John Bellew, 1st Baron Bellew of Duleek (died 12 January 1692) was an Irish

Jacobite Jacobite means follower of Jacob or James. Jacobite may refer to: Religion * Jacobites, followers of Saint Jacob Baradaeus (died 578). Churches in the Jacobite tradition and sometimes called Jacobite include: ** Syriac Orthodox Church, sometimes ...

soldier and politician.

Biography

Bellew was the son of was son of Sir Christopher Bellew of Bellewstown and Frances Plunkett, a daughter of Matthew Plunkett, 7th Baron Louth. As a child he was sent to France for his safety during the

Irish Rebellion of 1641 The Irish Rebellion of 1641 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1641) was an uprising by Irish Catholics in the Kingdom of Ireland, who wanted an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and to partially or fully reverse the plantatio ...

, but he returned to Ireland in 1648 in the retinue of the Marquess of Ormonde, who gave him command of a troop of horse in the Royalist army. He was later appointed lieutenant of the ordnance in Ireland. He was present at the Battle of Rathmines during the

Irish Confederate Wars The Irish Confederate Wars, also called the Eleven Years' War (from ga, Cogadh na hAon-déag mBliana), took place in Ireland between 1641 and 1653. It was the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a series of civil wars in the kin ...

. Bellew subsequently had his Irish estates, totalling 6,000 acres in

County Louth County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of Meath to the south, Monaghan to the west, Armagh to the north and Down to the ...

and County Meath, seized by the Commonwealth of England under the

Act for the Settlement of Ireland 1652 The Act for the Setling of Ireland imposed penalties including death and land confiscation against Irish civilians and combatants after the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and subsequent unrest. British historian John Morrill wrote that the Act and ...

. Bellew was transplanted to Connaught. Upon the Stuart Restoration, Bellew was restored to his estates in October 1660 and was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in 1661. A Roman Catholic, he was made a member of the

Privy Council of Ireland His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal executi ...

in 1685 and on 29 October 1686 he was created Baron Bellew of Duleek by James II of England. Bellew attended the Irish House of Lords during James II's short-lived Patriot Parliament in 1689. He raised a regiment of infantry for the Jacobite army during the Williamite War in Ireland. In April 1691 he was

attainted In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura was the metaphorical "stain" or "corruption of blood" which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one's life, property and hereditary ...

by the Williamite regime. He fought at the Battle of Aughrim in July 1691, at which he was severely wounded and taken prisoner. Bellew died of his wounds in captivity in England the following year in January 1692. He was buried in St. Mary's Abbey, Duleek. On 28 November 1663, Bellew had married Mary (or Margaret) Bermingham. He was succeeded in his title by his eldest son, Walter, although due to the attainder, Walter's title was not recognised outside Jacobite circles. After Walter's death in 1694, the attainder was reversed on 30 March 1697 for Richard Bellew.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellew of Duleek, John, 1st Baron Year of birth unknown 1693 deaths Barons in the Peerage of Ireland Cavaliers Irish soldiers in the army of James II of England Irish soldiers in the Irish Confederate Wars Members of the Irish House of Lords Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Peers of Ireland created by James II People convicted under a bill of attainder