On Monday, November 15, 2021 at 12:37:25 PM UTC-8, Andrew Z wrote:
Dear group,
Since I came across conflicting information regarding some of the parentages below, I was hoping to get your input on the following potential descent from Edward I:
Katherine Cusack and Sir Henry Colley
Maud Darcy and Sir Thomas Cusack, Lord Chancellor of Ireland
George Darcy and Jane Riccard
Sir William Darcy and Margaret St. Lawrence*
Dear Andrew,
The descent above, from Sir William Darcy of Platten Castle, co. Meath (c.1460-1540), to Katherine (Cusack), Lady Colley, appears to be valid.
Elizabeth Plunkett and John Darcy
Elizabeth Welles and Christopher Plunkett, 2nd Baron Killeen
Here is where this line of descent fails. Elizabeth Welles (1440-1506) and her first husband Christopher Plunkett, 2nd Baron Killeen (1442-1467), had a single surviving child, Genet Plunkett (c.1466-c.1501), the first wife of Nicholas St Lawrence, 3rd
Lord Howth (c.1460-1526).
The Elizabeth Plunkett who was the wife of John Darcy of Platten Castle belongs a generation back. She was the sister, not the daughter, of Christopher, 2nd Baron Killeen. She was the daughter of Christopher Plunkett, 1st Lord Killeen (d. 1455) and Joan
Bellew (d. 1463).
Chronology proves this. Sir William Darcy of Platten Castle was born about 1460, per Wikipedia. Elizabeth Welles married the 2nd Lord Killeen on 1 May 1464 at Crickstown Castle, county Meath. It's chronologically impossible for Sir William Darcy to have
been their grandson.
Sir William Welles, Lord Chancellor of Ireland and Anne Barnewall
Eudo de Welles and Maud Greystoke
Eleanor de Mowbray and John de Welles, 5th Baron Welles
Elizabeth de Segrave, 5th Baroness Segrave and John de Mowbray, 4th Baron Mowbray
Margaret of Brotherton, Duchess of Norfolk and John Segrave, 4th Baron Segrave
Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk and Alice de Hales
Edward I, King of England and Margaret of France
This descent, from Edward I to Sir William Welles, is correct.
*Alternatively:
Margaret St. Lawrence and Sir William Darcy
Genet (or Jenet) Plunkett and Nicholas St Lawrence, 4th Baron Howth Elizabeth Welles and Christopher Plunkett, 2nd Baron Killeen
Per John Lodge's 'Peerage of Ireland', an unnamed daughter of Christopher St Lawrence, 1st Lord Howth (d. 1463), was the wife of Sir William Darcy of Platten Castle (c.1460-1540) [p. 51]: "---, first married to --- Cruse of Drogheda; and 2dly to Sir
William Darcy of Platten, Vice-Treasurer of Ireland, by whom she had George Darcy of Platten, Esq."
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Peerage_of_Ireland_Or_a_Genealogical/CAWhR9N6jDQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=sir+william+darcy+married+margaret+st+lawrence&pg=PA51&printsec=frontcover
Per his entry in ODNB, Nicholas St Lawrence, 3rd Lord Howth, "was married three times: first to Janet, daughter of Christopher Plunket, Lord Killeen, with whom he had a son, Christopher, who succeeded him as Baron Howth, and four daughters, Alison,
Elizabeth, Ellenor, and Anne. His second wife was Anne Bermingham, daughter of Thomas Berford of Kilrow, co. Meath, with whom he had two sons, Amorey and Robert, and one daughter, Katherine. His third wife, whom he married about February 1505, was Alison,
daughter of Robert Fitzsimons, sister of Walter Fitzsimons, archbishop of Dublin, and widow of Nicholas Cheevers; they had a son named William or Walter, and a daughter, Marian."
Note the 3rd Lord Howth did not have a daughter named Margaret, by any of his wives. Were any of his daughters married to a Darcy of Platten Castle? Of the four daughters he had by his first wife Genet Plunkett (descended from Edward I): Alison St
Lawrence married 1st John Netterville of Dowth Castle, and 2ndly to Sir Patrick Whyte of Clontarf (c.1480-1561); Eleanor St Lawrence married Sir Walter Chevers of Ballyhealy Castle; Anne St Lawrence married as his 2nd wife, Thomas Cusack of Gerrardstown;
Elizabeth St Lawrence said to have married, as his 2nd wife, Richard Nugent, 3rd Baron Delvin (d. 1538). By his 2nd wife, the 3rd Lord Howth had a daughter Katherine St Lawrence who married, as the 2nd of his 3 wives, Sir John Plunkett of Beaulieu Castle
(c.1485-1560, descended from Edward I). By his 3rd wife, the 3rd Lord Howth had a daughter Marian St Lawrence, who married 1st Christopher Nugent, Heir of Delvin (d. 1531, descended from Edward I), and married 2ndly, Sir Gerald FitzGerald, Knight Marshal
of Ireland.
The 3rd Lord Howth did not have a daughter who was married to any Darcy of Platten Castle, let alone Sir William Darcy (c.1460-1540). Again chronology proves it impossible. Sir William was given the wardship of James Marward, Baron Skryne (1501-1534),
presumably not too long after the death of Marward's father Thomas Marward, Baron Skryne, in 1503. Sir William married his ward to his granddaughter Maud Darcy, who was presumably around the same age as James Marward, or perhaps a little younger, so let'
s say born by 1510. Which means her father George Darcy, the heir of Platten Castle, was born probably in the 1480s, certainly by 1490. And that means that his mother Margaret St Lawrence was probably the same age as her second husband Sir William Darcy,
who was born about 1460. She may have even been a few years older, as Sir William was her second marriage. Genet Plunkett's parents were married in 1464, so it's chronologically impossible for her to have been the grandmother of Maud (Darcy), Lady Skryne
(d. by 1558), wife of Sir Thomas Cusack (c.1505-1571).
Hope this helps.
Cheers, ------Brad
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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