The arms of the Baron of Loughmoe. "Aut vincam aut perium" is its motto, which translate from Latin to English, meaning "either win or perish".The interior of the castle, as seen from the older, Southern side of the building. The interior of the unstable newer parts have been knocked down, the only thing remaining being the walls and particular fragments of the window, including the frame. There is beautiful symbology in the interior of the castle.
The title Baron of Loughmoe is an Irish feudal barony located in northern County Tipperary, Ireland. The title was possibly raised to a Jacobite peerage in 1690 while James II was in exile, Marquis de Ruvigny notes this in his 'The Jacobite Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Grants of Honour' 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 feudal titles, particularly those granted by palatine lords, are difficult to classify in law, they are acknowledged as genuine hereditaments by the arms granting bodies of Ireland, Scotland, and England, but were never formally recognised by the Crown.
The earliest documented Purcell is the Norman Hugh Purcell who in 1035 AD granted the tithes of Montmarquet, a vill on the frontiers of Picardy, and near Aumerle, to the Abbey of Aumerle.
The successor of Sir Hugh Purcell was Dyno 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 Geoffrey, 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 father's 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.
The outside of the castle, as seen from the West. However, in reality, this would have been the castle facing backwards, as the Royal Society of Antiquaries in Ireland note that the entrance was indeed on the East.
Geoffrey’s brother and heir, Ranulf, assumed his mother's 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 mother's name, de Broc, and was implicated in the assassination of Thomas Becket. Ranulf was excommunicated for theft of property of the Archbishopric by Becket, on Christmas Day, 1170, the traditional day of forgiveness. When Henry II, 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, Ranulf de Broc’s castle in Kent. After the murder, Saltwood 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
Leaders of the Norman invasion of Ireland, depicted by Giraldus Cambrensis.
According to O'Hart, this Hugh was the unnamed knight mentioned by Giraldus Cambrensis, 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.
The southern tower, the one with the rounded edges, was built much earlier than the remainder. Back in the time it was built, there was higher risks of invasion, thus they made arrow holes, murder holes, spiral staircases and rounded corners. There are still staircases and different floors remaining in the old, 13th century tower. However, the remainder, built sometime later - probably in the 17th century, was built weaker and less stable, as the threat was much lower. These sections of the castle are now in ruins. The ruined main entrance is in the western portion of the castle. The old tower-house is on the eastern side.[1][2]
List of the Barons of Loughmoe
Location of the seat of the Barony of Loughmoe. East Loughmoe, county Tipperary, Rep. Ireland.
The following in an incomplete list of those who have held the title of Lord or Baron of Loughmoe:
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, the O'Kennedy's of Ormond and the Hacketts of Middlethird.
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."
The massive fireplace in the great hall (second floor) of the 13th Century towerJames Purcell of Loughmoe, (b.1609, died 13 September 1652, married Elizabeth Butler.
The May 1652 act of settlement - James and Nicholas Purcell
Nicholas Purcell, 15th and final Baron of Loughmoe, was the son of James Purcell of Loughmoe,[3] and the maternal nephew of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde. Born sometime in 1651, he was the first son of colonel James Purcell. The May 1652 act of settlement saw to that his father, a Roman Catholic, lost the lands his father had held since 1198. However, James Purcell's marrige to the sister of the Duke of Ormonde enabled a powerful contact, who assured allocation of some property. However, this did not occur without great difficulty. On the 13th of September 1651, James Purcell died and was buried at the Holy Cross abbey. [4]
During the period when they were attempting to re-acquire the confiscated estate, we have found a letter showing the difficulty. Daniel Ryan was a confidential agent for James Butler. In an update, he writes,
"Honnered Sr.
I cannot as yet give you any positive account of my success concerning Mr. Purcell's estate, other than what I writt to you in Dublin on ye fifth instant, for when I came back to Ossory about the eighth instant I heard about my lord. (...)"[5]
John D'alton, in "King James' Irish army list", says,
"The meagre Army List printed in the Somers' Collection of Tracts, (vol. XI. p. 411) classes this Regiment among the dragoons and reports its strength as twelve troops, totting 720 men. It was chiefly raised in Tipperary. Sir Hugh Purcell the ancestor of this family in Ireland, married Beatrix, daughter of Theobald FitzWalter. The name was early introduced to Munster, where it soon became so numerous that the rolls of licences for protection and pardon in the year 1310, (in prudence then necessitated) include no less than 13 adult Purcells; while eight years previously Hugh, Phillip, Maurice and Adam Purcell were of the Irish magistrates summoned to the Scottish war."[6]
The famous composer Henry Purcell 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 of Gortanny and Ballyross, Co., Tipperary, who was cousin of the Baron of Loughmoe. [citation needed][7][8]
Sources and further reading
Dubhaltach Mac Firbisigh, Great Book of Irish Genealogies
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.
T. S Elliot, Murder in the cathedral, 1935.
Frank Barlow, Thomas Becket, 1986.
Dáibhí Ó Cróinín, Early medieval Ireland, 400 - 1200, 1995.
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.
Irish Jacobites: Nicholas Purcell, Baron of Loughmoe
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