HISTORY OF THE BAGGETT FAMILY The Baggett Family in Ireland,
Part III The Early History of Ireland
The earliest records of the history
of Ireland appear in about the fifth century A.D. St. Patrick played a
major role in establishing Christianity in the Irish region. In his youth
Patrick was held captive by Irish Marauders and spent his time in captivity
as a herdsman. He was carried captive to near the mountain Slemish in the
county of Connacht. After six years of slavery he escaped to the northern
coast of Gaul (now France). Ordained as a priest by the Catholic Church,
he returned to Ireland some time after A.D. 431. Patrick succeeded St.
Palladius as First Bishop of Ireland. His feast day is 17 March.
Patrick was called the “Apostle
of Ireland.” Verily to this day about ninety-five percent of the Irish
remain Roman Catholic; not including Northern Ireland apparently, which
is still controlled by the English.
In the eighth century the Norse
invaded several times along the east coast and established settlements
around Dublin. It's possible that several of the Baggett family were established
in Ireland at this time. The Norsemen played a major role in colonizing
the island in this period.
Ireland has been the center of
the most violent conflict since the earliest times, and from the twelfth
century until recently, has been dominated by the kings of England.
The English king Henry II made
the first step toward an Anglo-Norman conquest of the island in about A.D.
1155, but it seems that everything failed until Dermot MacMurrough, the
deposed king of Leinster, sought refuge at King Henry's court. He obtained
permission from the king to enlist the services of English subjects for
a recovery of his kingdom.
Dermot returned to Ireland in
1169 and 1170 with foreign mercenaries (including members of the Bagot
family) and numerous Irish allies, and succeeded in recovering parts of
his former territories. He began working from Wexford, and then conquered
Dublin and other towns on the east coast.
It appears that the Bagots went
to Ireland in the 1170s by their connection with Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk,
and the earl's connection to William Marshall. Marshall married Isabel,
daughter of Richard de Clare (Strongbow), (2nd) Earl of Pembroke, who led
the Anglo-Norman invasion into the island. Hugh Bigod's grandson Hugh later
married Matilda, a younger sister and co-heiress of William Marshall.
The Bagot family settled at Wexford
and branches of the family acquired land near Dublin of the forests of
Maynooth and built Bagotrath Castle, now called Baggotrath. Bagotrath or
Bagod Rath Castle stood on what is now Upper Baggot St, Dublin:
Its lands would eventually become the nucleus of the great Fitzwilliam/Pembroke
estate of Dublin City. A stream, Baggotrath Brook, ran past it. The castle
was built in the early 1300s by the above named family, after whom the
castle and the now surrounding streets are named. It was occupied in 1379
by William Fitzwilliam. Baggotrath Castle was wrecked in 1649 in the time
of the Royalist, 1st Viscount Fitzwilliam, Sir Thomas Fitzwilliam of Merrion.
He was born 1581. He succeeded to the lands in 1595. He married 23 August
1605 Margaret Plunkett (a descendant of Edward I). The castle was abandoned
and fell into total ruin in the early 1700s. The ruins were finally demolished
in the early nineteenth century, as the area all around the Grand Canal
was developed. The Bagot Rath Arms are shown here:The
Bagod (Bagot) family also acquired land in Limerick where Bagotstown Castle
was established, now called Baggotstown, and the Bagot family was prominent
in Ireland in the thirteenth century. See Ireland Map here:
The Irish lineage was apparently
recorded by E. C. Bagot, A.U.S. 416645, R.A.A.F., from his own records
and from records which were held at Blithfield in County Stafford in England–“all
of which,” he said, “were seen on 12 May 1643.” His records indicate that
the ancestors of this family were amongst the Norman Barons who fought
at the Battle of Hastings in A.D. 1066, and are derived of the same lineage
as the Noble House of Bagot seated in Staffordshire since the days of William
the Conqueror. Their names are found inscribed in records of Norman chivalry.
See the Irish line of the Bagot family here:
John Bagot, a Companion-In-Arms
of Richard de Clare (Richard Strongbow), was the ancestor of the Irish
Bagots. This family was established in Ireland more than 800 years ago.
Richard Strongbow, (2nd) Earl of Pembroke, led his army into Ireland in
1172 and conquered parts of it. The kingdom of Leinster was claimed by
Strongbow, son-in-law and successor of Dermot. Apparently it is not known
who John Bagot's father is.
The Bagot families settling in
Dublin, Nurney, and Limerick and surrounding areas seemed to do well under
Queen Elizabeth I and King James I in the latter part of the sixteenth
and early part of the seventeenth centuries. In the 1590s, Bagotstown Castle
and its estates, with land in the Parish of Athlecaugh and Dromycleryn,
were confirmed to Edmond Bagot by patent by Elizabeth I, and resettled
in 1625 by King James I.
One of the Bagot family represented
Charleville when assembled at the Assembly of the Confederate Catholics
held in Kilkenny in 1647, and signed the Treaty of Limerick in 1651 and
the National Remonstrance to the King in 1661.
The Bagot family suffered great
loss because of their allegiance to the Stuart dynasty after Oliver Cromwell
came to power in all England as Lord Protector. He was opposed to the Catholic
hierarchy controlling England and became a friend to the Puritans. In 1649,
he and his well disciplined forces, 10,000 men of the New Model Army, stormed
Drogheda, captured it and went on to Wexford. After his victory at Wexford,
he successfully concluded the war. Consequently, Maurice Bagot was especially
exempted from pardon and mercy by Ireton at the Siege of Limerick in 1651
and was deprived of his estates by Cromwell in 1654.
Under Ireton, a great part of
the best land of Munster, Leinster and Ulster was divided among the Parliamentary
Army. The Catholic and Loyalist landowners were banished to Connacht.
After Cromwell's death Charles
II was crowned as King, and so strong was the anti-Puritan feeling that
the bodies of Cromwell and others who had participated in the trial and
execution of King Charles I, were disinterred and hanged on scaffolds.
King Charles II restored a portion of the land confiscated by Ireton, but
one-third still remained in the hands of Protestants.
After the death of Charles II
in 1685, James II became King. He attempted to win the support of the Dissenters
and the Roman Catholics in A.D. 1687 by ending religious restrictions;
but instead, he increased the religious tensions. The opposition leaders
soon thereafter invited William of Orange, later King William III, to take
the English throne, thus touching off the Glorious Revolution. The two
armies fought in regions in England, each trying to retain the throne,
resulting in James fleeing to France. After losing the war in England,
James II, aided by French troops, landed in Ireland; but in 1691 William
III and his generals defeated the Irish Army at Aughrim, and then by 1692
Limerick was forced to surrender.
The last thing that King James
did before escaping to France from Ireland was to have his Parliament of
1689 restore all lands confiscated since 1641 and pass an act of Attainder
against the partisans of King William III, which apparently was to no
avail. By reason of their extreme loyalty to the Stuart dynasty, the Bagot
family again lost all their possessions from 1690 to 1693 by the Inquisitions
at Carlow and Limerick.
The descendants of Robert Bagot
had resided at Bagotstown Castle and estates for almost 500 years. Bagotstown
Castle and estates, along with nine other Bagot estates, were confiscated.
At least two of the family were executed; John at Limerick and Mark at
Dublin. They fell during the siege at St. Ruth in Aughrim.
Some of the family accompanied
the defeated King James to France and remained in exile. James died in
France in 1701. There were some of the Bagot family that remained in France,
while others immigrated to Spain. See Legal Documents in Ireland
here:
See more data on the Irish lineage here:
In 1718, a petition from sons
John and Ignatius Bagot was sent to James III, whom they trusted to be
crowned King of England, requesting his help in recovering the estates
of their father, John Bagot, Sr., who had lost all his possessions in the
1690s during the siege at Aughrim and Limerick. But because James III was
only a pretender of the English throne and never crowned as King, the family
never recovered their property. James went to Scotland hoping to be crowned
there, but he was never crowned; the movement failed. After 1719 he lived
in Rome, where he was acknowledged as Britain's rightful king. He married
a princess of Poland.
Its lands would eventually become the nucleus of the great Fitzwilliam/Pembroke
estate of Dublin City. A stream, Baggotrath Brook, ran past it. The castle
was built in the early 1300s by the above named family, after whom the
castle and the now surrounding streets are named. It was occupied in 1379
by William Fitzwilliam. Baggotrath Castle was wrecked in 1649 in the time
of the Royalist, 1st Viscount Fitzwilliam, Sir Thomas Fitzwilliam of Merrion.
He was born 1581. He succeeded to the lands in 1595. He married 23 August
1605 Margaret Plunkett (a descendant of Edward I). The castle was abandoned
and fell into total ruin in the early 1700s. The ruins were finally demolished
in the early nineteenth century, as the area all around the Grand Canal
was developed. The Bagot Rath Arms are shown here:
