The Plunketts and the Brabazons

Lucas Plunkett (my thirteenth great-grandfather) was born in Fingall - in the outskirts of Dublin - in 1589. An Irish peer, he would be named the first Earl of Fingall in succession of his father on 26 September 1628. Before his death in 1637, he would help found the Irish town of Virginia in County Cavan.

Wikipedia reads the following: "Lord Killeen, who was a Catholic Anglo-Irish peer of Norman descent, whose family had come to Ireland in the twelfth century, undertook to complete the patented project. Complaints from the Virginia inhabitants about the lack of development progress reached the commission by 1638 whereupon Christopher Plunkett, 2nd Earl of Fingall (who had succeeded his father in the earldom in 1637) was ordered to submit a substantial bond with the commission's court, and to build the church in Virginia or face forfeiture of his County Cavan lands... events which led to the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and Irish Confederate Wars enveloped Virginia causing widespread destruction and depopulation. The summer of 1642 saw the outright destruction by government forces of the castle along with the burning of stocks of hay, corn and turf in a bid to punish the outlawed Lord Fingall for his role in the Siege of Drogheda (1641)."

A small community remained after the dust had settled, with an inn there becoming a hangout of Jonathan Swift, who wrote "A Modest Proposal" staying at the nearby Quilca House. The Plunkett family sold the estate in 1750 to pay off debts, therein it would be rebuilt by the Taylor (later Taylour) family. Its Catholic church was built in 1845 in the midst of the Great Famine, the product of hard labour volunteered by townspeople - including women and children - in exchange for Indian meal from the local Famine Relief Committee. This effectively "averted" the devastating effects of the Famine for the town. The town today is home to the Ramor Theatre and an annual agricultural show.

Plunkett would marry Susannah Brabazon, born in Dublin in 1590, on June 9, 1611. Her father (my fourteenth great-grandfather) Edward Brabazon held many a title throughout his life. He served on the Privy Council of Ireland in 1584 and as a member of two local parliaments: County Wicklow's in 1585 and the city of Bangor's from 1613 to 1615. He also served as High Sheriff of County Stafford from 1606 to 1607 and on the Council of Munster in 1615. His title of Baron of Ardee - a town in County Louth - was bestowed upon him on July 19, 1616, shortly before his marriage to Mary Smythe/Smith on the 19th of August that year, making her a baroness. Mary's father, Edward (of Mitcham, Surrey) had held the position of Clerk of the Green Cloth under Queen Elizabeth I - as secretary to the Board of Green Cloth, he helpled with the administration of the Royal Household and organization of royal journeys.

Of their nine children, their daughter Catharine (my twelth great-grandmother) was born in Fingall, just like her father, in 1624.