Dudley Bagenal (1554–1587) was an Irish soldier and landowner of the

Tudor era The Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603 in England and Wales and includes the Elizabethan period during the reign of Elizabeth I until 1603. The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England that began with t ...

. Dudley was the son of the Staffordshire-born Sir

Nicholas Bagenal Sir Nicholas Bagenal or Bagenall or Bagnall (; 1509 – February 1591) was an English-born soldier and politician who became Marshal of the Irish Army (Kingdom of Ireland), Army in Ireland during the Tudor era. Early life He was born the se ...

who had settled in Ireland in the 1550s, creating a power base around

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Armagh, Armagh and County Down, Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry ...

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

thanks to the support of the dominant

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

lord

Conn O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone Conn Bacagh O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone ( Irish: ''Conn Bacach mac Cuinn Ó Néill'') (c. 1480–1559), was king of Tyrone. In 1541 O'Neill travelled to England to submit to Henry VIII as part of the surrender and regrant policy that coincide ...

. Dudley was the brother of Sir

Henry Bagenal Sir Henry Bagenal PC (c. 1556 – 14 August 1598) was marshal of the Royal Irish Army during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Life He was the eldest son of Nicholas Bagenal and Eleanor Griffith, daughter of Sir Edward Griffith of Penrhyn. His b ...

Mabel Bagenal Mabel Bagenal ( – December 1595) was an Anglo-Irish noblewoman and Countess of Tyrone, often referred to simplistically as the " Helen of the Elizabethan Wars". Life Mabel Bagenal was born around 1571 in Newry. She was the youngest child o ...

and Anne Bagenal. He was the brother-in-law of the soldier Henry Heron. Dudley established himself as a landowner at Dunleckney Manor in County Carlow. He served as an officer in the

Irish Army The Irish Army, known simply as the Army ( ga, an tArm), is the land component of the Defence Forces of Ireland.The Defence Forces are made up of the Permanent Defence Forces – the standing branches – and the Reserve Defence Forces. The A ...

force sent north to Ulster to maintain order in the 1580s, being stationed in

Clandeboye Clandeboye or Clannaboy (from Irish ''Clann Aodha Buí'', "family of Hugh the Blond") was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, comprising what is now south County Antrim, north County Down, and the barony of Loughinsholin, Northern Ireland. The entity ...

. He became involved in disputes with other officers, who were resentful of his father's influence. In one incident he struck a fellow officer Sir William Stanley during an argument. He was ambushed and killed in March 1587 in County Carlow,

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of ...

by a group of the Kavanagh clan. This appeared to be a revenge attack for the killing of a leader of the Kavanaghs four months earlier, which both Bagenal and his brother-in-law Henry Heron had taken part in. It was quite common for settlers of the era to become involved in Gaelic-style feuds. His death led to a political dispute between Sir Nicholas Bagenal and the

Lord Deputy The Lord Deputy was the representative of the monarch and head of the Irish executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and then the Kingdom of Ireland. He deputised prior to 1523 for the Viceroy of Ireland. The plural form is '' ...

John Perrot Sir John Perrot (7 November 1528 – 3 November 1592) served as lord deputy to Queen Elizabeth I of England during the Tudor conquest of Ireland. It was formerly speculated that he was an illegitimate son of Henry VIII, though the idea is reje ...

who refused to grant Sir Nicholas custody of his grandson, Dudley's son George Bagenal, who was made a

ward of court In law, a ward is a minor or incapacitated adult placed under the protection of a legal guardian or government entity, such as a court. Such a person may be referenced as a "ward of the court". Overview The wardship jurisdiction is an ancient ju ...

.Morgan p.46 His family remained influential in Carlow, and were related to other powerful Bagenals in other parts of the country many of whom became Roman Catholics despite the Penal laws. Amongst Dudley's descendants was Walter Bagenal, the founder of

Bagenalstown Bagenalstown ( ), officially named Muine Bheag (), is a small town on the River Barrow in County Carlow, Ireland. History and name The town grew within the townland of Moneybeg, from Irish ''Muine Bheag'' or ''Muinebheag'' (meaning "small t ...

References

Bibliography

* Mahoney, Edward (ed.). ''Philosophy and Humanism: Reinaissance Essays in Honor of Paul Oskar Kristeller''. Brill Archive, 1976. * Morgan, Hiram. ''Tyrone's Rebellion''. Boydell Press, 1999. 16th-century Anglo-Irish people Irish soldiers People from County Down People from County Carlow 1554 births 1587 deaths {{Ireland-bio-stub