Luttrell History of Ireland

LUTTRELL HISTORY IN IRELAND

Passage from the HISTORY OF A NOTED IRISH FAMILY
Published in a magazine in Ireland called THE SHAMROCK, page 811 and 812, mail to Elston LUTTRELL ON 4/1895, by William LUTTRELL of Cappakeel, New Inn, Monastarevan, Queens County, Ireland.

Upon the right bank of the River Liffey, & within a short distance of the picturesque village of Lucan, stands the beautiful demesne of Woodlands, which is former days was known as Luttrellstown.The LUTTRELL family, who resided there up to the closing years of the last century, had a strange & chequered history, which might well furnish a theme for an Irish novelist.There is, indeed, a mysterious significance in the fortunes of the most prominent members of the family, which would have fired the imagination of Sir Walter SCOTT, had he been an Irishman.It is believed that the LUTTRELLs settled in England at the time of the Norman Conquest, one of them having fought in the Battle of Hastings.In the reign of Henry I, we find the name of one Johan DeLUTTEREL mentioned as holding the manor of HOLON-PAGNEL, in Yorkshire, be certain feudal services.One of his descendants founded the Abbey of Croxton-Kyriel, in Yorkshire, in the time of Henry II.The first LUTTRELL who came to Ireland was Chevalier Gaoffroi DeLUTTERAL, who followed the fortunes of Prince John, brother of Richard I.Owing to the quarrel between King Richard and his younger brother Prince John, the LUTTRELL estates in Leicestershire, Yorkshire and other parts of England, were confiscated, but on John’s accession to the throne, not only was the England property restored to the family but an Irish estate was added.Among the grants made by King John to his faithful follower, Geoffroi (Jeoffrey) LUTTRELL, was one of the castles and monor of Luttrellstown, in the County of Dublin, Ireland.

It would seem that this member of the LUTTRELL family enjoyed the royal favor during the subsequent portion of his career, for he was sent by King John as ambassador extraordinary to the court of Rome along with the archbishops of Dublin and Bordeaux,, to solicit the Pope’s assistance against a hostile confederation of English barons and was entrusted with other missions of an equally delicate nature.Another representative of the LUTTRELLs, successfully asserted his claim to certain lands as heir of Maurice DeGant (Gaunt), who was a collateral descendant of William the Conqueror, and the son of Baldwin, Earl of Flanders.From the 13th to the latter part of the 17th century the house of LUTTRELL enjoyed great wealth and distinction, possessing large estates both in England and Ireland.The proprietors of Luttrellstown held high rank among the Irish aristocracy of the 16th and 17th centuries.We are told that Thomas LUTTRELL, who was in the early part of the 17th century one of the members for the County of Dublin, Ireland and also a privy councilor “had the confidence to make comparisons with the Earl of Thomond, even in the lord deputy’s presence.”Thomas LUTTRELL married Lady Eleanor PRESTON, daughter of the Earl of Gormanston, by whom he had several children.His eldest son, Simon, adhered to the cause of Charles I and suffered for it during the period of the commonwealth, his castle at Luttrellstown being seized by Colonel Hewson, the Cromwelian Governor of Dublin.It is creditable to the LUTTRELLs that they had cling to the Catholic faith, though it would have been to their interest to adopt of the Reformation.When Simon LUTTRELL died in 1650, his son Thomas, who would have inherited Luttrellstown, was practically outlawed by Cromwell’s government.On the death of the protector he availed himself of the Act of settlement, which was passed as soon as Charles II ascended the throne.The new King Charles II, did him the honor of making him a Gentleman of the Bedchamber, in addition to which he enjoyed the estate of Luttrellstown to the end of his days.Thomas LUTTRELL died in 1674, leaving four sons, the two eldest of whom, Simon and Henry LUTTRELL, were distined to have remarkable careers.At an early age these two young men served in the French army, and Simon LUTTRELL, the elder, attained the rank of Colonel.

It is unnecessary to point out that, until the reign of James II an Irish Catholic gentleman had no chance of distinguishing himself, either in public life or in any of the professions, in his own country.The Duke of Berwick, who know the two brothers intimately, gave the following suggestive description of them:“Simon LUTTRELL, was of a mild disposition and always appeared to be a honest man.Henry LUTTRELL, showed a great deal of talent, a great deal of intrigue, a great deal of courage, and was a good officer, capable of anything to bring about his own ends.”When James II appealed to the Irish people to support his cause against the Prince of Orange, Simon and Henry LUTTRELLcame back from France with the avowed object of fighting on the Jacobite side.They raised between them five squadrons of cavalry, and each of them obtained command of a regiment in the royal service.In the parliament of 1689 Simon LUTTRELL sat as one of the members for the Co. of Dublin, and Henry LUTTRELL sat as member for the Co. of Carlow.Macaylay says; of Henry LUTTRELLthat he “brought back to Ireland a sharpened intellect and polished manners, a flattering tongue, some skill in war, and much more skill in intrigue.”It certainly appears evident, from his subsequent conduct, that the younger of these two brothers was a thoroughly unscrupulous man.

Simon LUTTRELL was appointed Governor of Dublin, Ireland and discharged his duty
in a very satisfactory manner.He was an advocate of toleration at a time when it seemed a sign of weakness to be tolerant, and in spite of Tyrconnell’s violent measures, he allowed the follows of Trinity College to depart with their personal chattels in safety.In this wise policy he was supported by Sir Richard Nagle, the Attorney-General of that day, a man who never allowed religion to degenerate into bigotry.Simon LUTTRELL continued to act as Governor until the announcement of the battle of Boyne, when King James, with characteristic ingratitude, having fled to Dublin, Ireland called together his chief advisors and declared that he owed his defeat to the “cowardice” of the Irish soldiers.Surely there never lived a monarch so little worth fighting for!On the 12th day of July, 1690, the Jacobites quitted Dublin and marched toward Limerick.Simon LUTTRELL was the last to leave his post.In the meantime Henry LUTTRELL had been engaged in several of the conflicts which took place since the commencement of the war, and had proved himself a capable officer.During the siege of Limerick, however, he was discovered in a attempt to betray his fellow countrymen to the Williamite General, and to his treachery we may fairly attribute some of the disasters that befell the Irish troops, in the closing of the campaign.He was tried on a charge of treasonable conspiracy and convicted, but he escapted the punishment due to his crime.Simon LUTTRELL left Ireland before the treaty of Limerick was signed; and we find in the fourth of the articles his name mentioned as “one of the officers belonging to the regiments of the Irish army beyond the seas,”who were offered pardon and the restoration of their estates on condition of taking the oath of allegiance and returning to Ireland “within the space of eight months.”He did not think fit to avail himself of this stipulation in the treaty, rightly suspecting, no doubt, that it would not be honorably adhered to; and his brother Henry easily induced Ginkell, the Williamite commander, to put him in possession of the mansion and demesne of Luttrellstown at the expiration of the period affixed in the articles for the exile’s return.To show his loyalty, Henry LUTTRELL raised a splendid regiment of horse, which he enrolled in the service of King William.After this, he was frequently employed as a Government agent, and when the war of the Spanish succession broke out, Henry was, through the influence of William III, appointed the General in the Dutch army.From the time of the treaty of Limerick all communication between the two brothers, Simon and Henry appeared to have ceased.

Simon LUTTRELL distinguished himself in the French army, and was killed while commanding an Irish regiment at the Battle of Lindon in 1693.

Henry LUTTRELL cherished feelings of malignant animosity against his brother’s widow, and in the month of June, 1699 he wrote to the Lord Lieutenant to warn the government that she had returned to Ireland, by means of an old pass given to her by Lord Romney.He begged of the viceroy that he might have permission “to make use of the outlawry against her, in case she should give him trouble by an attorney.”He was evidently afraid that she would attempt to bring a suit for the recovery of Luttrellstown.Henry added; “she is a very intriguing woman and it was thought when she went for (sic) France that she went on a very intriguing message.I hard my Lord Romney repent mightily giving her a pass, and I need not tell you lordship that there will be nothing left undone by the Jacobites here to perplex me in this affair.”Simon LUTTRELL, had married Catherine Newcemen August 1672, her father was Sir Thomas Newcemen.

On 10/22/1717; Henry LUTTRELL was fired at and mortally wounded while being conveyed in his sedan chair, between the hours of 10 and 11 o’clock at night, from Lucas’ coffee house to his town residence on Stafford Street.A reward of 300 pounds, afterward increased to 1,000 pounds, was offered by the government for the arrest and conviction of his murdered, but the assassin was never found.In 1790, a nephew of the unhappy man, whose life had thus paid the forfeit of his treachery, was tried for willful perjury against two persons whom the enterprising youth had falsely accused of the murder.For this offense the young man was condemned in the pillery, to have his ears cut off and to be imprisoned for eight months.The real murder was, as it has been suggested, some “enthusiast who sought to avenge the wrongs of his country in the blood of a traitor.”The Name of LUTTRELL from the time of this tragic occurrence was never mentioned amongst the people of Dublin accept with words of execration.Henry LUTTRELL,whose tragic fate was so strongly suggestive, left two sons, Robert and Simon LUTTRELL, one of whom subsequently became Lord Carhampton.The infamous career of Henry Lewis, second Lord Carhampton, has made the subject of an interesting sketch in Mr. Fitzpatrick’s “Ireland Before the Union.”The only thing which need be mentioned her is that, exactly eighty years after Henry LUTTRELL’s assassination, Lord Carhampton was also murdered under somewhat similar circumstances.