Rowland FitzEustace, 1st Baron Portlester tomb

Rowland FitzEustace, 1st Baron Portlester (c. 1430 – 19 December 1496) was an Irish peer, statesman and

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

. He was one of the dominant political figures in late fifteenth-century Ireland, rivalled in influence probably only by his son-in-law Garret FitzGerald, the "Great" Earl of Kildare.Beresford, David "FitzEustace, Rowland" ''Cambridge Dictionary of National Biography 2009''

Career

FitzEustace was the eldest son of Sir Edward FitzEustace of Castlemartin,

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the count ...

Lord Deputy of Ireland The Lord Deputy was the representative of the monarch and head of the Irish executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and then the Kingdom of Ireland. He deputised prior to 1523 for the Viceroy of Ireland. The plural form is ' ...

, and his wife, Alicia. He belonged to one of the most prominent of the "Old English" families of

the Pale The Pale ( Irish: ''An Pháil'') or the English Pale (' or ') was the part of Ireland directly under the control of the English government in the Late Middle Ages. It had been reduced by the late 15th century to an area along the east coast ...

, which had several branches. He was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in England in about 1454, and soon afterwards became Chief Clerk to the Court of King's Bench and the

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

. He was appointed

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 ...

and Lord Treasurer of Ireland by King

Edward IV of England Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in Englan ...

in 1474, and was elevated to the Irish peerage as

Baron Portlester Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or ...

in 1462. In the latter year (1462), he was accused of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

, but defended himself with such vigour that the charges were dropped: similar charges made against him in 1470 were not pursued.Otway-Ruthven, A.J. ''History of Medieval Ireland'' Barnes and Noble Reissue 1993 pp. 389-399 In 1474, he was a founder member of the

Brotherhood of Saint George The Brotherhood of Saint George was a short-lived military guild, which was founded in Dublin in 1474 for the defence of the English-held territory of the Pale. For a short time it was the only standing army maintained by the English Crown in ...

, a short-lived military order charged with the defence of

(the four counties nearest to Dublin), the only part of Ireland which was under secure English rule. In 1478, when his son-in-law, Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare, was replaced as

by Lord Grey, Portlester organised a campaign of non-co-operation with the new Deputy. Grey ordered him to hand over the Great Seal of Ireland, but Portlester refused point-blank, thus making the conduct of official business impossible. The King went to considerable lengths to support Grey. He ordered

Thomas Archbold Thomas Archbold, or Thomas Galmole (died after 1506) was a goldsmith and silver worker, who evidently qualified as a lawyer, and rose to become a senior Crown official and judge in Ireland in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. He wa ...

(alias Galmole), the Master of the

Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly owned by HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury and is un ...

in Ireland, to strike a new Great Seal, declaring that the Seal held by Portlester was annulled and that all acts passed under it were utterly void, but these efforts were to no avail. So effective was the campaign of obstruction that after a few months Lord Grey was forced to return to England. Portlester was reappointed Chancellor by Edward IV, and following the change of

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

in 1485 he was confirmed in office by Henry VII, but later removed because of his part in the crowning of the

pretender A pretender is someone who claims to be the rightful ruler of a country although not recognized as such by the current government. The term is often used to suggest that a claim is not legitimate.Curley Jr., Walter J. P. ''Monarchs-in-Waiting'' ...

, Lambert Simnel, as

King Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...

of England, on 24 May 1487. This

coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the presentation of o ...

took place in

Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin Christ Church Cathedral, more formally The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, is the cathedral of the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough and the cathedral of the ecclesiastical province of the United Provinces of Dublin and Cashel in the ( ...

, Ireland. Nearly every noble and Prince in Ireland took part in the ceremony. Simnel invaded England with an Irish army which was crushed at the Battle of Stoke. Henry VII was magnanimous in victory, sparing Simnel's life and issuing pardons to Portlester and his fellow peers; but he decided to split the offices held by Lord Portlester between

Alexander Plunket Alexander Plunket ( died 1503 ) was an Irish statesman and judge of the fifteenth century. He was appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland by King Henry VII of England in 1492. Rowland FitzEustace, 1st Baron Portlester was Lord Chancellor and Lord T ...

and

Sir James Ormond Sir James Ormond ''alias'' Butler (died 17 July 1497) was the son of John Butler, 6th Earl of Ormond. He was Lord Treasurer of Ireland from 1492 to 1494, and helped to defend the Lordship of Ireland against the forces of Perkin Warbeck. He was ...

. Portlester nonetheless remained an influential figure for the remaining decade of his life, and was able to fight off an attack on his record as Treasurer in 1493.

Family

He was married three times. His wives were: *Elizabeth Brune, daughter of John Brune *Joan (or Jenet) Bellew of Bellewstown, widow of Christopher Plunket, 2nd

Baron Killeen Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...

, whom he married in 1463 *Margaret (or Marguerite) d'Artois (or Jenico), granddaughter and heiress of the Gascon-born knight Sir

Jenico d'Artois Sir Jenico d'Artois, Dartas, Dartass or Dartasso (c.1350 – November 1426) was a Gascony-born soldier and statesman, much of whose career was spent in Ireland. He enjoyed the trust and confidence of three successive English monarchs, and became a ...

, and widow of Sir John Dowdall, whom he married sometime after 1467. Since their daughter Katherine was legitimised by Act of Parliament in 1475-6, it appears that they cohabited before marriage. This marriage brought him a considerable increase in his landholdings, since Margaret through her mother Jane Serjeant was heiress to half of the lands of

Castleknock Castleknock () is an affluent suburb located west of the centre of Dublin city, Ireland. It is centered on the village of the same name in Fingal. In addition to the suburb, the name "Castleknock" also refers to older units of land division: ...

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

, although her right to hold the lands was disputed by the Barnewall family, in right of Margaret's sister Ismay. He had issue with all of his wives, but it is uncertain in some cases which wife was the mother of which child. Joan is thought to have been Elizabeth's daughter, while Katherine and Alison were Margaret's. His only legitimate son, Richard, died young. His daughters were: *Alice, or Alison (died 1495), married Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare.Ball, F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221–1921'' John Murray London 1926 *Joan, married firstly

Richard Plunkett, 2nd Baron of Dunsany Richard Plunkett, 2nd Baron of Dunsany (died c. 1482) was an Irish nobleman. He was one of at least five surviving sons of Christopher Plunkett, 1st Baron of Dunsany, and his first wife Anne Fitzgerald, daughter of Richard FitzGerald. He succeed ...

, and secondly her cousin Sir Maurice FitzEustace of Coghlanstown, eldest son and heir of Sir

Robert FitzEustace Sir Robert FitzEustace (c.1420–1486) was an Irish landowner and politician of the fifteenth century. He was born at Coghlanstown, County Kildare, son of Sir Richard FitzEustace, who served briefly as Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and Katherine Pr ...

. *Jenet, married Sir Walter Delahide: both played an important role in the rebellion of the Earl of Kildare's grandson, Silken Thomas, as did their sons. Jenet died in prison under suspicion of treason, and her sons were attainted as traitors.O'Hart, John ''Pedigrees of Ireland'' 5th Edition 1892 *Margaret, married Christopher Rochfort *Maud, married Thomas Marward, titular Baron Skryne *Katherine, his second daughter by Margaret d"Artois,

born out of wedlock Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ...

but legitimated by Act of the

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland ( ga, Parlaimint na hÉireann) was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two ch ...

in 1475-6. He also had an illegitimate son: *

Oliver FitzEustace Oliver FitzEustace ( died after 1491) was an Irish judge. His appointment as Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer was a surprising one since according to the leading historian of the Irish judiciary he appears to have been unable to speak. Oliver ...

, who became

Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer The Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer was the Baron (judge) who presided over the Court of Exchequer (Ireland). The Irish Court of Exchequer was a mirror of the equivalent court in England and was one of the four courts which sat in the buildin ...

; since Oliver seems to have been mentally deficient, his father further extended his influence by appointing Deputies to act on his behalf. The barony became extinct on his death in 1496, but his nephew

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

, son of his brother Richard, was created Viscount Baltinglass in 1541. Sir Maurice Eustace, a wealthy and influential member of the FitzEustace clan who became

, accepted the title Baron Portlester at 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 t ...

, but then changed his mind, apparently because, like Rowland, he had no legitimate son to succeed him.

Reputation

Elrington Ball regarded him as perhaps the most important Irish political figure during his 40-year career, more influential even than his son-in-law, the "Great Earl of Kildare".

Memorial

There is a memorial to him and his third wife Margaret d'Artois in St. Audoen's Church, Dublin, erected by him in gratitude for his preservation from a shipwreck near the site. He founded New Abbey, Kilcullen, where he is buried beside his daughter Alison. His estates passed to his nephew

Thomas Eustace, 1st Viscount Baltinglass Thomas Eustace, 1st Viscount Baltinglass (-1549) was an Anglo-Irish noble who achieved wealth and influence by prudently remaining loyal to the English Crown. He was born circa 1480 at Caslemartin, County Kildare. Family He was the son of Ri ...

References

External links

*Lord Portlester's Chapel at libraryireland.com * Roland Fitz Eustace's history on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rdNDs-WHkg {{DEFAULTSORT:Portlester, Rowland FitzEustace, 1st Baron Lord chancellors of Ireland Lord High Treasurers of Ireland Barons in the Peerage of Ireland Peers of Ireland created by Edward IV 1496 deaths 15th-century Irish politicians People of the Tudor period People from County Kildare Year of birth uncertain 15th-century Irish judges