Thomas Eyre (Eyre died at the Parliament House, Dublin, on 22 February 1772)ny, Ireland) was an Irish

military engineer Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics b ...

. Thomas Eyre was the second son of Colonel Samuel Eyre of Eyreville,

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

. In 1738, he joined the regiment of

James Oglethorpe James Edward Oglethorpe (22 December 1696 – 30 June 1785) was a British soldier, Member of Parliament, and philanthropist, as well as the founder of the colony of Georgia in what was then British America. As a social reformer, he hoped to re ...

, the founder of the

Colony of Georgia In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the ''metropole, metropolit ...

, and sailed to the colony. He rose from the rank of cadet to be sub-engineer for Georgia and

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

by 1743, when he left for England. As a lieutenant, Eyre joined Trelawney's Regiment of Foot, headed by Edward Trelawney,

Governor of Jamaica This is a list of viceroys in Jamaica from its initial occupation by Spain in 1509, to its independence from the United Kingdom in 1962. For a list of viceroys after independence, see Governor-General of Jamaica. For context, see History of Jamai ...

. He served in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

and at

Roatán Roatán () is an island in the Caribbean, about off the northern coast of Honduras. It is located between the islands of Utila and Guanaja, and is the largest of the Bay Islands of Honduras. The island was formerly known in English as Ruatan ...

(Rattan), and was promoted to captain in 1748. Eyre retired from active duty in 1752. On 31 August 1752, Eyre was appointed Surveyor General of Ireland, having purchased the office from Arthur Jones-Nevill. Joseph Jarratt worked as his deputy in this role. He undertook works at the Royal Barracks in Dublin, but the condition of the barracks was criticised by the Commissioners of the Ordnance for Ireland. As Surveyor General, he was also involved in harbour works at

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built following the 1816 legislation that allowed the building of a major port to serve Dubli ...

, and was responsible for the rebuilding of the State Apartments at

Dublin Castle Dublin Castle ( ga, Caisleán Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a former Motte-and-bailey castle and current Irish government complex and conference centre. It was chosen for its position at the highest point of central Dublin. Until 1922 it was the se ...

. In 1763, the office of Surveyor General was abolished, and Eyre was transferred to the new post of Chief Engineer of the Ordnance. He also represented

Thomastown Thomastown (), historically known as Grennan, is a town in County Kilkenny in the province of Leinster in the south-east of Ireland. It is a market town along a stretch of the River Nore which is known for its salmon and trout, with a number of ...

and Fore in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fra ...

Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd Hugh John Massingberd (30 December 1946 – 25 December 2007), originally Hugh John Montgomery and known from 1963 to 1992 as Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd, was an English journalist and genealogist. He was chief editor of ''Burke's Peerage''/''Burk ...

, ''Burke's Irish Family Records'' (London, 1976) page 396, cited in Darryl Lundy
Colonel Thomas Eyre
thepeerage.com, accessed 7 April 2012

References

* 1772 deaths Engineers from County Galway Irish officers in the British Army 49th Regiment of Foot officers Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Kilkenny constituencies Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Westmeath constituencies Irish MPs 1761–1768 Irish MPs 1769–1776 Year of birth unknown Surveyors General of Ireland Military personnel from County Galway Irish military engineers {{Ireland-pre1801-MP-stub