Osborn Wyddel the Irishman ( cy, Osbwrn Ystiwart Edwart), (

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

1280), was founder of the houses of Cors y gedol, Wynne of Ynys maengwyn, Wynne of Maes y neuadd, and other important families in Merionethshire.

Life

He was an Irishman with some Welsh ancestry, potentially arriving in Wales during the year 1237. he settled in the neighbourhood of Llanaber, Barmouth, in the latter part of the thirteenth century. Tradition, the only authority for his career, asserts that he was a Geraldine, of the

Desmond Desmond or Desmond's may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Desmond'' (novel), 1792 novel by Charlotte Turner Smith * '' Desmond's'', 1990s British television sitcom Ireland * Kingdom of Desmond, medieval Irish kingdom * Earl of Desmond, Iris ...

branch of that family. On this assumption

Sir William Betham ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

, Ulster king of arms, thought he was in all probability a son of John FitzThomas, the first Geraldine lord of Decies and

(d. 1261). The circumstances of his settlement in Ardudwy (North-west Merionethshire) are unknown, though it may be conjectured that he was driven to seek a home in Wales by the temporary overthrow of the Geraldine influence in Desmond which followed the

Battle of Callan The Battle of Callann was fought in August 1261 between the Hiberno-Normans, under John FitzGerald, and three Gaelic clans: MacCarthy, who held the Kingdom of Desmond, under Fínghin Mac Carthaigh, King of Desmond, ancestor of the MacCarth ...

(1261). A spot called Berllys (or Byrllysg), a little to the north of Cors y gedol, is pointed out as the site of Osborn's first residence. He afterwards married, it is said, the heiress of Cors y gedol in west Merioneth, and had a son name 'Kenric Ab Osbwrn', who became the ancestor of some of the local landed gentry such as Wynne family of Glyncywarch, Wynne family of Peniarth, Vaughan family of Corsygedol. He was assessed in the parish of Llanaber for the fifteenth levied in 1293 or 1294 upon holders of land in Wales, and was probably responsible for the building of Llanaber church

Ancestry

Genealogists have noted with certainty that Osbwrn's ancestry was to have descended through numerous Irish Fitz families of

Norman-Irish From the 12th century onwards, a group of Normans invaded and settled in Gaelic Ireland. These settlers later became known as Norman Irish or Hiberno-Normans. They originated mainly among Cambro-Norman families in Wales and Anglo-Normans from ...

descent; starting with Roger de Montgomery a Norman Knight who fought in the Battle of Hastings, himself a descendant of Danish and Swedish royalty. Then it's speculated that Roger's descendant, Walter FitzOther married Gladys ap Conwym the daughter of a Welsh Prince.Rev. E. Barry, ''Records of the Barrys of County Cork from the earliest to the present time.'', Cork, 1902, p.3; Vivian, p.133: "Robert of Easton (sic), co. Bucks, quoting ''The Life of Sir Peter Carew, of Mohun Ottery, co. Devon.'', by

John Hooker John Hooker may refer to: *John Hooker (English constitutionalist) (c. 1527–1601), English writer, solicitor, antiquary, civic administrator and advocate of republican government *John Lee Hooker (1912–2001), American blues singer-songwriter an ...

(c. 1527–1601), edited by

Sir Thomas Phillipps, 1st Baronet Sir Thomas Phillipps, 1st Baronet (2 July 1792 – 6 February 1872), was an English antiquary and book collector who amassed the largest collection of manuscript material in the 19th century. He was an illegitimate son of a textile manufacture ...

(1792-1872), published 1840 in ''Archaeologia'', the journal of the Society of Antiquaries of London The Norman-Irish families continued to establish themselves after the Norman invasion; the 1st Lord of Offaly was established as the ancestor of the Duke's of Leinster in Dublin, Osbwrn's father has been noted as John FitzThomas, 1st Baron Desmond a man who he fought alongside at the battle of Callann. John FitzThomas's great-grandmother is noted as being

Nest ferch Rhys Nest ferch Rhys (c. 1085 – c. 1136) was the daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr, last King of Deheubarth in Wales, by his wife, Gwladys ferch Rhiwallon ap Cynfyn of Powys. Her family is of the House of Dinefwr. Nest was the wife of Gerald de Windsor (c. ...

, daughter

Rhys ap Tewdwr Rhys ap Tewdwr (c. 1040 – 1093) was a king of Deheubarth in Wales and member of the Dinefwr dynasty, a branch descended from Rhodri the Great. He was born in the area which is now Carmarthenshire and died at the battle of Brecon in April 10 ...

the last king of Deheubarth.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * Archaeologia Cambrensis, 3rd ser. iv, 315, ix. 66-9 ;Attribution {{DNB, wstitle=Osborn Wyddel 13th-century Irish people