Viscount Netterville was a title in the

Peerage of Ireland The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five divisi ...

. It was created in 1622 for

Nicholas Netterville, 1st Viscount Netterville Nicholas Netterville of Dowth, County Meath, Ireland, was born in 1581, and succeeded his father, John Netterville, in the family estate on 20 September 1601. Although an enemy accused them of being "but a mean family" the Nettervilles had in fact ...

(1581–1654), eldest son of John Netterville of

Dowth Dowth ( ga, Dubhadh) is a Neolithic passage tomb located in the Boyne Valley, County Meath, Ireland. It is one of the three principal tombs of the ''Brú na Bóinne'' World Heritage Sitea landscape of prehistoric monuments including the large ...

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

and Eleanor Gernon, daughter of Sir James Gernon of Castleton,

County Louth County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of Meath to the south, Monaghan to the west, Armagh to the north and Down to the ...

. The Netterville family are recorded in Ireland from before 1280, and became substantial landowners: they intermarried with leading

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 ...

families like the FitzGeralds of

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional cen ...

and the Flemings of

Slane Slane () is a village in County Meath, in Ireland. The village stands on a steep hillside on the left bank of the River Boyne at the intersection of the N2 (Dublin to Monaghan road) and the N51 (Drogheda to Navan road). As of the 2016 census ...

. He was a favourite of

King James I of England James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

who in 1622 conferred the title on him "in consideration of his many good qualities". He suffered considerable financial hardship during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

when the

English Parliament The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised ...

, after the failure of the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...

cause, sequestered his estates, along with those of his eldest son, John, the 2nd Viscount. During 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 ...

John, who was adhered to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

, was accused of favouring the rebels, and it does not seem that either side of the conflict fully trusted him. Possibly for this reason his son Nicholas, the 3rd Viscount, had some difficulty after the

Restoration of Charles II 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 ...

in recovering the family estates. Eventually, the Court of Claims restored 6000 acres to him. Because of Nicholas's loyalty to James II the estates were again forfeited after the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...

of 1688, but were later restored to his son John, the 4th Viscount. Nicholas, the 5th Viscount, who succeeded to the title in 1727, gained notoriety in 1743 when he was charged with the

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

of his

valet A valet or varlet is a male servant who serves as personal attendant to his employer. In the Middle Ages and Ancien Régime, valet de chambre was a role for junior courtiers and specialists such as artists in a royal court, but the term "vale ...

Michael Walsh: he was tried by his peers and acquitted. Little is known of the details of the alleged murder, partly because both the Crown's key witnesses had died before the trial started. His son John, the 6th Viscount, is best remembered for building an impressive mansion, Dowth Hall, which still exists. He died at a considerable age in 1826, without issue. A distant cousin, James Netterville, made a successful claim to be recognised as 7th Viscount; and after his death, leaving no son, another distant cousin Arthur James Netterville made out his claim to be recognised as 8th Viscount. The 8th Viscount had no son and on his death in 1882 the title became extinct.''Burke's Extinct Peerages'' Reprinted Baltimore 1978 p. 392.

Viscount Netterville (1622)

(1581–1654) *

John Netterville, 2nd Viscount Netterville John Netterville, 2nd Viscount Netterville (c.1603-1659) was an Irish peer, soldier and statesman of the seventeenth century. He was noted for his devout Roman Catholic beliefs and his strong support for the Irish Catholic political cause; this led ...

(died 1659) *Nicholas Netterville, 3rd Viscount Netterville (died 1689) *John Netterville, 4th Viscount Netterville (1673–1727) * Nicholas Netterville, 5th Viscount Netterville (1708-1750) *John Netterville, 6th Viscount Nettterville (1744–1826) *James Netterville, 7th Viscount Netterville (1773-1854) *Arthur Netterville, 8th Viscount Netterville (1800-1882)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Netterville Extinct viscountcies in the Peerage of Ireland Noble titles created in 1622

Viscount Netterville (1622)

See also

References