Mabel Digby, Lady of Dromana and Decies (dates of birth and death unknown) was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

noblewoman being the eldest daughter of Sir Robert Digby and

Lettice FitzGerald, 1st Baroness Offaly Lettice FitzGerald, 1st Baroness Offaly (c. 1580 – 1 December 1658) was an Irish noblewoman and a member of the FitzGerald dynasty. Although she became heiress-general to the Earls of Kildare on the death of her father, the title instead ...

. She was the wife of Sir Gerald FitzGerald, Lord of Dromana and Decies. In 1642, during an Irish rebellion, she was openly sympathetic to the Irish and entertained them at Dromana Castle. She later handed the castle over to them.

Family

Mabel was born on an unknown date sometime after 1598 in Coleshill,

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

, England, the eldest daughter and one of the ten children of Sir Robert Digby and Lettice FitzGerald, ''suo jure'' 1st Baroness Offaly. Her eldest brother was

Robert Digby, 1st Baron Digby Robert Digby, 1st Baron Digby (died 6 June 1642), was an Anglo-Irish peer. Digby was the son of Sir Robert Digby of Coleshill, Warwickshire, and Lettice FitzGerald, of Geashill, Ireland, granddaughter of Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare ...

, and another brother was Essex Digby,

Bishop of Dromore The Bishop of Dromore is an episcopal title which takes its name after the original monastery of Dromore in County Down, Northern Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church the title still continues as a separate bishopric, but in the Church of Irela ...

Marriages and issue

She married her first husband Sir Gerald FitzGerald, Lord of Dromana and Decies on an unknown date. He was the son and heir of Sir John Og FitzGerald, Lord of Dromana and Decies, and Elinor Butler. She was described as having been "suitably English and

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

". She was said to have dominated Sir Gerald. They made their principal residence at Dromana Castle, County Waterford, and together had three children: * Sir John FitzGerald, Lord of Dromana and Decies (died 1 March 1664), married firstly Katherine Le Poer, by whom he had his only daughter and heiress

Katherine FitzGerald, Viscountess Grandison Katherine FitzGerald, suo jure Viscountess Grandison (1660–1725), was a wealthy Irish heiress, being the only child of Sir John FitzGerald of Dromana, County Waterford. She inherited the Dromana estate in 1664 upon the death of her father. Sh ...

; he married secondly, Helen McCarthy * Lettice FitzGerald, married Parliamentarian Major Richard Franklyn of Coolbach * Daughter whose name is unknown, married Thomas Walsh of Piltown, County Waterford Upon the death of her husband on 6 August 1643, Mabel married secondly Donagh O'Brien of Arragh.

Rebellion of 1641

On 23 October 1641, the major

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 ...

broke out in

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 King ...

, and by December had spread to

County Waterford County Waterford ( ga, Contae Phort Láirge) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is part of the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region. It is named ...

. Although her husband sided with the English, Mabel showed herself sympathetic to the Irish rebels and in 1642 entertained them at Dromana Castle serving them "beefes, muttons, bread and beere".Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, p.6 In mid-September 1642, she handed the castle over to them; however, it was shortly afterward besieged and captured by the English.

Death

Mabel died on an unknown date at Dromana. Her granddaughter, Katherine, inherited the entire Dromana estate upon the death of Mabel's only son in 1664. The FitzGeralds had managed to keep their estates intact during the

Cromwellian Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

settlements due to their Protestant religion and the influence of Mabel's Parliamentarian son-in-law Richard Franklyn, who served as a major in Oliver Cromwell's army.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Digby, Mabel

Mabel Mabel is an English female given name derived from the Latin ''amabilis'', "lovable, dear".Reclams Namensbuch, 1987, History Amabilis of Riom (died 475) was a French male saint who logically would have assumed the name Amabilis upon entering th ...

17th-century Anglo-Irish people People from Warwickshire People from County Waterford Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 17th-century Irish women

Daughters of barons