Sir Thomas Crosbie (died 7 February 1694), also recorded as Crosby, 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 ...

soldier and politician. Crosbie was the eldest son of David Crosbie of Ardfert, a

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 ...

planter whose family had moved to

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

in the early seventeenth century. His paternal grandfather was Bishop

John Crosbie John Carnell Crosbie, (January 30, 1931 – January 10, 2020) was a Canadian provincial and federal politician who served as the 12th lieutenant governor of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Prior to being lieutenant governor, he served as a pr ...

. His mother was a daughter of Bishop

John Steere John Steere (ca. 1634 – 1724) was one of the earliest settlers of the state of Rhode Island, a town official, and a founder of the town of Smithfield, Rhode Island. John Steere was purportedly born in Ockley, Dorking, Surrey in England aroun ...

. Crosbie served as an

ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

in the army of the

Commonwealth of England The Commonwealth was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when England and Wales, later along with Ireland and Scotland, were governed as a republic after the end of the Second English Civil War and the trial and execut ...

, rising eventually to the rank of lieutenant in a troop of horse. He participated in the

Cromwellian conquest of Ireland The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland or Cromwellian war in Ireland (1649–1653) was the re-conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Cromwell invaded Ireland wi ...

as a "known enemy of the Confederate Catholics". After the

Stuart Restoration The Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland took place in 1660 when King Charles II returned from exile in continental Europe. The preceding period of the Protectorate and the civil wars came to be ...

, Crosbie, who inherited the family estate in 1658, was included in the general pardon granted to supporters of

Cromwell 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 ...

. He was appointed

High Sheriff of Kerry The High Sheriff of Kerry was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Kerry, Ireland from the 16th century until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Kerry County Sheriff. The sheri ...

in 1661 and 1668. On 1 May 1664, he was appointed by the

Duke of Ormond The peerage title Earl of Ormond and the related titles Duke of Ormonde and Marquess of Ormonde have a long and complex history. An earldom of Ormond has been created three times in the Peerage of Ireland. History of Ormonde titles The earldom ...

to manage the affairs of the

Dublin Castle administration Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 cen ...

in Kerry and Cork, and was knighted for his services. In 1678 he was made a commissioner for disarming

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in Kerry. During the

Williamite War in Ireland The Williamite War in Ireland (1688–1691; ga, Cogadh an Dá Rí, "war of the two kings"), was a conflict between Jacobite supporters of deposed monarch James II and Williamite supporters of his successor, William III. It is also called th ...

, Crosbie supported James II and received a commission in his army on 27 July 1689. He is recorded as being a captain in Brigadier Francis Carroll's Dragoons. He was one of only six Protestants to attend the

Patriot Parliament Patriot Parliament is the name commonly used for the Irish Parliament session called by King James II during the Williamite War in Ireland which lasted from 1688 to 1691. The first since 1666, it held only one session, which lasted from 7 May 16 ...

in 1689, as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

.O'Hart, John
The Irish Parliament of King James the Second in 1689
''Irish Pedigrees: or the Origin and Stem of the Irish Nation'' (5th Ed., 1892), Volume 2. Retrieved 1 February 2023. Crosbie and his family were again pardoned following the victory of Williamite forces in 1691 and he was able to retain possession of his estates. He married firstly Bridget Tynte, by whom he had six children, secondly Garrett Fitzgerald, and thirdly Elizabeth Hamilton. His eldest son and heir by his first marriage was David Crosbie, the father of

Maurice Crosbie, 1st Baron Brandon Maurice Crosbie, 1st Baron Brandon, (c. 1689 –1762) was an Irish politician and peer. He was the son of David Crosbie, High Sheriff of Kerry, and his wife Jane Hamilton, daughter of William Hamilton of Lisclooney, County Offaly, and grandson o ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crosbie, Thomas Year of birth unknown 1694 deaths 17th-century Anglo-Irish people High Sheriffs of Kerry Irish Anglicans Irish Jacobites Irish MPs 1689 Jacobite military personnel of the Williamite War in Ireland Knights Bachelor Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Kerry constituencies New Model Army personnel People of the Irish Confederate Wars