buitléir) is the name of a noble family whose members were, for several centuries, prominent in the administration of the Lordship of Ireland and the Kingdom of Ireland. They rose to their highest prominence as Dukes of Ormonde ...
, was
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...
and descended from
Theobald Walter, who had been appointed Chief Butler of Ireland by
King Henry II in 1177. Charles's parents were both Catholic. He had two brothers and two sisters,
who are listed in his father's article.
Irish wars
At the time of his birth, Ireland enjoyed a period of peace between the end of
Tyrone's Rebellion (1593–1603) and the
Irish Rebellion of 1641. His father, after some hesitation, joined the
Confederates in March 1642 and fought in that year at the
Siege of Limerick and the
Battle of Liscarroll
The Battle of Liscarroll was fought on 3 September 1642 in northern County Cork, Munster, between Catholic Irish insurgents and government troops. The battle was part of the Irish Rebellion, which had started in the north in 1641 reac ...
.
In 1645
Pope Innocent X
Pope Innocent X ( la, Innocentius X; it, Innocenzo X; 6 May 1574 – 7 January 1655), born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj (or Pamphili), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 September 1644 to his death, in Januar ...
sent
Giovanni Battista Rinuccini
Giovanni Battista Rinuccini (1592–1653) was an Italian Roman Catholic archbishop in the mid-seventeenth century. He was a noted legal scholar and became chamberlain to Pope Gregory XV. In 1625 Pope Urban VIII made him the Archbishop of Fermo ...
as
nuncio to Ireland. Rinuccini landed at
Kenmare
Kenmare () is a small town in the south of County Kerry, Ireland. The name Kenmare is the anglicised form of ''Ceann Mara'', meaning "head of the sea", referring to the head of Kenmare Bay.
Location
Kenmare is located at the head of Kenmare Ba ...
, County Kerry. and passed by Macroom Castle on his way to
Kilkenny. Cormac, about 11 years old, met Rinuccini, who was welcomed by his mother at the castle. His father opposed Rinuccini and was detained when Rinuccini overturned the Confederate government in a coup d'état.
in May 1647, when Charles was but 13 years old, his father sent him to France with a regiment to take service in Louis XIV's army. Charles sailed from Waterford on 15 May 1647. He was accompanied by
John Callaghan, a Catholic priest and
Jansenist
Jansenism was an early modern theological movement within Catholicism, primarily active in the Kingdom of France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. It was declared a heresy by th ...
, who was his tutor.
In April 1650 his family lost Macroom Castle, where Charles had spent his childhood, in the context of the
Battle of Macroom
The Battle of Macroom was a skirmish fought on 10 May 1650, near Macroom, County Cork, in southern Ireland, during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. An English Parliamentarian force under Roger Boyle, (Lord Broghill), defeated an Iri ...
. Around that time, anticipating the loss of Macroom or because of it, his father sent Cormac's mother, sisters and youngest brother to security in France. His mother then lived in Paris, where she rented an apartment in the convent of the
Feuillantines.
After Rinuccini's departure, his father took up arms again to fight the Cromwellians but was defeated in 1651 by
Broghill at
Knocknaclashy and surrendered his last stronghold,
Ross Castle
Ross Castle ( ga, Caisleán an Rois) is a 15th-century tower house and keep on the edge of Lough Leane, in Killarney National Park, County Kerry, Ireland. It is the ancestral home of the Chiefs of the Clan O'Donoghue, later associated wit ...
, to
Edmund Ludlow
Edmund Ludlow (c. 1617–1692) was an English parliamentarian, best known for his involvement in the execution of Charles I, and for his ''Memoirs'', which were published posthumously in a rewritten form and which have become a major source ...
in 1652.
On the continent
In France, MacCarty (Charles or Cormac) and his Irish regiment were employed to fight the Spanish in the
Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659) on the border between France and the
Spanish Netherlands
Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the H ...
.
Condé-sur-l'Escaut
MacCarty's regiment was part of the garrison of
Condé-sur-l'Escaut
Condé-sur-l'Escaut (, literally ''Condé on the Escaut''; pcd, Condé-su-l'Escaut) is a commune of the Nord department in northern France.
It lies on the border with Belgium. The population as of 1999 was 10,527. Residents of the area are kno ...
when the town was taken by the Spanish shortly after their victory over the French at the
Battle of Valenciennes on 16 July 1656.
[654](_blank)
/>
King Charles II, in exile in the Spanish Netherlands since March 1656, sent the Marquess of Ormond, MacCarty's uncle, to ask him to join him with his regiment. He refused to change sides without having laid down his commission in proper form. Having done this, however, he obeyed his king and changed sides together with his regiment, thereafter serving Charles II in Spanish pay. This regiment was then called the Duke of York's regiment after Charles II's brother the Duke of York and future James II.
Battle of the Dunes
MacCarty fought with his regiment at the Battle of the Dunes on 14 June 1658 where it formed part of the English royalist army under the Duke of York that fought together with the Spanish on the losing side against the victorious French and Protectorate English.
On 27 November 1658 his father was created Earl of Clancarty by Charles II in Brussels. By this advancement, the title of Viscount of Muskerry became the highest subsidiary title of the family, which was then given as courtesy title to the Earl's heir apparent. In consequence, MacCarty was styled Viscount Muskerry thereafter.
Restoration
At the Restoration
Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to:
* Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage
** Audio restoration
** Film restoration
** Image restoration
** Textile restoration
* Restoration ecology
...
Muskerry, as he now was, did not accompany the king to Dover in May 1660 but stayed with his regiment at Dunkirk until at least March 1662. He seems to have left shortly before the Sale of Dunkirk
The Sale of Dunkirk took place on when Charles II of England sold his sovereign rights to Dunkirk and Fort-Mardyck to his cousin Louis XIV of France.
Context
Dunkirk was occupied by English forces of the Protectorate in 1658, when it was captured ...
in November 1662. His father, the 1st Earl of Clancarty, had meanwhile returned to Ireland and recovered his estates by virtue of Charles II "Gracious Declaration" of the 30 November 1660. His father sat as Lord Clancarty in the Irish Parliament of 1661–1666 and was part oif a committee that organised a gift of £30,000 for the Duke of Ormond. On 19 August 1662, Muskerry was called to the parliament to replace his father on that committee.
Marriage and children
In 1660 or 1661 Muskerry married Margaret Bourke, a rich heiress, the only child of Ulick Burke, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde
Ulick MacRichard Burke, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde, 5th Earl of Clanricarde, 2nd Earl of St Albans (; ; ; ; 1604, in London – July 1657, in Kent), was an Anglo-Irish nobleman who was involved in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Catholic Roy ...
and Lady Anne Compton.
Charles and Margaret had a girl and a boy:
#Frances (1662–1675), died young
#Charles (1663–1666), succeeded his grandfather as the 2nd Earl, but died as an infant
Life at the Restoration court
Lord and Lady Muskerry frequently attended the court at Whitehall. In July 1663 they went with the court to take the waters at Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. T ...
during which visit the Muskerrys as well as Elizabeth Hamilton and Elizabeth Wetenhall stayed at nearby Somerhill House
Somerhill House () is a Grade I listed Jacobean mansion situated near Tonbridge, Kent, United Kingdom. It was built for The 4th Earl of Clanricarde in 1611–13. The estate was sequestrated by Parliament in 1645, and restored to its rightful ...
, which had been built by Lady Muskerry's grandfather, Richard Burke, 4th Earl of Clanricarde
Richard Burke, 4th Earl of Clanricarde (also Richard de Burgh) (; ; ; ; 1572 – 12 November 1635) was an Irish nobleman and politician.
He was the son of Ulick Burke, 3rd Earl of Clanricarde. Knighted in 1602 for his exploits as leader of th ...
and had been given back to her at the Restoration. This visit to Tunbridge is described by Antoine Hamilton
Antoine (or Anthony) Hamilton, comte ( – 1719) was a soldier and a writer of literature. As a Catholic of Irish and Scottish ancestry, he fled with his family to France during the Interregnum and later sided with James II against the P ...
in his semi-fictional ''Mémoires du comte de Gramont'' (written 1704–1710).
The ''Mémoires du comte de Gramont'' (Chapter 7) tell how Elizabeth Hamilton made fun of Lady Muskerry by making her believe that the King had invited her to a masquerade and that she had to disguise herself as a Babylonian woman. She was however not invited to this masquerade, which took place in February 1665.
Death, succession, and timeline
The Second Anglo-Dutch War
The Second Anglo-Dutch War or the Second Dutch War (4 March 1665 – 31 July 1667; nl, Tweede Engelse Oorlog "Second English War") was a conflict between England and the Dutch Republic partly for control over the seas and trade routes, whe ...
broke out on 4 March 1665. Muskerry was killed on 3 June 1665 in the Battle of Lowestoft
The Battle of Lowestoft took place on during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. A fleet of more than a hundred ships of the United Provinces commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Jacob van Wassenaer, Lord Obdam attacked an English fleet of equal size comm ...
, a naval engagement, on board of the flagship, the Royal Charles
''Royal Charles'' was an 80-gun first-rate three-decker ship of the line of the English Navy. She was built by Peter Pett and launched at Woolwich Dockyard in 1655, for the navy of the Commonwealth of England. She was originally called ''Na ...
, by a cannonball, which also killed Charles Berkeley, 1st Earl of Falmouth
Charles Berkeley, 1st Earl of Falmouth (11 January 1630 – 3 June 1665) was an English nobleman and naval officer who was the son of Charles Berkeley (1599–1668) and his wife Penelope née Godolphin (died 1669), of the Bruton branch of th ...
. He was 31 years old.[76 line 1](_blank)
/> Muskerry was buried on 19 June with great pomp at Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...
.
Muskerry had an infant son, Charles James, who succeeded him as heir apparent and Viscount of Muskerry. However, the 1st Earl, his father, died on 4 August 1665 surviving him by only two months, and the little Charles James, therefore, succeeded as the 2nd Earl but died about a year later, on 22 September 1666, still an infant. Thereupon Callaghan, his uncle, succeeded as the 3rd Earl of Clancarty.
His widow made two further marriages: to Robert Villiers, and to Robert Fielding
Robert Fielding (or ''Feilding''; also nicknamed Beau Fielding; 1650/51 – 12 May 1712) was an English bigamist and rake in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. He was known as a handsome womanizer at the royal court of King Charles II ...
. She died in 1698 at Somerhill House
Somerhill House () is a Grade I listed Jacobean mansion situated near Tonbridge, Kent, United Kingdom. It was built for The 4th Earl of Clanricarde in 1611–13. The estate was sequestrated by Parliament in 1645, and restored to its rightful ...
. Her widower made a scandalous and bigamous marriage to Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland, former royal mistress
A royal mistress is the historical position and sometimes unofficial title of the extramarital lover of a monarch or an heir apparent, who was expected to provide certain services, such as sexual or romantic intimacy, companionship, and advic ...
of Charles II.
Notes and references
Notes
Citations
Sources
Subject matter monographs:
* Click here. Webb
Webb most often refers to James Webb Space Telescope which is named after James E. Webb, second Administrator of NASA.
It may also refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Webb Glacier (South Georgia)
* Webb Glacier (Victoria Land)
* Webb Névé, Victor ...
1878 in ''Compendium of Irish Biography''
—
*
*
* – 1642 to 1660
*
* – (for MacCarty)
* – (for Ormond)
* – 1643 to 1660
* – Marriages, baptisms and burials from about 1660 to 1875
*
*
*
* – Canonteign to Cutts (for Clancarty)
*
* – Scotland and Ireland
* – 1665 to 1706
*
* – 1625 to 1655
*
*
* – (for timeline)
*
* – 1634 to 1699
* – 1661 to 1665
*
* – Blood royal, dukes, earls (for Clanricarde)
* – Viscounts (for Thurles)
*
*
*
*
* – Irish stem
*
* – (Preview)
* – 1 January 1664 to 29/30 June 1665
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muskerry, Charles MacCarty, Viscount
1665 deaths
British courtesy viscounts
Burials at Westminster Abbey
English military personnel killed in action
French Army officers
Heirs apparent who never acceded
Irish soldiers in the French Army
MacCarthy dynasty
Royal Navy personnel of the Anglo-Dutch Wars
Year of birth uncertain