The title Baron of Loughmoe is a feudal barony located in northern County Tipperary

County Tipperary

County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. The title was possibly raised to a Jacobite

Jacobitism

Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...

 peerage in 1690 while James II

James II of England

James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...

 was in exile, however, while the Marquis de Ruvigny notes this in his 'The Jacobite Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Grants of Honour', there is little other evidence to support this. Click here for link

The feudal title was granted to Richard Purcell in 1328 by James Butler, 1st Earl of Ormond as palatine Lord of Tipperary. Irish and Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 feudal titles, particularly those granted by palatine lords, are difficult to classify in law, they are acknowledged as genuine hereditament

Hereditament

In law, a hereditament is any kind of property that can be inherited.Hereditaments are divided into corporeal and incorporeal...

s by the arms granting bodies of Ireland, Scotland, and England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, but were never formally recognised by the Crown

The Crown

The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...

.

The seat of the Baron of Loughmoe is Loughmoe Castle

Loughmoe Castle

Loughmoe Castle is a ruined castle at Loughmore Village, near Templemore in North Tipperary, Ireland.The castle was the ancestral home of the Purcell family, the Barons of Loughmoe.-History:...

 at Loughmore

Loughmore

Loughmore, officially Loughmoe , is a village in North Tipperary in the province of Munster, Ireland. The village is best known for its castle, seat of the Barons of Loughmoe....

 Village, Templemore

Templemore

Templemore is a town in North Tipperary, Ireland. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Eliogarty. It is part of the Roman Catholic parish of Templemore, Clonmore and Killea....

, Co. Tipperary.

Ancient origins

Though referring to the Purcells of Loughmoe specifically, the medieval Irish genealogist Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh

Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh

Dubhaltach MacFhirbhisigh, also known as Dubhaltach Óg mac Giolla Íosa Mór mac Dubhaltach Mór Mac Fhirbhisigh, Duald Mac Firbis, Dudly Ferbisie, and Dualdus Firbissius was an Irish scribe, translator, historian and genealogist...

 wrote that Purcell genealogy begins with Charlemagne, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

There are several ancestral lines reaching back from Sir Hugh Purcell and his wife, Beatrix Fitzwalter le Botillier, ancestors of all succeeding Irish Purcells, to Charlemagne. These are easily discovered on Ancestry.com, et al. One line: Charlemagne, Louis I Aquitaine, Charles the Bald, Rothaut de France, Richilde de Bourges, Gerlotte de Blois, Female de Bricquebec, Tourude de Harcourt, Humphrey de Harcourt, Albreda de Preaux, Hubert De Rie, Albreda De Rie, Robert de Valoignes, Theobald de Valoines, Maude de Valoignes, Theobald Fitzwalter, Beatrix Fitzwalter.

When Beatrix married Sir Hugh Purcell, part of her marriage portion was Loughmoe Castle.

Additional Purcell family history is suggested by the 17th century French encyclopaedist Louis Moréri

Louis Moréri

Louis Moréri was a French encyclopaedist.His encyclopaedia, Le grand Dictionaire historique, ou le mélange curieux de l'histoire sacrée et profane was first published in Lyon in 1674. The encyclopaedia focused particularly on historical and biographical articles...

. Moréri wrote the monumental Le Grande Dictionnaire Historique which documents the history of the ancient families and towns of France. He writes that the Porcellet family were Lords of Arles, an ancient Roman trading town in modern Provence. Moréri notes the daughter of Aimedrius Porcellet, Lord d’Arles, married her northern first cousin, Hugh Porcel around 1020 AD.

Norman origins

The earliest documented Purcell is the Norman Hugh Porcel who in 1035 AD granted the tithes of Montmarquet, a vill on the frontiers of Picardy, and near Aumerle, to the Abbey of Aumerle. Whether this Hugh and the Hugh mentioned by Moreri are the same is impossible to determine - the timing however is right.

Norman invasion of England 1066 AD

As noted by O'Hart, according to a tradition, Sir Hugh was the first Norman to land at Pevensey Bay, the first to do a deed of Arms by storming the ruins of the old Roman Castle, where a party of Harold’s soldiers lay entrenched, and the first to win a grant of land from William the Conqueror in “guerdon of the deed.” No evidence exists to support this claim. Hugh's son Dyno, however, was Keeper of the Bedchamber to William the Conqueror, a strong indication of military association between the Purcells and the King.

The successor of Sir Hugh Porcel was Øyno Purcell, who in about 1120, received a grant of the manor of Catteshull, Surrey, from King Henry I. Catteshull is a manor and tithing the north-east of Godalming (Surrey), and included lands in Chiddingfold. Øyno married a daughter of Nigel de Broc, a famous Justiciar of the time. In 1129-30, his elder son Geffrey, the King's usher (hostiarius), paid his relief for his father’s land and held it free of toll as it had been in his fathers time, and gave it to Reading Abbey on becoming a monk there. This gift was confirmed both by the Empress Maud and by her opponent Stephen. No mention is made of Catteshull in the confirmatory grants of Henry II to Reading Abbey, and he seems to have regranted it to Ralph de Broc, son of Øyno Purcell (identical with Ralph Purcell), to hold by the service of usher of the king’s chamber. This service or serjeanty by which the manor was held is variously stated as ‘the keeping of the linen’ and being ‘usher of the laundresses.’

Geoffrey’s brother and heir, Ranulf, assumed his mothers name of De Broc apparently in 1156, as the Pipe Roll of that year for Hampshire he is styled De Broc and for Surrey he is still called Purcell.

Dyno's son, Ranulf Purcell, took his mothers name, de Broc, and was implicated in the assassination of Thomas Becket

Thomas Becket

Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion...

. Ranulf was excommunicated for theft of property of the Archbishopric by Becket, on Christmas Day, 1170, the traditional day of forgiveness. When Henry II

Henry II of England

Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...

, who was in Normandy, heard of this, he is said to have asked why none of his knights had rid him of “this troublesome priest”. A few days later, four knights arrived at Saltwood

Saltwood Castle

Saltwood Castle is a castle in Saltwood village—which derives its name from the castle—1 mile north of Hythe, Kent, England.The castle is known as the site where the plot was hatched to assassinate Thomas Becket...

, Ranulf de Broc’s castle in Kent. After the murder, Saltwood

Saltwood Castle

Saltwood Castle is a castle in Saltwood village—which derives its name from the castle—1 mile north of Hythe, Kent, England.The castle is known as the site where the plot was hatched to assassinate Thomas Becket...

 was confiscated by Henry for De Broc's involvement in the murder. De Broc argued that the knights had lied to him and said Henry had ordered Becket be arrested.

Just as Randulf de Broc had no male issue neither had his nephew Robert, who as Justiciar is frequently mentioned in the public Records; Robert came to be represented by the De Lodges’ and the Peto’s.

The Purcell male representation then passed to the family of the lords of Newton-Purcell Oxon., and Shareshull, Staffordshire. Ralph, the founder of this line, inherited those manors and others in Normandy, near Rouen, together with the Court Office, viz.: Usher of the King’s Chamber, as well as his maternal uncle Robert Burnell’s Court Office of Usher, who was living in 1129-30 and enjoyed the Royal favour shown by the remission of the Dane-Geld. About 1154, a charter of confirmation of his uncle’s lands and office passed attested, among others, by St. Thomas a Beckett, the Chancellor. About 1160 he made a grant of land in Normandy to the Abbey of the Holy Trinity, Rouen. He must have lived to a great age, as he obtained another confirmation under the payment from King John A.D. 1200. He was the Patriarch of a numerous tribe in England and Ireland; one of his sons being Hugh, who took part in the English Invasion of Ireland in 1171 and became the founder of the House of Purcell in that country.

Norman invasion of Ireland 1171 AD

According to O'Hart, this Hugh was the unnamed knight mentioned by Giraldus Cambrensis

Giraldus Cambrensis

Gerald of Wales , also known as Gerallt Gymro in Welsh or Giraldus Cambrensis in Latin, archdeacon of Brecon, was a medieval clergyman and chronicler of his times...

, as slain at Waterford. Hugh had been left in command of Waterford while the King departed for Dublin,

…"on the morrow, seeking to cross the river in one of the native boats to hold parley with the King, the boatmen rose upon him in the middle of the stream, stabbed him with their long ‘skeans’ and the threw the body into the river."

In 1171 Sir Hugh Purcell was a knight who participated in the Norman invasion of Ireland, and around 1204 his grandson Sir Hugh married Beatrix, daughter of Theobald FitzWalter, Chief Butler of Ireland. As part of his marriage, Hugh received from FitzWalter, the town of Loughmoe. Sir Hugh founded, in 1241, a Monastery of Franciscans or Grey Friars in Waterford. Hugh's tomb is described by 17th century sources as having on it, the figure of a man in armour, in high relief, with a shield on his left arm, on which were three lions passant guardant in pale. The crest of course is that of the Plantagenets and speaks to the fact that Hugh's mother was an illegitimate daughter of Richard I of England.

List of the Barons of Loughmoe

The following in an incomplete list of those who have held the title of Lord or Baron of Loughmoe:

Lord of Loughmoe

• Sir Hugh Purcell

Baron of Loughmoe

• Richard Purcell, 1st Baron of Loughmoe (1328)
• Phillip Purcell of Loughmoe
• Geoffrey Rothe Purcell of Loughmoe (c.1397)
• Thomas Purcell of Loughmoe (c.1430)
• Peter Purcell of Loughmoe - on 13 August 1461, he was granted by Edward IV a life annuity
  Life annuity
  A life annuity is a financial contract in the form of an insurance product according to which a seller — typically a financial institution such as a life insurance company — makes a series of future payments to a buyer in exchange for the immediate payment of a lump sum or a series...
  
   of 10l from the lordship of Waghterard in Ireland, former title of James, Earl of Ormonde, and afterwards of James, Earl of Wiltshire
  Earl of Wiltshire
  The title Earl of Wiltshire is one of the oldest in the Peerage of England, going back to the 12th century. It is currently held by the Marquess of Winchester, and is used as a courtesy title for the eldest son of the marquess....
  
  
• James Purcell of Loughmoe (c.1456) - An elegy written for him describes something of the turbulence of the period and the Purcell attacks against such neighboring families as the O'Meaghers of Ikerrin
  Ikerrin
  Ikerrin is one of the baronies of Ireland, a historical geographical unit of land. Its chief town is Roscrea. It is one of 14 baronies in the traditional county of Tipperary between the baronies of Eliogarty to the south and Ormond Upper to the west...
  
  , the O'Kennedy's of Ormond and the Hacketts of Middlethird. The poem loses something in translation but the pattern of raid and counter-raid is clear enough. He also took part of the O'Kennedy's cattle of Donemona - good the spoil - that were hidden away when the pursuit started.
• John Purcell of Loughmoe (c.1466)
• Thomas Purcell of Loughmoe (c.1518)
• Patrick Purcell of Loughmoe (c.1534)
• Thomas Purcell of Loughmoe
  Thomas Purcell of Loughmoe
  Thomas Purcell, Baron of Loughmoe was an Irish nobleman.A member of a wealthy Tipperary family, Thomas' greatest legacy is a harp composition he commissioned to be played at his funeral. The lament was probably commissioned by Purcell for his impending death...
  
   (b.1538 d. 3 August 1607), married Joanna Fitzpatrick (b. 1542 - d. 1611)
• Ralph Purcell of Loughmoe, died without issue, succeeded by his brother
• Richard Purcell of Loughmoe (d. 15 September 1624), married Mary Pluncket of Killahara. In 1607 Richard was tried and found guilty for the manslaughter of his brother-in-law, Adam Tobin, while the latter was High Sheriff of the County of Tipperary in 1606. Richard was the father of
• Theobald Purcell of Loughmoe (b. 1595 flourished 1630 died 1644), married Ellen Butler, daughter of the 11th Earl of Dunboyne. Theobald was one of the two members of the 1634 Parliament for the County of Cross Tipperary (the church lands of that county) and was described as an "Irish Papist". Theobald or Tibbot took part in the Rebellion of 1641 on the side of the Confederate Catholics. Loughmoe was attacked during the Rebellion and is listed as "destroyed" and "out of all manner of repayre."
• James Purcell of Loughmoe, (b.1609, died 13 September 1652, married Elizabeth Butler.
• Nicholas Purcell of Loughmoe
  Nicholas Purcell of Loughmoe
  Nicholas Purcell, 13th Baron of Loughmoe was the son of James Purcell of Loughmoe and the maternal nephew of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde....
  
   born (September 1652), died 4 March 1722

Henry Purcell

The famous composer Henry Purcell

Henry Purcell

Henry Purcell – 21 November 1695), was an English organist and Baroque composer of secular and sacred music. Although Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, his legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music...

 was related to the Purcell family of Loughmoe. He was the son of Henry Purcell, born
in Ireland, and was the grandson of Thomas Purcell

Thomas Purcell of Loughmoe

Thomas Purcell, Baron of Loughmoe was an Irish nobleman.A member of a wealthy Tipperary family, Thomas' greatest legacy is a harp composition he commissioned to be played at his funeral. The lament was probably commissioned by Purcell for his impending death...

 of Gortanny and Ballyross, Co.Tipperary, who was cousin of the Baron of Loughmoe. Henry Purcell's father and uncle were brought as boys to London; and were placed in the Chapel Royal

Chapel Royal

A Chapel Royal is a body of priests and singers who serve the spiritual needs of their sovereign wherever they are called upon to do so.-Austria:...

, through the influence of the Butler family.

Sources

• Chartulary of la Ste. Trinite, Rouen; and Chartulary of Aumerle; Archeologia, V. 26, as to the Aumerle grant.
• O’ Hart, J. Irish Pedigree 5th Edition. 1923.
• Testa de Neville, (Rec. Com.), p. 223 or 225
• Hunter’s Pipe Roll , 31, K. H. I., p. 50 and 151
• Add. Chart. (B.M.), 19572.
• T. De N., p. 128.
• Add. Chart. (B.M.), 19584.
• Harl. MS. 1708, fol. 21 et seq.
• Testa de Neville, (Rec. Com.), p. 223, 227.
• Red Bk. Of the Exch. 561, 1013.
• Assize R. 80, m. 3d. See Blount, Jocular Tenures (ed. W. C. Hazlitt), p. 126.
• Hunter’s Pipe Roll K. H. II., pp. 12, 55, 172.
• T. De. N., p. 87
• Pipe Roll K. H. II., pp. 5 and 76.
• Rymar’s Faedera, V. I., p. 43.
• Archives of Normandy in the Prefecture, Rouen.
• Harly Oblate Rolls, A.D. 1200 p. 83.
• Had Ireland Ever A Great Composer? By W.H. Grattan Flood, Mus.D, K.S.G.