Sir Valentine Browne, 1st Baronet, of Molahiffe (died 1633), owned a large estate in south-west Ireland and was a lawyer who served as high sheriff of

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

Birth and origins

Valentine was probably born in the 1580s in Ireland. He was the eldest son of Nicholas Browne and his wife Sheela O'Sullivan Beare. His father was Sir Nicholas Browne of

Ross Castle Ross Castle () is a 15th-century tower house and keep on the edge of Lough Leane, in Killarney National Park, County Kerry, Ireland. It is the ancestral home of the Chiefs of the Clan O'Donoghue, later associated with the Brownes of Killarne ...

. His paternal grandfather, another Valentine Browne, had come from Croft, and had acquired large estates in

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

, Ireland as surveyor-general. His mother was a daughter of Eoin the O'Sullivan Beare who had lost his chieftainship to his nephew

Donal Cam O'Sullivan Beare Donal Cam O'Sullivan Beare, Prince of Beare, 1st Count of Berehaven (; 1560 – 16 July 1618) was an Irish nobleman and soldier who was the last independent Chief of the Name of Clan O'Sullivan. He was thus the last ''O'Sullivan Beare'', a title ...

who had claimed a right to it by primogeniture. His mother's family were part of the O'Sullivans, a Gaelic Irish clan. His father probably converted to Catholicism to marry his mother.

Early life

Browne studied law and was admitted to

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

on 12 March 1612. On 21 December 1621 Browne was created Baronet Browne of Molahiffe. In 1623 Sir Valentine was appointed Sheriff of County Kerry.

First marriage and children

Sir Valentine married first Alice FitzGerald, fifth daughter of

Gerald FitzGerald, 14th Earl of Desmond Gerald FitzGerald, 14th Earl of Desmond ( – 1583), also counted as 15th or 16th, owned large part of the Irish province of Munster. In 1565 he fought the private Battle of Affane against his neighbours, the Butlers. After this, he was for so ...

, the rebel earl, by his second wife, Eleanor Butler. Valentine and Alice had five children, three sons: # Valentine (died 1640), his successor # James, captain in the army # Nicholas, died without issue —and two daughters of whom nothing further seems to be known.

Second marriage and children

Sir Valentine married secondly Julia MacCarty, daughter of

Charles MacCarthy, 1st Viscount Muskerry Sir Charles MacCarthy, 1st Viscount of Muskerry (died 1641), also called Cormac Oge, especially in Irish, was from a family of Irish chieftains who were the Lords of Muskerry, related to the Old English through maternal lines. He became th ...

. Valentine and Julia had one son: # Thomas (died 1684), who married his cousin Elizabeth Browne, daughter of Sir John Browne,

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

, of

Hospital, County Limerick Hospital () is a village in east County Limerick, Ireland. It is also a civil parish in the ancient barony of Smallcounty. The village's population was 674 in the 2022 census. The village itself is situated in the townland of Barrysfarm, one o ...

, and Barbara Boyle, daughter of John Boyle,

Bishop of Cork The Bishop of Cork was a separate episcopal title which took its name after the city of Cork in Ireland. The title is now united with other bishoprics. In the Church of Ireland it is held by the Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, and in the Roman ...

, and had several daughters including Helen, who married her cousin Nicholas Browne, 2nd Viscount Kenmare

Death and timeline

Sir Valentine died on 7 September 1633 and was buried in the church of Killarney.

Notes and references

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * (for Desmond) * * – (for timeline) * – 1611 to 1625 (for Browne) * – Canonteign to Cutts (for Clancarty) * – A to C * * – Barons (under Aylmer) {{DEFAULTSORT:Browne, Valentine, Sir, 1st Baronet 1633 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of Ireland 17th-century Irish lawyers High sheriffs of Kerry Lawyers from County Kerry Year of birth uncertain Members of Gray's Inn 17th-century Irish landowners Irish people of English descent