Thomas Preston, 1st Viscount Tara (1585October, 1655) was an Irish soldier of the 17th century. After lengthy service as a

mercenary A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...

in the

Spanish Army The Spanish Army ( es, Ejército de Tierra, lit=Land Army) is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest active armies — dating back to the late 15th century. The ...

, Preston returned to Ireland following the outbreak of the Rebellion of 1641. He was appointed to command the

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 Ir ...

Army of the

Irish Confederacy Confederate Ireland, also referred to as the Irish Catholic Confederation, was a period of Irish Catholic self-government between 1642 and 1649, during the Eleven Years' War. Formed by Catholic aristocrats, landed gentry, clergy and military ...

, enjoying some success as well as a number of heavy defeats such as the

Battle of Dungans Hill The Battle of Dungan's Hill took place in County Meath, in eastern Ireland on 8 August 1647. It was fought between the armies of Confederate Ireland and the English Parliament during the Irish Confederate Wars. The Irish army was intercep ...

in 1647 where his army was largely destroyed. Like other Confederate leaders, Preston was a

Catholic 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 ...

Royalist. He remained in close contact with the

Lord Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ...

the

Marquess of Ormonde A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman w ...

, and was a strong supporter of an alliance between Confederates and Royalists against the English Republicans. Following 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 ...

, he left for France where he joined the Royalist Court-in-exile and was made Viscount Tara by Charles II.

Lineage

Preston was a descendant of

Robert Preston, 1st Baron Gormanston Robert Preston, 1st Baron Gormanston (died 1396) was an Anglo-Irish nobleman, statesman and judge of the fourteenth century. He held several senior judicial offices including, for a brief period, that of Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He was the foun ...

, who in 1363 purchased the lands of Gormanston, County Meath, and who was

Lord Chancellor of Ireland The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland (commonly known as Lord Chancellor of Ireland) was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801, it was also the highest political office of ...

in 1388. The Prestons came originally from the

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

town of that name, and arrived in Ireland some time before 1320. Sir Robert's great-grandson, Robert Preston, was created

Viscount Gormanston Viscount Gormanston is a Peerage, title in the Peerage of Ireland created in 1478 and held by the head of the Preston family, which hailed from Lancashire. It is the oldest Viscount, vicomital title in the British Isles; the holder is Premier Vi ...

in 1478; and the latter's great-grandson was Christopher, 4th Viscount Gormanstown (died 1599), whose second son was Thomas Preston. Thomas's mother was Catherine FitzWilliam, daughter of the wealthy Dublin landowner Sir Richard FitzWilliam of

Baggotrath Castle Baggotrath Castle, or Baggotsrath Castle, was a castle situated at present-day Baggot Street in Dublin city centre. It was built in the late thirteenth century by the Bagod (later called Baggot) family, for whom it was named. During the English ...

. He was thus a close relative of

Viscount FitzWilliam Viscount FitzWilliam, of Merrion in the County of Dublin, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1629 for Thomas FitzWilliam, along with the subsidiary title Baron FitzWilliam, of Thorncastle in the County of Dublin, also in th ...

Continental service

Thomas's elder brother succeeded in the title of Viscount Gormanstown, so Thomas Preston pursued a career in the military. Since

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

s were not allowed to hold state positions in Ireland, he entered the Spanish service and fought in the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

. Preston was in the same Irish regiment in the Spanish service as

Owen Roe O'Neill Owen Roe O'Neill (Irish: ''Eoghan Ruadh Ó Néill;'' – 1649) was a Gaelic Irish soldier and one of the most famous of the O'Neill dynasty of Ulster. O'Neill left Ireland at a young age and spent most of his life as a mercenary in the Spanish ...

, and distinguished himself in the defence of Leuven against the French and Dutch in 1635. Between him and Owen Roe O'Neill, there was from the first intense jealousy. There was also some tension between Preston and James Tuchet. In 1644 Tuchet, the

Earl of Castlehaven Earl of Castlehaven was a title in the Peerage of Ireland, created on 6 September 1616. It was held in conjunction with the Barony of Audley (created 1312 in the Peerage of England), the Barony of Audley of Orier (created with the earldom in t ...

was chosen to lead a major Confederate expedition into Ulster. Unlike Preston, Castlehaven was a military amateur but was he favoured over Preston as he was of a prominent English family.

Irish Confederacy

Preston returned to Ireland after 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 ...

to support his fellow Irish Catholics. He was appointed general of

, by the

Irish Confederates Confederate Ireland, also referred to as the Irish Catholic Confederation, was a period of Irish Catholic self-government between 1642 and 1649, during the Eleven Years' War. Formed by Catholic aristocrats, landed gentry, clergy and military ...

, which was the largest and best equipped of the Irish Catholic forces. His performance as a commander in Ireland in the intermittent wars of 1642 to 1652 was mixed. He won widespread praise for his successful

siege of Duncannon The siege of Duncannon took place in 1645, during the Irish Confederate Wars. An Irish Catholic Confederate army under Thomas Preston besieged and successfully took the town of Duncannon in County Wexford from an English Parliamentaria ...

in 1645, but lost a string of field battles including

New Ross New Ross (, formerly ) is a town in southwest County Wexford, Ireland. It is located on the River Barrow, near the border with County Kilkenny, and is around northeast of Waterford. In 2016 it had a population of 8,040 people, making it the ...

(1643) and Dungans Hill (1647). This last battle was disastrous for the Confederates, as their Leinster army was all but wiped out at it. In general, he was skilled in the art of siegecraft, but never had a very good understanding of mobile warfare. Preston played a major part in the Confederates' internal strife, siding at first with radicals who opposed the first Ormonde peace, but later siding with the moderates who signed a conclusive treaty with Ormonde and the Royalists in 1648. His Royalism was motivated by his

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

roots and his extreme personal dislike of Owen Roe O'Neill, who led the opposing faction. He fought with the defeated Royalists during the

, defending the city of

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

until hunger and disease forced him to capitulate. He marched his remaining troops to

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

, the last Irish-held city on the island. In late 1652, after another lengthy siege, Galway too was reduced by plague and lack of supplies. Preston surrendered the city on condition that he and his troops be allowed to leave the country and find employment in the French army. He left the country for exile in France, where the Royalist court was in exile, in 1652. In 1650 Charles II while in exile created him

Viscount Tara Viscount Tara (or Taragh) was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. The title was created by King Charles II in 1650 for the soldier Thomas Preston (1585–1655). He was the second son of Christopher Preston, 4th Viscount Gormanston. The 1st Viscou ...

; and after his departure from Ireland in 1652 he offered his services to Charles in Paris, where he died in October 1655.

Family

Preston's wife was a

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

lady of rank, Marguerite Dieudonnée de Dhuy, by whom he had several children, one of his daughters, Catherine, being the second wife of Sir Phelim O'Neill, while her sister Mary married Colonel Francis Netterville, a grandson of Nicholas Netterville, 1st Viscount Netterville, and after his death married Colonel John Fitzpatrick. His son Anthony succeeded him as 2nd Viscount Tara, a title that became extinct on the murder by

Sir Francis Blundell, 3rd Baronet Sir Francis Blundell, 3rd Baronet (30 January 1643 – 1707) was an Irish baronet and politician. He was the son of Sir George Blundell, 2nd Baronet and his wife Sarah Colley, daughter of Sir William Colley. In 1675, he succeeded his father ...

and his brothers of Thomas, 3rd Viscount, in 1674. Charles II, who during his exile lodged with the Preston family in

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

, spoke warmly of the children and their guardian Miss Warren in his later years, but did nothing to repair their ruined fortunes: the younger Thomas in 1670 was said to be penniless.Fraser, Antonia ''King Charles II'' Mandarin edition 1993 p.152

Notes

References

* *

Bibliography

* O Siochru, Micheal. '' Confederate Ireland, 1642–1649''. A Constitutional and Political Analysis''. Four Courts Press, 1999.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tara, Thomas Preston, 1st Viscount Preston Irish generals Preston Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland Peers of Ireland created by Charles II 1585 births 1655 deaths 16th-century Irish people 17th-century Irish people People from County Meath Preston, Thomas, 1st Viscount Tara Irish soldiers in the Spanish Army Expatriates of the Kingdom of Ireland in Spain Expatriates of the Kingdom of Ireland in the Holy Roman Empire Expatriates of the Kingdom of Ireland in France People of Elizabethan Ireland