Rowland FitzEustace, 1st Baron Portlester (c. 1430 – 19 December 1496) was an Irish peer, statesman and
judge
A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...
. 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 () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, 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 gove ...
,
Lord Deputy of Ireland, and his wife, Alicia.
[ He belonged to one of the most prominent of the "Old English" families of the Pale, 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
The Court of King's Bench, formally known as The Court of the King Before the King Himself, was a court of common law in the English legal system. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century from the '' curia regis'', the King's Bench initi ...
and the Court of Common Pleas. He was appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland 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 England ...
in 1474, and was elevated to the Irish peerage as Baron Portlester in 1462.[
In the latter year (1462), he was accused of ]treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...
, 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, a short-lived military order charged with the defence of the Pale (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
Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare (born – ), known variously as "Garret the Great" (Gearóid Mór) or "The Great Earl" (An tIarla Mór), was Ireland's premier peer. He served as Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1477 to 1494, and from 1496 u ...
, was replaced as Lord Deputy of Ireland 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 (alias Galmole), the Master of the Royal Mint 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, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others.
H ...
in 1485 he was confirmed in office by Henry VII, but later removed because of his part in the crowning of the pretender, Lambert Simnel, as King Edward VI
Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII by his thi ...
of England, on 24 May 1487. This coronation
A coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special v ...
took place in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin
Christ Church Cathedral, more formally The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (Irish: ''Ardeaglais Theampall Chríost''), is the cathedral of the Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough, United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough and the cathedral of the e ...
, 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
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and forc ...
.[ 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 and Sir James Ormond. 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, whom he married in 1463[
*Margaret (or Marguerite) d'Artois (or Jenico), granddaughter and heiress of the Gascon-born knight Sir Jenico d'Artois, and widow of Sir John Dowdall, whom he married sometime after 1467. Since their daughter Katherine was ]legitimised
Legitimation, legitimization ( US), or legitimisation ( UK) is the act of providing legitimacy. Legitimation in the social sciences refers to the process whereby an act, process, or ideology becomes legitimate by its attachment to norms and val ...
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, County Dublin
County Dublin ( or ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and holds its capital city, Dublin. It is located on the island's east coast, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Until 1994, County Dubli ...
, 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, and secondly her cousin Sir Maurice FitzEustace of Coghlanstown, eldest son and heir of Sir Robert FitzEustace.
*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.
*Margaret, married Christopher Rochfort
*Maud, married Thomas Marward, titular Baron Skryne
*Katherine, his second daughter by Margaret d"Artois, born out of wedlock but legitimated by Act of the Parliament of Ireland
The Parliament of Ireland () was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until the end of 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two chambers: the Irish Hou ...
in 1475-6.
He also had an illegitimate son:
* Oliver FitzEustace, who became Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer; 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, 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 Lord Chancellor of Ireland, accepted the title Baron Portlester at the Restoration of Charles II, 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 Jenico d'Artois in St. Audoen's Church, Dublin, erected in 1482. It is suggested that his private chapel was founded there 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.
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