Sir Valentine Browne, 1st Viscount Kenmare and 3rd Baronet Browne of Molahiffe (1638–1694), was an Irish Jacobite who fought for

James II of England James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II of England, Charles II, on 6 February 1 ...

in the

Williamite War in Ireland The Williamite War in Ireland took place from March 1689 to October 1691. Fought between Jacobitism, Jacobite supporters of James II of England, James II and those of his successor, William III of England, William III, it resulted in a Williamit ...

Birth and origins

Valentine was born in 1638. He was the eldest son of Valentine Browne and Mary MacCarthy. His father was the 2nd Baronet Browne of Molahiffe, County Kerry. His mother was a 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 ...

. His mother's family were the

MacCarthys of Muskerry The MacCarthy dynasty of Muskerry is a tacksman branch of the MacCarthy Mor dynasty, the Kings of Desmond. Origins and advancement The MacCarthy of Muskerry are a cadet branch of the MacCarthy Mor ...

, a

Gaelic Irish The Gaels ( ; ; ; ) are an Insular Celtic ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. They are associated with the Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic languages comprising Irish, Manx, and Scottish Gaeli ...

dynasty that branched from the MacCarthy-Mor line with Dermot MacCarthy, second son of Cormac MacCarthy-Mor, a medieval Prince of Desmond. This second son had been granted the Muskerry area as

appanage An appanage, or apanage (; ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a monarch, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture (where only the eldest inherits). It was ...

. He was one of four siblings, who are listed in his father's article.

Early life

Browne succeeded his father in 1640 as the 3rd Baronet Browne at the age of two. As a child he was a ward of

Donough MacCarty, 2nd Viscount Muskerry Sir Donough MacCarty, 1st Earl of Clancarty (1594–1665), was an Irish soldier and politician. He succeeded his father as 2nd Viscount Muskerry in 1641. He rebelled against the government and joined the Irish Catholic Confederation, demand ...

, his maternal uncle. Muskerry fought with the Irish Catholic Confederates against the Irish government, the English Parliament and the Cromwellians in the

Irish Rebellion of 1641 The Irish Rebellion of 1641 was an uprising in Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, initiated on 23 October 1641 by Catholic gentry and military officers. Their demands included an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and ...

, the

Irish Confederate Wars The Irish Confederate Wars, took place from 1641 to 1653. It was the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a series of civil wars in Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, all then ...

and the

Cromwellian conquest of Ireland The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland (1649–1653) was the re-conquest of Ireland by the Commonwealth of England, initially led by Oliver Cromwell. It forms part of the 1641 to 1652 Irish Confederate Wars, and wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three ...

. Muskerry made Ross Castle, which belonged to Browne, his last stand against Cromwell's General

Edmund Ludlow Edmund Ludlow (c. 1617–1692) was an English parliamentarian, best known for his involvement in the execution of Charles I, and for his ''Memoirs'', which were published posthumously in a rewritten form and which have become a major source ...

, surrendered on 27 June 1652 and went into exile.

Marriage and children

Sir Valentine married Jane Plunkett, only daughter and heir of Sir

Nicholas Plunkett Sir Nicholas Plunkett (1602–1680) was an Anglo-Irish lawyer and politician. He was a younger son of Christopher Plunkett, 9th Baron Killeen and Jane (or Genet) Dillon, daughter of Sir Lucas Dillon: his brother Luke was created Earl of Fi ...

of Balrath,

County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

, the lawyer and

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

politician. Valentine and Jane had five sons: #

Nicholas Nicholas is a male name, the Anglophone version of an ancient Greek name in use since antiquity, and cognate with the modern Greek , . It originally derived from a combination of two Ancient Greek, Greek words meaning 'victory' and 'people'. In ...

(about 1660 – 1720), 2nd Viscount Browne # Ossory (died 1666), without issue # Patrick (died 1675) without issue # James (died 1680) without issue # Valentine, died without issue —and four daughters: # Mary (died 1703), married 1685 George Aylmer of Lyons, County Kildare # Ellis, married Nicholas Purcell, Baron of Loughmoe # Thomasine, married Nicholas Bourke of Cahirmoil, County Limerick # Katherine, married the Portuguese ambassador in London, Dom

Luís da Cunha D. Luís da Cunha (; 25 January 1662 – 9 October 1749) was a Portuguese diplomat who served under King John V of Portugal as part of His Most Faithful Majesty's Council. He was also Judge of the Royal Household, Envoy Extraordinary of Po ...

Restoration

Sir Valentine received some lands under the

Act of Settlement The Act of Settlement ( 12 & 13 Will. 3. c. 2) is an act of the Parliament of England that settled the succession to the English and Irish crowns to only Protestants, which passed in 1701. More specifically, anyone who became a Roman Cathol ...

of 1662.

Jacobite

Sir Valentine commanded a regiment in the Irish army and seems to have been taken prisoner at the

Battle of Aughrim The Battle of Aughrim () was the decisive battle of the Williamite War in Ireland. It was fought between the largely Irish Army (Kingdom of Ireland), Irish Jacobitism, Jacobite army loyal to James II of England, James II and the forces of Will ...

in 1691.

Viscount Kenmare

Sir Valentine was created 1st Viscount Kenmare and Baron Castlerosse (after

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 ...

) on 20 May 1689, by King James II, after his deposition by the English Parliament, but while he still possessed his rights as King of Ireland. At the time James was presiding over the short-lived

Patriot Parliament Patriot Parliament is the name commonly used for the Irish Parliament session called by King James II during the Williamite War in Ireland which lasted from 1688 to 1691. The first since 1666, it held only one session, which lasted from 7 May ...

. The peerage remained on the Irish patent roll in a constitutionally ambiguous position, but was not recognized by the Protestant political establishment.

Catholicism and Death

The 1st Viscount Kenmare wrote in his will that he wanted to be buried in "some decent Catholic church, monastery, abbey, or graveyard". He was therefore Catholic despite the English origin of his family. He died in 1694 and was succeeded by his eldest son Nicholas.

Notes and references

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * – (for Kenmare) * – G to K (for Kenmare) * – 1611 to 1625 (for Browne) * – Canonteign to Cutts (for Clancarty) * * – Barons * – (for the 2nd Viscount Kenmare) * – Irish stem * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kenmare, Valentine Browne, 1st Viscount 1638 births 1694 deaths Valentine Irish Jacobites Irish soldiers in the army of James II of England Members of the Irish House of Lords Peers of Ireland created by James II Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland Viscounts in the Jacobite peerage