929.2
Jl 10151
1722008
W
RFYMOLDS HISTORICAL
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
\J
•iow /8' :^LOiJj MjioJjj aj,& qr,H(,Gi)<]Gq jjjg iuowj. noj)]G
I
or V D' loee-
71I0L7/ Yi/iD LiLEll llirr' W
GENEALOGY OF THE FAMILY OF JONES,
THROUGH VISCOUN'T KAXELAIill AND ALEXANDER JOXES, ESQ., OF Cl'LUOX, MULLINAIIOKN, AND ril'EI! IIIU, IS
THE COUNTY OF FEIiMANAGH.
HEBEERT, Count of Veimasdois, came over with William the Ooni^ueior, A. D. 1066.
Lucia, d.and coheir of.Eoliort Corliet, I.onl Ali'cstor, of Warwu'ksliiro.
\Vir.i,[.vM Ai-I-K.v-KiN. iilixs, Ilcrliert. J_ Gwe.illion, (1. of Howell, a Welsh Prince.
.I..11.V ..f W,.|ii.lii, wliuso s.ni and huir WM
a[i..cst.,r ..f I'r..|.'cr, ofWunuIn,
I l.iwicu. A|) OwM.i.lv, uf Trciwn, M.jiiiiionth,
Niiw the imji)orty uf John Artliur Ilerhert .lones, of
Llaniirth (Jiifitle, and (Hy tha, his descendant. 1 S**.').
IliK KiTiit-Kruat-uraudson (of Troown) John ArTnosiAk in l+sl.
I
>AV11>, anct>
the Morga,
I
Tn..MAs, from wli.mi are ,hveeiuK.,l the ninsl nol.le
family of Ilerhert, Karl..; .,f I'euihroke, niul Earls
of Montgomery, in Wales, the premier Earls. if
England. 183S.
. Maml. .laii(;htor of Howell Ap Eice.
.1. of Davi.i .,f (Jwillin: Mori;an i /l«rh'.i/:.r,i,lr).
His great-grandfioji Sir
s M. 1'. for Monnnintl:
D.VVIO.nfCI
' Ills Bim, Henry .lojies, of Mi.
I'liili|) .lone,
anil (^ol.iiiel of the IVIonmonth Rerinient. ,„ . t i •
,, , , - ,r. „, , r , dieton, j>aneiisiii.„.
le roii;'lit for KuiK Charles I. and Wiis ,,. a- -n t t m- t
':,,,/?,,. , lli6soii,bir Koffer .Jones, of Mid-
present ni Uae an ('aste when It w!ust:ik- II * P All f
'„...",,., , , dieton, &e.. Alderman of
en liy Piurhix. Jlisdescendant, as stated t ond i
ahove, now owns the family pro]iert.y. [,|^' ^^^^^ 'l'],,,,,,,,,, j,,,,^.,^ Areh-
liislio|, ,,f Diililiii. Lord Cliaii-
i-elloriif Ireland. llMrii, l.-,41.+
IlaliKliler uf Daniel Aelo:
of .Snflolk.
ItioiiAini, of \VAi;n.ii, of
remhroke, had issne. Slolesworth. had is.
Margaret, ilanjihter of Adam I'nrdoii, of Liiri,MTl l!aee. ('oimty i.ollth.
K lto,!Kii,-l-l''raii,.es, il. of Lord i^i« "''
Vis, KanehiKll
} Arthnr
.lo.V
Dro^dieda (Moorel. Lord ('l,an..ellnr.
Viseount Kanelagh. His ^oll, .lolni .lone-, married
Vis. Jianelagh. Margaret, sister of Oliver Crom-
§ Earl of Eiinelagh. well. His descendant is .lohn
I I
L|.:w.s, Bishop of Killaloe, MAnuAiiK-i^Wli.UKirr Dom
d. I(i44. IJ ■ From whom the Dom
I family, Haronets, is
Several other sons.
M,y History.
I
lili TllKornii.rs
had i.s.sne. liish.ip of Kildare. (Jeneral.
.lohn .Jones, \ hcsses to a sale of land here at that date.
.1.KXAKUKH .loNKs— Mi.« Brookc, of the family of Brooke, liaronets, of Cole Brooke,
I I I
Kichard § Earl of Ennelagh. well. His descendant is .John ni:Mtv-[-J)am;hter Sir Hugh
1,174. Hawtry .Tones, of Mnllinahrn, l!isl„,|,„f Mealli| Collnm.
lie died 1711, when the Karldom ( 'onnly Kilkenny, and of Conn- .FohuJonesl
heeame exIiiieL It «as r.vivrd in ty \V,.\f,.r,l. High Sheritt, D. ' [- Moth of these gentlemen, fatlwr and son, were alive in ITDIt anil are wit-
IT.^il in Ihe per.Miii ,.f Cliariis .lones, I... ■S; : ISSS.
who heeame Viseount' RanelaglF,
from whom Thomas lIeron.lone.s, the
pre.sent Viseount, deseends. For
ofC'ullion, Piperlli'l,&c
Connty
.lollN-^Elizahetli M
Who died lately. Died ,
without issue, at
ni. Thmnas Willianr
of Ca.stle Oomer.
Has issue.
RoBKur— Jlarv Elliot
Matilda Longmore and
hiL- issue.
l.IAM.
TUO.MAS.
MARY ;
HOBEUT.
SAKAII.
in trdanil e
EUZA. CATtlEHlNB.
earlier— in tlie time of Brien Burn. Welsh
• SiirniuiK.3 in Englnnd did mil liB?iu till tlie time of Riclinrd t., nlioal 1'200. nnd tlien generally wore tefritorinl. Tliey b
1111,1 Irisli siirnnnies were pBrannol, not territoiial. Tin- Se.iicli aurnames are pei^onal; at lenat all descended from Iriah cLieftnina.
t lliui.-liisli.in bia pedigree as jriv.ii in Biiili... iiciUvs no mention of other cLildren of the Arclibialiop but bia own forefather, Siir linger, the eldest son, and Ladv Margaret.. He omits the fact tli
Ihe Areliiiishop's fatliir wiia an AliK-niiiiii ..t I..ii.Li„n I lu luin-r is a bit of anobber.v; tlie f.irnier arises from all the Jonea family at that time siding with Cromwell.
) FromadniU'lileiof Lord Arlbiir, ar,.rl,„-,.,ul.,rili,. E,irlsorll„s<o. (Lad;- Cnlherlno.)
ti From one daughter of Earl Rleliiird .ioiie.^ are sprang the Dnliea of I.eiuater— the Lady Eliaa Jonea ; and from nnotherare aprnog the Earla of t'oningabj-— the Lady Frances .lonoa.
I See my lliatory of the .louea Family for die lives o( Bialiop Lewie Jones' very dialingoisbed aons.
ROBERT LEE(;iI,
Drimlanb Ekctojo-, Jloher fjlihe,
Beltnrhet, Ireland,
Octoher ISth, 1S85,
,,,,,. ... -.,,7/ c!"<l..I
.tif^M loM f)tft ^n i mi;
! '11)1 jiij^ijoj 'jH
•■'■" ■'' •''•"[
. II .1 .. . ,
■Jilt ,>'/>ii(il. iio-fjll >4/;nioi(T iiKiiIv/ frun't
Ti IIS fiiin II Mil
-)o(-
A CHAPTER OF
liiTHERTO IISWRITTEN (JEffllOfiiCAL HISTORY,
WITH A SLIGHT SKETCH OF THEIR TIME.
I^OE:EI^T LiEiEOia:,
-RECTOK OF DRUMLANE, IRELAND, 1883.
-)0(-
YONKERS, N. Y.:
M. II. Clakk, Printer --32 South Broadway.
1722008
PREFA.CE.
The following History of a famil_y numerous and
prosperous beyond recount, will, I hope, prove acceptable
to their descendants. These are now to be found in all
classes of society, and many have forgotten all about
their forefathers and have not even a tradition remain-
ing. Nay, members of this family who still live as
county families in Ireland have become so culpably
careless that a few generations is tlie limit of their
knowledge.
It will show the difficulty of the historian and
genealogist, here at least, when it is stated that of
George Lewis Jones, who w^as Bishop of this Diocese
IT 74 — 1790, I could not gatlier a particle of informa-
tion l)ut the meagre facts I have stated.
IT PREFACE.
The transmission of physical conformation and facial
expression, as well as that of moral qnalities and defects,
is an interesting study to the philosopher. In some
families you can trace for centuries the same expression,
features and color, often the same height and very often
tlie same moral and intellectual qualities. As a general
rule, the features of this wide-spread family, no matter
whether rich or poor, gifted or ignorant, are marked
by peculiar characteristics that, once seen and noted,
cannot well be forgotten. Captain Jones, R. K., M. P.
for Londonderry, whom I knew when a l)oy, now
Kear Admiral Sir Lewis Tobias Jones, the Rev. Thomas
J. Jones, of Armagh Diocese, whom I have known all
my life, and Robert Jones, my neighbor, have the
same class of feature, type of expression, and would at
once be known from their height — the same — and their
features, which are alike, to be of the same family.
This applies to every man of the same stock whom I
have known here.
The Joneses of whom I have written were a bold
and a gifted race — stern republicans, except one. They
helped materially to change the fortunes of this
country at a critical period. Hence the subsequent
PREFACE. HI
ignorance about tliem. Who would not like to trace
the descendants of that heroic and simple-minded
republican general, Michael Jones? But his very
simplicity and republican spirit have served to cast
an impenetrable cloud over his family.
My opinions are my own; my facts I believe to
be true; but no doubt I have made mistakes. Put
the blame for the one against the praise for the
other and I shall be content.
EGBERT LEECH.
Drumlane Eectoey,
Beltnrbet, Ireland,
IT Oct., 1885.
^y 'x^J "V^-^
THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND.
CHAPTER I.
PEDIGEEE AND EAELY LIFE OF THOMAS
JONES.
Jones, or ApJolm, was the name of one of the
princely tribes of the Cinibri. They ruled as indepen -
dent princes when Wales was free. This was the
name of one of fifteen noble, or princely, houses of
Wales. Their possessions were in North Wales, chief-
ly in Denbigh,* Flint and Caernarvon. Some time after
the conquest of Wales by Edward the First, King of
England, a branch of this noble house settled in Lan-
cashire. Here they lived for several generations, and
in the time of Henry the Eighth Sir Roger Jones
had possessions in Lancashire and was an Alderman of
London. In 1541 a son was born to him at his
Lancashire residence, whom he called Thomas.f
* Arclidall. Burke's "Landed Gentry."
f Mason's " History of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin." Thomas
Jones, Archbishop, died in 1619, aged 78. See Cliapter VIII. for
the Jones family before this time.
2 THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND.
Sir Itoger Jones steered quietly and steadily
tlirongli tlie tronbles that arose so thickly about the
latter part of King Henr3''s reign when Protestant
and Roman Catholic were alike exposed to danger and
death from the )-eligious uncertainty of the times. He
e^^poused the side of the Eefoi-mers and sent his son
Thomas, as soon as he was of proper years, to the
University of Cambridge, entering him at Christ
Church College. When he left the university of Cam-
bridge, which he did with great credit and reputation,
he came to Ireland, at that time the proper field for
voung men of good family who desired to become
eminent by the display of remarkable talents or great
couracre. He was ordained soon after coming to that
Kingdom and very shortly afterwards married a lady
of reputation and virtue named Margaret Purdon,
daughter of Adam Purdon, Esq., of Lurgan Race, in the
county of Louth. She had been married to a gentle-
man of family and position named John Douglas, who,
dying soon after their marriage, left her a youthful
and richly dowered widow.* She proved an admirable
helpmate for him in his successful career and a good
de<d of his prosperity must be attributed to her great
wisdom and admirable quaUties. She died in 1595.
The family of Purdon still exists as a county family in
* Arch all. Masfni.
UnE JOyES FAMILY IN IRELAND. 8
Ireland.
By this marriage lie became brother-in-law to the
celebrated Adam Loftiis, Archbishop of Armagh and
Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral. The career of these
remarkable men was so distinguished, their friendship
for each other so great, and their prosperity so remark-
able, that a few words may not be considered altogether
out of place concerning Adam Loftus.
Adam Loftus was born in 1531."' "He was the
second son of Adam Loftus, of Swineshead, in the
county of York, whose family did formerly possess
consideral)le property as well in that as in other parts
of England, and from them Adam received more than
an ordinary allowance for his support and education at
the University of Cambridge. Though a youuger son
he inherited an estate situated about Lodington in
Kent, which his grandson, Sir Adam Loftus, of Rath-
farnham, sold for £3()00."t Loftus studied at Christ
Church College — the same at which Thomas Jones
* He died in 1605, aged 74. (Register of St. Patiicli's.) He was
appointed Archbishop of Armagh 1562, aged 31. Strange that
Doctor Brady, in his wall known History of Cork and its Diocese,
should say tliat he was at that time only 28. not the canonical age.
Roman Catholic historians have followed him an'^' so has Professor
Killen, of Belfast, in his pompous, but uncritical History of the
Presbyterian Church.
f MSS. of Robert Ware, quoted by Mason.
4 THE JONES FAMTL7 TX IRELAND.
after-wards entered.
Early in Queen Elizabeth'.s reign she paid a visit to
Cambridge and was so nmeli struck witli tlie splendid
personal appearance of yonng Loftns and the remarkable
elcxpiencehe displayed in the perfoi-mance of a piil)lic
act ill the University, that she promised to promote
him, and shortly after he was ordained she appointed
him one of her chaplains.
Loftns obtained in 1557 the perpetnal vicarage of
(iedne in the Diocese of Lincoln,* being then twenty-
six years of age, and in Jnne, 1561, he came to Ireland
as chaplain to the New Lord Lieutenant, the Earl of
Sussex. In Octol)er, of the same year, he was present-
ed by the Queen with the rectory of Painstown, Diocese
of Meatli, and on the 20th of January, 1502, he was
appointed by the Crown Archbishop of Armagh and
Primate of all Irehmd. As the Primatial See was at
that time poor and not a safe place of residence, from
the vicinity of CrNeill, who was generally at war
with the English, the Queen gave him also the Deanery
of St. Patrick's, which at that time hap^iened to fall
vacant. He held both till 1567, when he was appoint-
ed Archl)ishop of Dublin, which, inferior in dignity
to Armagh, was the more important in wealth and
influence. He held the See of Dublin till 1605, when
* Rvmer's Foedera, Vol. XV., P. 464.
THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND. 5
Thomas Joues succeeded liiiii.
He was for a time Lord Cliaiicellor of Ireland also,
and occasionally one of the Lord's justices (so the great
men are named who govern the country when the Lord
Lieutenant is absent, or when none is appointed ; but
at that time the Lord's justices were permanent, under
the Lord Deputy.) He accunmlated great wealth, and
had a very numerous family, who all became rich and
successful. His eldest son was eimobled by the title
of Viscount Lisburn and Baron liathfarnham. The
Mar(piis of Ely descends from Robert, eldest brother
of the Archbishop, who came over to Ireland and was
Lord Chancellor.'^
From his coming to Ireland till his death Adam
Loftus was one of the ruling spirits of the age.f His
great property was for the most part acquired by the
phmder of the church over which he was appointed to
rule, a crime of which most of the prelates of that time
were equally guilty. He amassed a great estate for
his eldest sou. Lord Rathfarnham. In 1691 his de-
scendant, Adam Loftus, Viscount Lisburn and Baron
Rathfarnham, was killed by a cannon ball at the siege
of Limerick, as colonel of his regiment, while sitting
in his tent. He was twice married. He left only one
* Mason. Register of the Cathedral.
\ See Haverty's "History of Ireland." Keid's and Killen's
Histories of Presbvteriaii Church.
6 THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND.
dangliter, Lucia, who married Thomas, Lord Wharton,
to whom slie brought the great estates of the family,
which her son Philip, Duke of Wharton, sold in 1723
for £62,000 to William Connolly, then speaker of the
House of Connuons. The Duke died in France in
1731 without issue.* These estates, bought by Con-
nolly, passed to Lady Louisa Connolly, sister of the
Duke of Kichmond, who had been married to the last
Connolly and on whom they were settled. Failing
issue they passed from her to her nephew, one of the
Packenham (Lord Longford) family, who took the
name of Connolly. f These Connollys, the richest
commoners at one time in Ireland, have lost almost all
their property, part of which, situated in Donegal, have
been purchased by Mr. Musgrave, a successful iron-
monger of Belfast. Thus estates acquired by unfair
means and increased by the plunder of the church and
afterwards by the plunder of Irish gentlemen who
fought for their own independence did not prosper in
any of the families who were directly concerned in the
plunder or connected with them by marriage. They
gradually melted away.
Thomas Jones seems to have commenced a friend-
ship with Loftus at Cambridge that, greatly strength-
* Mason, as above — notps.
f AJlingbam's History of Bally Shaimon, Buudoian, etc.
THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND. 7
euecl bj tlieir relationship, only ended with their lives.
Jones worked in the Church of Ireland and occupied
the dignilied and important position of Chancellor of
St. Patrick's Cathedral when Dean Gerrard died in
1581. G-errard had been a layman and was Lord
Chancellor of Ireland. Thomas Jones was unanimous-
ly elected Dean, which he held till 1581:, when he was
appointed by the Crown to the bishoprick of Meath,
the first and most important see in Ireland. lie had
been recommended to the Queen by the Lord's justices
— one of whom was his own brother-in-law, Arch1:)isliop
Loftus — '"as a person for his bearing, wisdom and other
virtuous fpialities lit to be advanced to a bishoprick."^'
Jones lield the See of Meath from 1581 to 1605, when,
upon the death of his brotlier-in-law, he was appointed
by the Crown Archbishop of Dublin.
Thomas Jones was, besides this, for a time Lord
Chancellor of Ireland, one of the Priv^y Council and a
Right Llonorable, and several times one of the Lord's
justices.f
" Mason, as above. Ware's "History of Irish Bishops."
f Patent Rolls. Ware. Archdall.
CHAPTER II.
ST. PATEICK^S CATHEDEAL.
ITS ORIGIN, FOUNDATION AND RESTORATION ITS WEALTH
AND IMPORTANCE POWERS OF THE DEAN
ITS UNIVERSITY.
The Cathedral of St. Patrick, Dublin, of which
both Loftus and Jones were Deans, deserves a passing
notice.
It takes its name from the Apostle of Ireland, St.
Patrick. He founded a religious house on the site" of
a Druid temple and baptised the converts at a well
long held famous and which, though now covered up
and its site uncertain, is still mentioned in the traditions
of the place. A church had existed on the spot for
centuries when, in llOO, John Cronin, the first English
Archbishop, obtained a bull from the Pope and built
and founded the Cathedral.* Jocelin, a monk of
Fnrners in Lancashire, now Barrow-in-Furness, brought
over by Sir John De Courcy, Earl of Ulster, about 1185,
who wrote the lives of many Irish saints, interspersed
with many fables and miracles, says that at the prayer
* Mason. Wliitelaw's Histoiy of Dublin.
THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND. 9
of St. Patrick a wondrous spring bnrst fortli at the
place, ever after called St. Patrick's Well, and tliat it
possessed the power of healing the diseases of those who
washed in its waters.
Hector Bocthins, an ancient Scottish writer, informs
us that Gregory, King of Scotland, then called Albin,
in an expedition to Ireland in 890 made a solemn pro-
cession to this church and well. Lately in 1883, when
the lioor was being sunk, that a new tiled iioor and
proper heating apparatus might be laid, a fine spring
of water burst forth which had to be conveyed from
the cathedral at considerable cost. This was probably
the ancient well of St. Patrick. Dublin was, however,
in ancient times remarkable for the great number of
lino springs it contained. These are now all covered
over and all but forgotten.
The Cathedral was anciently built without the walls
of Dublin in a valley called the Coombe (cooni).
The name is still applied to a street and district
near the Cathedral. It is the most perfect specimen
in the Kingdom of the early English gotliic style.
Though partially restored from time to time, of
late years it had been falling into decay, when
a citizen of Dublin, Mr. Benjamin Lee Guinness,
a great brewer, determined to restore it. A
forsfather of his, Archbishop Marsh, had been
10 THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND.
a munificent Ijenefactor to the clmrch and had left
property to found a Kbrary in connection with the
Cathedral. This library still exists, though it has
not realized the intentions of its generous founder,
under the name of Marsh's Library. Mr. Guinness
expended altogether above £200,000 on the restora-
tion. Some time after the citizens of his native city
returned him unanimously to Parliament and the
Queen conferred a Baronetcy on him.
Some time after his death his eldest son was ennobled
by the title of Lord Ardilaun. His second son has
lately been made a Baronet. His only daughter is
married to Lord Pluuket, who, being in holy orders,
is also Archbishop of Dublin. The Guinness family
are very wealthy and seem to have had a great bless-
ing since the restoration by their father of this
venerable ecclesiastical structure. A statue of Sir
Benjamin has been placed by the people beside the
Cathedral. When Lord Ardilaun, after he became a
peer, was giving up his share in the great brewery, his
brother gave him a check for one million pounds ster-
ling in paj-ment of his share.
The length of the Cathedral is 300 feet. The
breadth at the transepts 15 T and the width of the nave
6Y feet. There were "monks' walks'" all round the
building in the thickness of the walls, with protected
THE JONES FA MILT IN IRELAND. 11
openings tlirougli which the quiet perambulator could
gaze down below. Some of these are built across, but
there still remains a "monks' walk" running round a
great part of the choir and one of the aisles. From a
favored position in this monks' walk overlooking the
choir and the whole length of the great nave, I beheld
the gorgeous array of all that was fashionable and noble
in the Kino-dom when the Prince of Wales was in-
vested with the order of the Knighthood of St. Patrick.
Then all the Knights, with their G-rand Master, in the
gorgeous robes of their order, each with two esquires,
who were generally their sons or near relatives, — the
various members of the Court and diplomatic corps in
dress blazing, with stars and resplendent in gold, — the
magnificent and exquisitely beautiful dresses of the
Peeresses and ladies of high position, who thronged
the seats set apart for them,
" Thick as leaves in Vallambrosa,"
blazing in jewels of the most costly and beautiful kind,
and forming to the eye, looking from my favored
vantage ground, beds of the most exquisite flowers the
imagination could conceive, — all this formed a j^icture
the memory will not easily forget, nor will the eye
soon again behold. Most of the Royal family were
present that day.
Anciently the choir was covered with a cmious
13 THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND.
stone roof, painted an azure blue and inlaid with
stars of gold. There were more than a hundred
windows. The vaults and aisles were supported l)y
forty gi'eat pillars, distant from each other eleven feet
and joined above by gothic arch lines.
The exterior wall was supported on the north side
by four buttresses, wdth demiarches, and by five on the
south. These have all been renewed. The pillars are
faced with Caen stone. The high and imposing steeple
has been renewed and a ball and cross put on it. The
ancient fine peal of bells has been perfected and a great
clock has been placed in the tower that, at every three
hours, plays a beautiful selection of hymn tunes,
ending with God Save the Queen. The effect of these
tunes, when heard by a stranger for the first time, is as
surprising as it is beautiful. The view through some
parts of the interior seems like that tlu'ough a grove of
beautiful white pillars.
There were several churches erected T\'ithin the
Cathedral in ancient times, that is, portions of side
aisles or transepts were closed off by walls, and in these
divine service was carried on by other congregations.
The south aisle was formerly called St. Paul's Chapel.
Another portion of the south transept was called St.
Stephen's Chapel. St. Mary's Chapel, ^vliich is east
of the choir, now called The Lady Chapel, and used
TEE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND. 13
for tlie Arcliiepiscopal Tisitation, as well as that of the
Dean, was used by the French Protestants as a place
of worship from 1663 till 1S15. The Dean Chapter,
with the advice and consent of the Ar«libishop, gave it
to them on the 23rd of December, 1663. It was opened
solemnly for public worship in 1666, the Lord
Lieutenant being in attendance with his court, and tlie
the Archbishop pronouncing the benediction. The
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes and the persecution
of the Protestants drove many to Dublin and other
parts of Ireland, and in every place facilities were
willingly given them for worship. Many of these
French refugees were members of noble families, and
several of our nobility are descended from these men
who fled from their own land for conscience' sake.
Another chapel, called St. Nicholas, without the
walls, occupied the greater part of the north transept.
Here the parishioners of the parish of St. Nicholas, with-
out, had their place of worship till the Cathedral was
restored.
There was another church called St. Nicholas with-
in, that is, within the ancient walls of Dublin. This
is now only remarkable for a chantry, called the
Chantry of St. Mary's, in the Parish of St, Nicholas
within the walls. It was the only chantry existing in
the empire, for all others were swept away at the Ref-
14 THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND.
orniation. At that time, however, tliis one escaped,
as it did the sharp eyes of the ecclesiastical coininissioners
in 1832, when so many church endowments were swept
away. This chajitry was founded in 1470 in tlte reign
of Edward the Fourth, by the Earl of Worcester and
his wife, Sir Edward Dudley and his wife and some
other knights with their ladies as a chantry for ever,
where a priest should sing masses for the souls of the
founders and the faithful deceased. Its reveniies
remained untouched, and the priest was always elected
by the Protestant Church wardens of the Pansh of St.
Nicholas.* The last incumbent, named Tresham Gregg,
D. D., was a singular, and in early life, a clever, violent
man. Of course he had no duties to do and was only
required to receive the very good annual income. For
many years before his death he believed he had found
out the secret of living forever, by some mystical mean-
ing hidden in a text in the Song of Solomon in the
Hebrew Bible. He lived to a ripe old age, but had at
last to succumb to the great conqueror. He died last
year and the chantry has been abolished and its reven-
ues seized by the Crown.
The Dean of this Cathedral held a position of great
power and influence. He ranked as a minor bishop.
He was frequently Lord Chancellor, often one of the
* See Lord Chancellor Ball's observations on this in the Report
of Ecc. Com. of 1866.
THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND. 15
Lord's justices. He had a vast amount of patronage
in his gift. He was head of a great ecclesiastical cor-
poration of six dignitaries and twentj-two prebends,
the head of a corporation of minor canons. There
was also a corporation of Yicar's choral, subject to him
alone, with twenty-four chanting or singing boys,
organist, verger, sexton, and all the numerous assistants
necessary in such a great establishment. The Cathedral
was a great school for music. All the Yicar's choral
were musicians; most of them followed it as a sole
profession.
The Precincts of the Cathedral formed a place of
refuge in ancient times, within which any criminal,
no matter whence he came or from whom he fled,
was safe.
The Dean held a court of his own, where minor
offences were tried and adjudicated on by his repre-
sentative. He had also a market of his own, with the
right of taxing all commodities brought to it. He also
held an ecclesiastical court and was sole judge therein.
The dignitaries and prebends had richly endowed
parishes. They lived in turn at the Cathedral, and
performed service.* To support the whole there
were vast estates in Dublin and its vicinity and through-
out the country, given at successive times by the piety
* Mason.
16 THE JONES FAMILY fN IRELAND.
of various benefactors. One of the Prebends, that of
Swords near Dnl)Hn, was so rich tliat it was called the
Golden Prebend, and was, in former times, usually con-
ferred by the Pope on some Italian relative, who per-
formed the service by deputy,* Even after the livings
and bishopricks had been so much cut down in 1832,
one may estimate the wealth of the whole establish-
ment by the fact that the Vicar's choral had £250 a
year each, for singing on Sunday and thrice a week in
the Cathedral.
This short sketch of this celcl)rated Cathedral would
be incomplete without noticing the University in con-
nection with it. In 1301) Archbishop John Leech
founded a nniversity in the Cathedral. lie procured
a l)idl from Pope Clement the Fifth* and bestowed
some endowments on it. This was among the iirst
efforts of the English to restore learning in Ireland.
In ancient times the country had been famed through-
out the world for her learning, and her schools and
learned men were as numerous as they were distinguish-
ed. The troubles consequent on the coming of the
English had been veiy injurious to learning in that
part of Ireland under the English rule, called the Pale,
for in those parts where the people maintained their
* Mason.
f See a copy of this Bull in Alan's Register, and in Mason.
THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND. 17
independence, as in the North, schools and learning
flonrished till a mnch later period. The University,
founded by John Leech, lingered for ages ; its revenues
were filched from it, and though the Bull granting the
charter was never annulled, and the powers of a
university were always latent in its Head, it almost
ceased to exist, and, there being no revenues to excite
the cupidity of the Government, it totally escaped
public notice. It afterwards became the Diocesan
College for the Diocese of Dublin, after Queen
Elizabeth founded Trinity College. It was, however,
by centuries, the oldest university or college in
Ireland, and for many years after the foundation of
the Dublin IJniversity. There was an acknowledge-
ment of the fact by the Provost and fellows being re-
quired to have their commencements in the Cathedral.
The writer of this notice was the last Head Master of
this ancient college— a singular coincidence that it
should be founded and cease to exist under men of the
same name. It exists under another form now, with
all its ancient privileges and powers lost.
The Reverend John Jones, D. D., a descendant of
Archbishop Thomas Jones, was one of my predecessors
as Master of this College. In 1700 the Dean and Chapter
of the Cathedral granted him the ancient church of
Saint Michael Delia Pole, in Ship Street near the
18 THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND.
Castle, for a college.* Many of my predecessors were
eminent men and not a few attained the dignity of
bisliop.
* Cathedral Register of Minutes. Mason.
CHAPTER III.
THOMAS JONES, AKCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN.
THE PROSPERITY -OF THE FAMILY AND
THEIR ALLIANCES.
When Jones became Archbishop of Dublin the
conntiy had been linally snbdned, and the native
princes and chieftains, headed by the great Hngh
O'Neill, had submitted to their conquerors. Shortly
afterwards, by the flight of the Earls and their sub-
sequent attainder and that of their friends, almost the
whole of Ulster was confiscated to the Crown, James
the First, by the plantation of Ulster, divided the
greater part of these lands among English and Scotch
settlers. By this celebrated scheme all who had been
distinguished in the wars, every gentleman who had
interest or wealth or inclination, got an estate, provided
he built a castle or fortified j-esidence, and settled
Scotch or English colonists upon the lands. A few
of the most eminent men in the Kingdom were, in
1610, appointed commissioners for settling the confis-
cated lands, and Archbishop Jones was one of these.'^
Roger Jones, the eldest son, obtained an estate of
f Patent Rolls.
20 THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND.
Ardamine, near Ferns, in Connty Wexford, (17 James I.)
His fatlier had ni&iin while acqnired a large ]")roperty
for him in Dn])lin and it? vicinity. He was Knighted
and afterwards ennohled l)y the title of Viscount
Kanelagh. He was created Baron Navan in the Connty
of Meath, and Viscount Eanelagh, but he was better
known as Viscount Ranelagh. He was made Lord
President of Connaught, where he and his relations
acquired more property. He was married to Frances
Moore, daughter of Gerald Moore, Viscount Drogheda.*
This title is now Marquis of Drogheda.
The Moores, Marquises of Drogheda, are descended
from Irish princes who lived and reigned in Ireland
for more than a thousand years before the Christian
Era. Their immediate forefather was Connell Kearney,
who was killed in attempting, during flight, to cross
the river at a ford, ever after called Bel a Connell, now
Ballyconnell or Conneirs Foi'd, a beautiful village
lying at the foot of a range of mountains in Western
Cavan, His son settled in what was afterwards Queen's
County,t and the race, under tlie name of O'More, were
among the boldest defenders of their country's inde-
pendence. An attempt was made during the wars to
destroy the whole race of the O'Mores. Colonel
* Cathedral Rrgister. Mason.
f Irisli Annals and Joyce's "Names of Places."
IHE JONES FAMIL 7 IN IRELAND. 21
Cosby enlisted all the leading men of the tribe, to the
number of 400, to a feast and conference at Mnllagh-
niast, and treacherously murdered them, with the ex-
ception of one leader who fled in time. "Rory O'More,"
of the well known song, was a real personage and a
member of this family.*
Arthur Jones, son of Viscount Eanelagh, succeeded
to the title on the death of his father in IG-i-l. He
was also Lord President of Connaught, and, during
the wars that followed tlie rebellion of IG-il, and the
wars between the King and Parliament, proved an
able and an intrepid commander. Again and again
he routed the Irish armies and was the terror of his
foes. His daughter, Lady Catherine,f married first
the Right Honorable Sir William Parsons, Knight
and Baronet, grandson and heir to the Right Honor-
able Sir William Parsons, Baronet, Lord Justice in the
time of James the First and his son, Charles the First.
Lady Catherine's two eldest sons died before her ; the
third, Richard, was afterward created Earl of Rosse.
This family. Parsons, Earls of Rosse, have been very
remarkable for force and energy of character, and
during the past generations have been remarkably
distinguished for scientific research. The. family of
* Haverty, Magee, Wright, frc.
f Register of Burials in St. Patrick's Cathedral. Mason.
Archdall.
23 THE JONES FAMILY ly IRELAND.
Rosse are allied by marriage with many of the noblest
houses in the land, and so the blood of Jones has
spread through much of tlie nobility by their alliance
w'th this family. The Lord Rosse died in 1058, and
Lady Catherine, being young, handsome and well
dowered, married Hugh Montgomery, Lord Yiscount
Alexander. This title became extinct in 1757, though
there are many great families of the name Montgomery
from the same stock still in Ireland.
Lady Catherine Mount Alexander left £60 a year
forever to a school in Donaghadee.* The head of
the Rosse family is Sir Lawrence Parsons, Baronet,
Baron of Oxmantown, Viscount and Earl of Bosse,
near Cassandra, only child of Lord Hawk, Resi
dence. Birr Castle, Parsonstown, Ireland, and Heaton
Hall, Bradford, England. Yiscount Ranelagh left an
estate to found a school in Roscommon and another
at Athlone, which was b}'- act of Parliament vested in
the incorporated society. Part of this Ranelagh estate
was situated near Athlone, and the rental of this
Ranelagh bequest in 18()7 was £1,748, 2s., 6d. a year.f
Another son of the Archbishop's was the Right
Honorable Sir "William Jones, Privy Counsellor, Lord
Chief Justice and Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He is
-* Endowed Scliools Commission, 1854.
"I Endowed Scliools Commission, 1854.
JHE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND. 23
named in 1622 with a few others by James the First
as special commissioner for settling the Kingdom.*
His son Jolm, who, it would seem, inlierited the
English property of the family, and had resided there
during the commencement of the Parliamentary
troubles, married Margaret, granddaughter of Sir
Oliver Cromwell, of Hinchinbroke, sister of Oliver
Cromwell the Protector.f John Hawtry Jones, Esq.,
of Mullinabro, County Kilkenny and AVexford, is
head of this family now.
Another son of the Archbishop's was Pichard Jones,
on whom was bestowed in 1615, through the father's
influence, the prebendary of Swords, called the Golden
Prebend. He had this till 1612 when he died. In
1625 he was also made Dean of Waterford, which was
afterwards changed to the Deanery of Elphin. From
him are descended the Joneses of Sligo.:}:
A fourth son was Robert, who became a Fellow of
Trinity College and in 1615 obtained in addition the
Precentorship of the Diocese of Emly. In 1620 he
obtained several parishes in Cork, and while retaining
all these emoluments he in 162S obtained the parish
* Patent Rolls, See Liber Munerum.
f Burke's "County Families."
X Rear Admiral Sir Lewis Tobias Jones, of Farcliam. Hants
was son of Captain Lewis Jones, of County Sligo, 1884.
24 THE JONES FAMILY IN IllELAND.
of Kilconnell in County Donegal.*
A fifth sou, Ellis Jonas, is, by tho Patent Rolls in
1604, to succeed, when the then occupant of the sinecure
would die, as Provost Marshal of the Province of
Munster.f
A sixth son, Baptist Jones, beside other property,
got a large estate of the confiscated lands in County
Derry. He held it at a low rent from a London
company, and is the ancestor of the Jones family of
County Derry.:}:
Another son, Joseph Jones, got the estate of Tnlly-
cullin, in the Barony of Clonmahon, near Cavan.§
Tlie Archbishop had a daughter, Margaret, named after
her mother, who was married to Gilbert Domville.||
His son was Sir William Domville, Baronet, Attorney
General, and inherited large property, in great part
procured for him by the Archbishop. A great deal of
it lay near the Cathedral, and on it he built a castle in
which the family resided for many years. On this
property now are the streets of St, Peter's, Peter's Row
and many others. He had valuable property at Santry
in County Dublin, originally belonging to the Church.
* Tn'iity College Calendar. .Patent Rolls.
f See also Liber Munerum.
X Pynnar's Survey, 1618.
§ Plantation of Ulster, in Pynnar's Survey.
II Mabon. Cathedral Kec;)rds.
THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND. 25
The family of Sir William Domville, Bai'onet, is now
represented by Sir James Graham Domville, Baronet.
He has large estates in County Tyrone and in County
Longford. His present residences are: 1, Bruntath
House, Bournemouth, England; 2, Albemarle Street,
London, W. ; 3, Acqua Santo, Palermo, Sicily ; 4,
AthensBum Club, London, S. W. The family is allied
to many eminent families through the Empire.
Another son, and by far the most important, from
the conspicuous part played by his children during that
troubled time of IG-il — 1660 in Ireland, was Lewis
Jones. Though placed last, he is, perhaps, the second
in age, but, except his eldest brother, he is the most
remarkable. .The life of tliis man, with the exploits
of his sons, may well be left to another chapter.
CHAPTER IV.
THE JONES MONUMENT AND VAULT IN
ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL,
WITH AN ACCOUNT OF SOME PRINCIPAL PERSONS BURIED
THERE (chiefly FROM MASON.)
In 1679 Thomas Jones, then Chancellor, obtained a
place for a vault in the Cathedral. A deed purport-
ing to be a renewal of a former grant is to be found
in a book of Chapter Minutes. This deed is dated 28tli
January, 1579, and describes this burying place as
situated between the rails of the altar and the Lord
Lieutenant's seat. It was granted upon consideration
of paying £3 for each interment beside the usual fees.
On the north side of the choir, near the balusters of the
altar and close to the family vault, is the monument
of Archbishop Jones. This monument was repaired
in 1729 at the expense of Lady Catherine Jones, to
wdiom Dean Swift made aj^plication when he set about
restoring those interesting memorials. Her polite
answer to his letter is published in the last edition of
Swift's works— (Vol. XVIL, page 280.)
This monument is large and imposing, and, next to
THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND. 27
tliat of the great Earl of Cork, is the most conspicuous
in the Cathedral. It is built in stories. The first, which
is the highest, rises on black marble pillars which
support the second and between which rejjose the
principal figure, that of the Archbishop, recumbent,
around which are others praying. The second story
contains one figure in a niche, in an attitude of prayer,
and al)ove that are the arms of the Archbishop. The
monument is of a great height and finished with all the
taste and profusion of ornament of that time, and must
have formed a very prominent object from the time
of its construction. Its cost must have been very
great. Another monument was erected to the family
of Viscount Ranelagh, who had also a separate vault of
their own.
Though the Archbishop enriched his family from
the valual)le livings he had it in his power to give, and
the valuable leases he obtained for them, he was a
strenuous defender of the liberties of the Cathedral
and an upholder of its rights against all. This may
account for the Deans and Chapter allowing him
and his family so many privileges.
In this family vault are deposited the remains of
several persons of the Jones family and their near
friends. Of these the following are to be noticed :
1620 — Frances, first wife of Sir Roger Jones, eldest
28 THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND.
son to tlie Arclibisliop and ViBCOunt Kaiielagli. Slie
was daughter of Gerald Moore, the first Viscount
Drogheda ; died 23rd November, and was buried in this
vault, as we are informed by ArchdalFs "Peerage,"
Vol. IV., page 302.
1644 — Viscount Rauelagh, buried 21st January,
(Cathedral MSS. and Archdall— Vol. IV., page 302.)
1658 — Sir "VVilHam Parsons, Knight and Baronet ;
died on the 31st December ; was buried on the 2()th
January, in a very smnptuous manner. He was grand-
son and heir of Sir William Parsons, Lord JiLstice,
He was married to Catherine, eldest daughter of
Viscount Ranelagh. His eldest son, Ranelagh Parsons,
was buried here 27th March, 1656. His second son
"William on the 4th of AugiLst, 1658. His third sou,
Pichard, was afterwards created Lord Posse. (Lodge's
Peerage.)
1660 — Lady Bridget Parsons, buried 2(lth of July.
1669 — Arthur, Second Viscount Ranelagh, Imricd
14th of January. (Archdall's Peerage, Vol. IV., page
303.)
1675 — Cathei-ine Jones, daughter of Arthur, Second
Viscount Ranelagh, buried 10th of October. She was
married first to Sir William Parsons, above mentioned,
and secondly to Hugh Montgomery, Earl Mount Alex-
ander. This latter title became extinct in 1757.
THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND. 29
1709 — Tlio Honorable George Parsons, second son
of the Earl of Rosse, buried 21st of Marcli.
1 730 — Fj-ances, Dncliess of T vrconnell. She is called
Countess in the Register, but James the Second con-
ferred a dukedom u])on her husband, the celebrated
Richard Talbot. Slie was buried on the 9th of March.
Tyrconnell, whatever were his fanlts, had the rare
merit of sincere attachment to an unfortunate master.
Tie was Lord Lieutenant when James the Second had
to abdicate. This ladj, his widow, was the eldest
daughter and co-heiress of Richard Jennings, of
Sandridge, in Hertfordshire, and sister to Sarah, first
duchess of Marlborough. She was the Miss Jennings
the qualities of whose mind and i)erson are so much
extolled by Count Grammont in his Memoirs. "She
bad the fairest and brightest complexion that ever was
seen — her hair a most beauteous flaxen, her counte-
nance extremely animated, though generally persons
so exquisitely fair have an insipidity^ Her w^hole
person was fine, particularly her neck and bosom. The
charms of her person and the unaffected sprightliness
of her wit gained her the general admiration of the
whole court. In these fascinating qualities she had
there other competitors, but scarcely one, except one
— except Miss Jennings — maintained throughout the
character of unblemished chastity."
30 777^ JONES FAMILY TN IRELAND.
Ilcr first luisband was George, Count Ilaniiiton, son
of tlie Fourth Earl of Abercorn, Colonel of an Irish
regiment in the service of the French, antl. "Marechal
(lu Camp.'" lie was killed at Avignon in ir)()7. By
him she had three daughters — the eldest, Elizabeth,
married to Kichard, Yiscount Ross ; the second,
Frances, to Henry, the eighth Viscount Dillon, who
commanded a regiment of foot in King James's army
in Ireland, and represented the County Westmeath in
the Parliament convened by that King at Dublin ;
the third, Mary, to Viscount Kingsland.
The Duchess of Tyrconnell, after her husband's
decease, continued to adhere strictly to the Roman
Catholic religion. She returned to England in 1705,
but soon after returned to Dublin, where she founded
a nunnery for poor clares in King Street. Mr. Isaac
Butler in his MS. quoted by Mason, stiites that she
was 92 when she died. Her portrait, when IVEiss
Jennings, was engraved by Tomkius for Count
Grammont's Memoirs from an original picture by
Verelst. She died at Arbour Hill, March 6th, 1730.
(Carson's Weekly Journal.)
1711 — Richard, Earl of Rosse, buried 28th of
August. (Register.) This Richard was the first Earl
and second Viscount. It is said by Lodge that he was
buried in St. Anne's. (Peerage, Vol. IL, page 76.)
THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND. 31
1TC4 — Richard, Earl of Rosse, buried 29tli of
August. (Register.)
1797 — Yiscount Ranelagli, buried 23rd of April.
(Register.)
1812 — Viscountess Ranelagb, buried 3rd of January.
(Register.)
CHAPTER V.
LEWIS JONES, DEAN OF AEDAGH, BISHOP
OF KILL ALOE.
DIFFICULTY ABOUT HIM IN WARE, ETC.— HIS SONS
HENKY JONES, DEAN.
Lewis Jones, the second son of Archbishop Thomas
Jones, was appointed hy the Crown Dean of Ardagh
in 1606, tuid in 1608'^ he received also the Parish of
KilbLa, in Meath, from the Crown. He held botli of
these livings, each of which was very valuable. It
may be remarked that in noting the benefices to which
any of the family were appointed, those only that
were presented by the Crown are mentioned, while at
the same time Lewis Jones and others might have as
many other livings from the bishop. These are not
mentioned, for, while the Patent Rolls are in Dublin
Castle, under the care of officials, and accessible to all,
tlie Registers of episcopal appointments to parishes
are hard to get, and are in most cases lost.
It is probable, therefore, that LcAvis Jones had other
livings, obtained from his father, in addition to those
* Patent Rolls.
THE JONES FAMILY IW lEELAKD. g3
mentioned. Lewis Jones was bishop of Killaloe, lived
to an advanced age and had four sons^ Henry,
Theophihis, Ambrose and Michael.* He retained the
Deaneiy of Ardagh till 1025, when he resigned it, and
his son Henry, who had taken holy orders, succeeded
him. He was bishop of Killaloe till his death in IGiG.f
A great deal of liistorical confusion has arisen in
connection with Lems Jones and his family. Sir
James Ware, perhaps the most valuable authority we
have on Irish history and antiquities, was generally
supposed to be infallible. His translator and editor,
Harris, who lived and wrote in the middle of the last
century, has contributed a good deal of valuable
matter to the history of his country. Harris has
frequently added matter of his own, and this is not
always correct. Since the time of Ware, now twoi
centunes, a flood of light has been thrown on histori-
cal matters at that time considered dark. National
archives and private collections have yielded up
their treasures. Harris has been found to be a careful,
l)ut at times, inaccurate editor, while Ware has fallen
from his throne, and must yield to the more perfect
and accurate researches of modern historians.
The celebrated Dr. Todd — whose copy of Ware,
* Harris's Ware. Clogy's Memoir, p. 50. ^
t Patent Rolls.
34 THE JONES FAMILY IN inEL AND,
witli copious critical notes by liimself , was, at his death,
sold for £400 — a greater scholar and a better Irish
scholar than Ware, says in his life of St. Patrick,
"Ware has attempted an absurd and impossible thing
in G;iving the regular succession in the sees of the
ancient Irish bishops, as, often, they had no snccessoi-s."
(Todd's life of St. Patrick, page 21, Note.) Ware makes
Lewis Jones bishop of Killaloe from 1033 to IGifi, and
states that he was Dean of Cashel previously, while
Harris adds that he lived to the age of 104, giving the
names of his four sons, Henry, Theophilus, Ambrose and
Michael, stating also that the printers of his edition of
Ware in 1739 were three ladies descended from one
of these brothers, Sir Theophilus Jones.
Clogy, minister of Cavan, who married the step-
daughter of Bishop Bedell, and wrote his life, was
contempoi-ary with the brothers Jones, and mentions
two of them with whom he was familiarly acquainted,
Henry, Dean of Kilmore, and Michael, afterwards the
distinguished Parliamentary general. He tells us they
married two ladies of County Cavan, and he states they
were sons of the Bishop of Kilala. (Clogy's life,
page 50.)
Now, Clogy mistakes Kilala for Killaloe, speaking
even of contemporary events and persons, and indeed
makes nianj^ other mistakes in his yet valuable work.
17?2008
THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND. 35
Harris, wlio lived more than a bimdred years after
Clogy, adds that this Jones, Bishop of Killaloe, hved
to the age of 104, tliongh where lie obtained the in
formation he does not say ; and he states this with the
dates of 1633 before his eyes as the appointment to
Killaloe, and 1046 as the time of his death — ^that is,
appointing a man a bishop of a Diocese when he was
91 years of age! — and if this Lewis is the same whom
Harris makes Dean of Cashel, he was made Dean of
Cashel and attained three other livings from the Crown
when he was 87 years of age. I need not go further
in pointing out the absurdity of all this.
The mistake of Ware has arisen from not knowing
that there were two men named Lewis Jones in the
Church,and for some time contemporaries — Lewis Jones
a nephew in all probability of Archbishop Jones,* who,
when his uncle Thomas succeeded so well in Ireland,
came over also to push his fortune, like Robert Loftns,
the eldest brother of the Archbishop Loftus, wlio
came over after his brother and founded the Ely family;
and Lewis Jones a son of the Archbishop's, who obtain-
ed the Deanery of Ardagh in 1006, the year after his
father, who was then (55, became Archbishop of
Dublin.
Ware's mistake is a small one; others with his
* Lewis Jones, Dean of Cashel, might have been a grandson of
the Archbishop.
36 THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND.
lio-iires Lcfore tlieir eyes luive made it greater — mak-
ing a man bisliop over an extensive Diocese M'lien 91 !
and receiving a Deanery and three parishes wlien 87!
and of whom, bsf ore tluit time, no mention is made.
Vi 1", supposing even that Lewis, Dean of Ardagh, was
the same with Lewis Jones, Dean of Casliel, he
resigns his Deanery to his son and lives witliout
clerical preferment for four years, 1025 to 1029, when
he obtains the Deanery of Casliel at the age of 57 — -
an improbable supposition.
When the celebrated William Bedell was appointed
bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh in 1020, he w\as
anxious, in his efforts to reform his church and Diocese,
that each clergyman should luive only one parish and
should reside therein. He encountered a good deal
of difficulty in this matter, and was only partially
successful. A clergyman named Johnson had a
parish in Kilmore, but never resided in it, as he was a
great architect and engineer and built the castles for
Strafford, the Lord Lieutenant in County Wicklow,
where he generally resided. Faithful Tate, the Rector
of Drumlane, was another pluralist, for he had the
Parishes of Castleterra, Drung and Larah at the same
time. Between him and Bedell, whose palace was near
him, there existed a strong friendship and esteem, for
Bedell placed his son William in Drundane nnder
1 HE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND. 37
Mr. Tate, during the year of his cliaconate.
Bisliop Bedell, however, in order to give the greater
public emphasis to a principle so sound in church life,
heroically gave up his See of Ardagli to Dr. Richard-
son, separating it from Kilmore.* The Dean of
Kilmore at that time was Dr. Bernard. He had
several parishes, but resided in neither of them, as he
was private chaplain to Primate Usher, and usually
lived with him at Drogheda. Feeling the awkward-
ness of his position, having a real esteem for Bedell,
and being unwilling to quarrel openly with him, he
exchanged in 1637 with Henry Jones, and so Jones
became Dean of Kilmore four years before the great
rebellion. f
Shortly after Dr. Henry Jones became Dean of
Kilmore he ma^.'ried the daughter of Sir Hugh Cullum,
who lived in the neighborhood, at Lisnamaine near
Belturbet, and about the same time his younger
brother Michael married her mother.;};
The Cullums — anciently written Culma, and in
modern times Collum — were descended from an ancient
and honorable family in Molland, in Devonshire.
Their father had been a distinguished captain in
Queen Elizabeth's wars, and after the subjection of
* Clogy. Bedell's MS. Life of Bedell by Bisliop Burnet.
f Clogy's Memoir.
X Clogy, p. 50.
38 TnE JONES FAMILY IN L'lELAND.
the Kingdom* had lieeii made governor of Clough
oughter Castle, near Cavan, on an island in the Erne,
tmd enjoyed the large estate and pay set apart for its
inamtenance. His sou, Sir Arthur Culhim, now held
the place for the King. Six brothers are mentioned :
Benjamin, who became Dean of St. Patrick's and who
had estates in Cavan; Sir Hugh, Sir Arthur, Richard,
Lewis, and Philip. The family are still in existence
in Ireland, in opulence and respect.
Henry Jones was of an active and enterprising
character, and known to the Government as a clever
and an able man. We find on the lOth of June, 1039,
a commission directed to Hem*y Jones, Dean of
Kilmore, to enquire (among other things) into matters
relating to the Protestant leases in Ireland ; another
commission directed to him on the 23rd of December,
1639; and a like on the ISth of Januar3% 1690.t
Cavan at that time is descril)ed by Clogy as "the
Garden of the Lord." His MS., from the Harleian
Collection in the British Museum, has lately been
jirinted for the first time. That, and a MS. of Bedell's
son, William, in the Bodleian Collection at Oxford,
lately published, tlirow a valual)le light on those times.
At that time Cavan afforded the l)est society to be
* See Memoir of Dean CuUuni in Mason, and his will in notes,
f See Patent Rolls. Wliitelaw's History of Uablin.Vol. I , p. 151.
2 HE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND. 39
found outside tlie Capitol.
Wlietlier Dean Jones obtained property in Belturbet
and its vicinity by bis wife, or, which is more probable,
he obtained it in consequence of the commissions
with which, by royal authority, he was entrusted, he
became the owner of very considerable property in
that neighborhood while still Dean of Kilmore. He
had built a castle on a beautiful island in upper Lough
Erne before 1645, when he was appointed by the
Cro'UTi bishop of Clogher, in which See this island
is situated. He is styled Henry Jones, D. D., of
Inischirche (Inishirk) Castle, on his appointment as
bishop of Clogher. (See Patent Kolls and see Liber
Munerum.)
O'Reilly, Prince of Cavan, descended from tlie
monarchs of Ireland, had for generations ruled his
principality with wisdom and equity. He had so
managed that few hostile incursions had ever devastat-
ed that beautiful valley, and so, at the conclusion of
tliose terrible and devastating wars that towards the
end of Queen Elizabeth's reign had reduced the greater
part of Ireland to a desert, Cavan was almost the only
spot that presented to the eye that prosperity and great
natural beauty for which the whole land had been so
famous.
The Cavan, or the Hollow, the ancient name applied
40 TUB JONES FAMILY RY L'lELAND.
to one i^art of the country, was anciently called
Breflt'iij — latterly, East Bref hiy. The O'Keillys became
masters of this fertile vale al)out the time of the
English Invasion in llTi, comijig from the more
western parts. 13y the helj) of the O'Sheridans, a
noble and a gifted race, the O'Reillys expelled O'Rorke
beyond the mountains of Western Cavan, into Leitrim,
or West Breifny, Oscar O'Sheridan of that day marry-
ing the daughter of O'Rorke, and by the treaty con-
cluding the war, ruling over the western part of
Cavan, from the river Erne, subject to O'Reilly as
Lord Paramount. The Cavan proper, that is, that
part of County Cavan forming a valley, surrounded
by mountains of considerable elevation and bisected
by the river Erne, that with majestic course Hows
through woods of great beauty and meads of eternal
green, is one of the most extensive valleys in Ireland.
It is saucer-shaped, surrounded on all sides by moun-
tains, beautitied by hundreds of charming lakes, and
the monotony of a dead level i-elieved by the great
number of gently swelling hills of no great elevation,
fertile to their summit, that form such a peculiar
feature in this lovely county. On almost all of these
bills, and they are very nimierous, there is a round
earthen fort, the inside of which, green as emerald,
forms a sort of gai'deu, and the remains of the deep
THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND. 41
nioat are still seen. These enclosures formed tlie Lios
(Lis), or fort, in wliich the chieftain resided, and to
which his people flocked in time of danger. It was
surrounded by the wide, deep moat, full of water from
a spring in the fort. Then, in the numerous lakes,
there were formed cranoges, that is, dwellings on
artificial islands, where the people resided and to which
all boats were drawn at night. These cranoges, or
artiiicial habitable islets, form a great peculiarity of
the river Erne.
All through this lovely valley there were objects
of interest that carried the mind back to times and
persons long past away. There was Slanore, where a
church was founded before the time of Columbkille,
about 490, on a green, fertile slope, overlooking the
Erne, a little distance from where I write ; and here a
seat of learning was kept up that did not die out until
the time of Elizabeth.
There was Trinity Island, in Loughoughter — a lovely
island, on which Clarus Mac Mailin, archdeacon of
Elpliin, founded an abbey in 1251, the ruins of which
still remain, with the church of the abbey in good
preservation.
Cloughoughter castle, still nearer, rises in its lone
loveliness, venerable by time and marred by war.
Built by the O'Sheridans, shortly after their coming
42 THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND.
to tliis valley, it formed in those days an iinpre£:^iiable
stroMf^liold, dominating the whole country by its
strength.
Nearer to my own residence lies Drundane, where
the
Round tower and tlie ruined fane
Tlieir mystic shadows cast,
carrying ns back almost to the world's l)irth time —
the Round Tower founded probably before the time
of Moses, and the old Abbey in 502 by the Prince-
bishop.
Then, a little beyond, is the "Relic," in Kildallon,
where repose the ashes of all that is great in Irish
story, both before and after Christ, — where the monu-
mental urn and the marl)le pillar, l)y their number and
the great skill of their construction, attested the lofty
station and great power of the Kings and Chieftains
who slept below. Now it is dwindled to a small
enclosed graveyard, whose name alone, unintelligible
to the common people, attests its former greatness.
The history of the "Relic na Ree," or "burying
place of the Kings," has been translated from an
ancient Irish poem by a great poet.
There is the church founded by Dalian, the great
musician and poet of the time of Columbkill, whose
poem in praise of the Dove of the Churches should
be known by all. All around, too, are traces of a
THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND. 43
world that lias perislied — a world in wliicli the druid,
with his mystic faith and his magic, his secret arts and
acquaintance with spirits, his deep religious nature
and his great learning, formed the chief feature,
Near the middle of this valley Dean Henry Jones
had his residence, on the lovely green hill now called
Danesfort. Though one of the boldest and most
elevated of the many swelling hills that form a dis-
tinctive feature of this valley, it is also one of the most
fertile, and even in midwinter refreshes the eye with
the richness of its vegetation. This valley now reposes
in deathlike beauty. The land has been parcelled and
bought out again and again . by lords and nobles, and
rackrented until the very cry of the peasant has risen
up to Grod. The value of the wheat in the United
States is calculated at £l,12s.,6d. per acre for the year
1885. The peasants or farmers had lately to pay far
more than that per acre to the landlord, and find out a
living for themselves afterwards. ]!*^owhere have
fewer facilities of education been afforded. The
gentry in many parts of it have been gradually swejjt
off the land, until at the present day in the Parish of
Drumlane, near the centre of this valley — a parish
containing thirty-five square miles of fertile land — not a
single gentleman is to be seen. All are gone, but one
old, deaf man. The landlords have been like vampires
44 THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND.
sucking out tlie life and blood and spirit of the people.
I^o matter what good reasons are sent, or what jiricet^
were obtained, all was of no avail. Povert}'^ and
distress seemed to settle down on us like a dark night
with no dawn.
Even after two centuries and a half of landlord rule
and English civilization, Cavan of the nineteenth
century is much poorer, with not one man of good
fortune for four, and immensely inferior in educational
status to the Cavan of Dean Ilem-y Jones' and Bishop
Bedell's time.
CHAPTER VI.
THE REBELLION OF 1641.
THE JONES FAMILY DEAN JONES BISHOP JONES BECAME
A GENERAL UNDER CROMWELL MICHAEL AND THEO-
PHILUS JONES COMMANDERS FOR THE PARLIAMENT.
The Rebellion of 1641, tliat burst so suddenly upon
tlie countrj, did not escape the keen observation of
Dean Jones, as well as a few others. Dr. Richardson,
Bishop of Ardagh, saw the coming storm, and quietly
converted all his property into money and retired to
England a few months before the outbreak. Dean
Jones and his brothers, bolder spirits, though they
foresaw the danger, cpiailed not before it. They saw,
too, that, happen what might, the English race would
come off vict(jrious. So, with all their property, their
wives and families, they awaited the issue.
In no part of their history have the noble Irish race
been more maligned and worse treated than in that of
1641. For centuries have the gross slanders been
repeated, until the massacre of Protestants at that
time came to be considered as an Article of Faith.
I have, I believe, honestly investigated this subject.
46 THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND.
with a patience and a completeness seldom or never
l)efore attempted, and I have come to the conclusion
that there was no massacre at that time.
The literature of the subject is extensive, and a good
list of writers may be found in Haverty's History of
Ireland. Clogy, mentioned before, who lived all
through it in County Cavan, though he is animated by
the most bigoted spirit against the Irish and their
religion, cannot mention or point to a single murder
committed. On the contrary, he mentions that the
last of the English, when departing from the County
in a body, nine months after the Rebellion broke out,
were parted with with regret by the Irish who
accompanied them to Droglieda, and he states expressly
that no lives were lost.
The bishop's son, William Bedell, rector of Kinaw-
ley, a neighboring parish, who wTote in a nobler and
manlier toiie, has no note of any murder in this county
at the time. It pleased a party in Ireland, who were
headed at the time by the two bigoted old men, the
Lord's Justices, Sir William Parsons and Sir John
Borlase, to give a willing eai* to the stories of murders
and massacres that, some months after the outbreak,
began to be circulated. This party in Ireland werv3
one in spirit with that party in England against whom
the King, Charles I., had to take up arms. They
THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND. Al
formed part of that great party that at that thne
brought the King to the block, overthrew the Church
aiid_alJ but placed Cromwell on the throne. Men are
still divided in opinion as to the conduct of public
])arties at that time, but no moderate man, no matter
of what party, but must confess that the Parliamentar-
ians fought for the liberty we have since enjoyed.
They put forever a limit to the authority of the
monarch, which had become a standing menace to the
freedom of mankind, and they curbed the power of
the Church and the bishop, which for a long time and
under various forms of religion had shown a readiness
to persecute for holding speculative opinions differing
fi'om those in current favor.
In the great struggle there were four parties in
Ireland that gradiially separated themselves from each
other: — The Native Irish party, who aimed at getting
their lands back again. These were stirred up and
pushed on by the ecclesiastics, in order that the Roman
Catholic Church might become predominant, and
resume those estates of which she had been deprived
at the Reformation. Secondly, there was the Royalist
party, of whom the great Marquis of Ormond was the
head. They consisted chiefly of English settlers who
favored the Church of England and Ireland. Thirdly,
there was the Scotch party, who were Presbyterians
48 THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND.
to a man, hated the Established Church iis deatli or
poison, and were supported l>y an array and an ex-
perienced general from Scotland. These consisted
principally of Scotch colonists in Ulster. Lastly, there
was the party in Ireland that favored the English
Parliament and opposed the King. These were head-
ed at first by the Lord's Justices, who often set aside
the King's commands, and eventually became the
Irish Parhamentary party and sided with Cromwell.
The Jones family to a man threw in their lot with
the Parliinmentary party. The only exception was
Lord Ranelagh. He fought, till he died in ItUi, on
the side of the English Loyalists, and after his death
his son Arthm-, the second Viscount, does not appear
to have been so distinguished as a military leader.
Wlien the Pebellion broke out in Cavan, it fell upon
the English and Scotch settlers like thunder from a
clear slvy. They were totiilly unprepared, and the
sti'ongholds and castles that they were l>omid to Imikl
by the terms on which they received their estates were
not built at all, or in very bad condition. Lord
Lambert (now Earl of Cavan) had no stronghold on
his estate there to which the people of the county
could fly for protection. He and his lady were,
besides, obnoxious to the Irish by their position and
character, nor did the Protestant settlers trust or love
THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND. m
tliem. Tliey had forcibly seized on lands belonging
to the Church and the necessary but invidious duty of
expelling them by a process of law fell to Bishop
Bedell after his appointment. For this Lady Lambert
hated him and was active in j-aising up persons to
annoy him. There was one Major Bayley in command
of the troops at Cavan, before the Rebellion. He
married Penelope Ilartlib, or Hartley, a young lady
of fortune, daughter of a rich London merchant, whose
mother had married secondly Mr. Dillon, son of the
Earl of Roscommon, brother of Lord Dillon, one of
the Lord's Justices. At the time of her marriage the
mother was a resident in the Parish of Kilmore.
Major Bay ley's brother William, not liking the
appearance of affairs at that time in Scotland, came
over to Cavan, married Miss Hartley, sister to his
brother's wife, and obtained the living of Cavan.
Being instigated by Lady Lambert, he went to Dublin,
and from the influence he was able to bring upon the
Lord Lieutenant, obtained the living or parish of
Templepost, near Cavan — filled at that time by an
eminent Irish scholar named Murtao-h Kino;, who was
assisting Bedell in the translation of the Bible into
Irish. For this grave ecclesiastical crime he was
deprived and excommunicated by Bishop Bedell. He
was immediately absolved and presented to the living
no THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND.
of Cavaii by tlie (.rowii. Persisting in his ofl'ense
and having had Mr. King, who was an aged man,
dragged to prison by pursnivants sent down by the
Government vdio liad also again illegally presented
liim to Templepost, he was again deprived and ex-
communicated by the Bishop, being as quickly absolved
by the Crown and presented again to these livings.
In the end Bay ley, by the help of Lady Lambert, of
Cavan, conquered, and Mr. King was allowed to remain
in prison, against all law and justice. Mr. William
Ba3'ley was made bishop of Clonfert in Ireland by the
King lt!-W:.
The whole of these extraordinary proceedings may
be gathered from BedelFs letter to the Archbishop of
Canterbury, in Mr. Prince's life of that prelate; in
Jones's life of Bedell, and in that of Clogy. When
sentence of excommunication w^as pronounced on a
person by the Bishop or ecclesiastical court, the ex-
communicated w^as committed to prison by the civil
power till he should be purged from his sentence, or
absolved. This continued the law till the time of
George the Third ; hence the necessity of absolving
Bayley.
The only strongholds in the county were those at
Croaghan and at Keilagh, now Castle Hamilton — the
former under Sir James Craig and the latter under
THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND. 51
Sir Francis Hamilton, both Scotclimen. To these tlie
Protestants Hocked in considerable numbers, but they
felt safer under the protection of Bedell, to whose
castle, as it was called, they flocked in great numbers ;
because, though undefended, they knew that the Irish
people loved him.
Though there is no proof by contemporary writers
that there was any massacre, yet there was a great deal
of loss, and terror among the Protestants ; for the
Irish simply wanted to drive them out, and to this
end put on an appearance of anger and terror that had
its effect. At this time, while Bedell's house and
offices were full of alarmed Protestants who had fled
from their houses and were being daily threatened by
the Ii-ish, in order to their flight from the place, from
which Bedell would not send them, the Roman Catholic
bishop of Kilmore, who lived near Bedell, offered to
come and live with him, lest he or any of his people
should be hurt by the intemperate zeal of the Irish.
Bedell, in a kind Latin letter, refused. At length, in
order that the Protestants might be dispersed, it was
ordered that Bedell and his sons should be taken
prisoners to the Cloughoughter Castle. This was done
with an air of severity, to terrify the crowd, who
thereupon fled; but the chieftain, O'Reilly, brought
his own horse, that Bedell might ride to the place —
53 THE JONES FAMILY TN IRELAKD.
distant only abont one and a-lialf miles, tliongh Bedell
was a very active man afoot, and a great walker. Here
lie was kept only for a fortnight, when he was set free
and with his family and all his friends allowed to live
in the honse of the chieftain O'Shei'idan, who was a
Protestant and a rector, and lived near the bishop.
Here they were allowed to live till the 15th of the
following June. He was set free on the 7th of Jannary,
1()42. The Rebellion broke out on Sunday, the 2?>rd
of October, 1041. Bedell lived in his own house till
the 18th of Dccend)er, and during the short time he
was confined his sons' wives, etc., were kept at Mr.
Sheridan's house.
Durinoj the short detcTition in Clouo-hoiiiyhter Castle
sermons and discourses were frequent among them,
and if we are to believe Clogy, who sometimes preach-
ed, the great burden of most of these discourses
was the evils of Popery. All the while, be it
remembered, their keeper was a Poman Catholic and
so were their guards. If Clogy's account be true, it
argues an amount of consideration and forbeai-ance not
usually shown to prisoners by those who have them in
their power. I would nmch rather believe that the
bishop's discourses were more in accordance witli his
character.
The bishop was detainod not quite three weeks. He
HIE JONES FA MIL 7 IiY IRELAND. 53
came to Deuis Sheridan's lioiise, wliere, from the over-
crowding, he was taken ill nearly a month after, and
died on the 7tli of Febrnary, 16'12. Clogy, his son-
in-law, states that a week before he took ill, he and the
bishop and his son AVilliam being out walking, on their
way home they came to a drain which the bishop
lightly leaped over. This pnt the younger men to a
great stand. And yet all Protestant writers assert that
Bedell died from the effects of his rigorous imprison-
ment.
But where was Dean Jones during the tirst months
of this terrible massacre, when so many hundred
thousand Protestants were murdered, according to
English writers, that more were shown to have been
put to death than were in Ireland altogether? — and
yet, strange to say, they all rose from the dead, for the
whole number of Protestants that were in Ireland
before the massacre some little time after appear
"alive and kicking." Where was the learned, the
politic young Dean all these terrible months!' At his
own house, with his wife and children, living in peace.
He knew how to manage the people among whom he
dwelt, and though told that he would have to give up
his lands, he smiled blandly, nodded assent and bided
his time. He knew much better than Bedell the signs
of the times, and that a short time would see the storm
54 THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND.
settle and tlie clouds roll awtij.
The Rebellion began on tlie 23rd of October, and
early in November the leaders of the Irish party in
Cavan induced Bedell to draw up a statement of their
case as a Remonstrance to the Lord's Justices and the
Council in Dublin. They were anxious that Bedell
should himself go with this Remonstrance from them.
He excused himself, and the next most important and
influential person, and one likely to be acceptable to
the Government, was Dean Jones. He at once under-
took the business, and started for Dublin accompanied
by some others, leaving his wife and children in their
hands. Dean Jones was most anxious to undertake
the journey, for he longed to give the Lord's Justices
and Council, among Mdiom he had many friends — of
which the Cavan leaders seemed unaware — a full
verbal account of the strength and design of the
Northern rel)els. The Remonstrance was presented on
the 6th of November and the Cxovernment sent a
refusal, ])ut that the Dean might be accredited with
having j^erformed his part in a friendly manner, the
Lord's Justices and Council add that, as the Cavan
leaders had been guilty of few excesses and no murders,
if they would lay down their arms they should receive
pardon. Dean Jones, in his own account of that time,
lays stress on the fact that he was a prisoner among
2 HE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND. 55
them ; but I cannot iind where lie was a prisoner, nor
does he state it. There is no account to be met with
of his having been released, nor of his liaving suffered
any loss by violence.
The rebels, under their great general Owen Roe
O'Neill, made the southern and western part of Cavan
their stronghold. Here, when pressed by the Scots
on the North, Owen Roe O'Neill would retreat to the
almost inaccessible mountains of Cavan and Leitrim ^
At other times he had a standing camp on the eastern
bank of the Erne, some little distance from Belturbet?
where he trained and drilled his recruits. (See
M'Gee's History of Ireland.)
Sir James Graig had died of hardship and privation
during the siege of Croaghan. Sir Francis Hamilton,
of Keilah, with the troops of Croaghan, had come to
terms in June, 16-i2, and had marched some of them
to Dublin and some . to Drogheda. In the meantime
Cavan was completely in the hands of the Irish, and
for several years continued so, during which the
English had abandoned their property and tlie clergy
their houses and churches. The Diocese of Clogher,
consisting of Monaghan and Fermanagh, was for the
most part in the hands of the Scots, who soon in-
troduced the Solemn League and Covenant and ex-
pelled the bishops and clergy of the Established
56 TUB JONES FAMILY IN UlELAND.
Cliureli, so that in all tlie North the Scots with the
Covenaut were as detennined against the Church as
the Irish were in other parts, or more so.
Many of the Irish l)ishops tied to England. Some
died there before the troubles M'^ere over. Some came
back to their sees or were elevated to more important
ones. Some fled to places of safety within the small
portion of the island where the English had still
authority, and died there during the continuance of
the trouble. Henry Jones did neither. Too brave a
man to fear danger and too able a man to be idle
during such a crisis, when he could no longer exercise
his spiritual functions and when he found his religion
under ban, he put the lawn with his episcoi):J dignity
in his pocket, denned the uniform, entered the
Parliamentary army of his brother Michael, and as a
commander, under the aml)iguous name of Scout
Master General — a name long since fallen into desue-
tude— performed valiant service in the field. He held
the important command of Scout Master General
through the whole war, and when the King had fallen
and Cromwell was supreme, he still held the same
post,* nor did he resign it till the Restoration, in 1060,
* Henry Jones, bishop of Meatli, was the means of preserving
Bedell's MS. Irish Bible. Denis Sheridan, chief of the tribe,
managed to save it from the wreck of Bishop Bedell's Library in
1641 and gave it to his friend Jones, who subsequently gave it
THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND. 57
when his brother Sir Theoj)hikis Jones quietly succeed-
ed to his place, as he resumed his ejjiscopal functions
in the Diocese of Clogher. Bishop Henry Jones sat
on coui'tmartial that held their permanent sittings for a
length of time in St. Patrick's Cathedral as Scout
Master General, where his name is still seen.*
His brothers Michael and Theophilus became, from
the commencement of the war, distinguished military
leaders. Theophilus served under his uncle. Lord
Ranelagh, the Lord President of Connaught, and
would seem to have served for a while in England,
when part of the Irish army was sent over by Ormond
to assist the King after the pacification with the Irish
leaders inlG-IS.f This connection with his uncle, who
followed the royal cause, and with the great Marquis
of Ormond, may account for the fact that Sir
Theophilus inclined very considerably to the King's
side, and as we have seen, succeeded at the Restoration
to Mr. Boyle and suggested its publication. Boyle expended
£700 on this object. (Professor Killen, Ecc. History II., 11.)
* For his devotion to Cromwell and his activity and talent as
Scout Master General to hia army, Cromwell gave Bishop Henry
Jones a grant of Lynch's Knock, the ancient seat of the Lynches
of Summerfield in County Meath, now the demesne of Lord
Langford. (Kilkenny Jour, of Arch. Soc, Vol. VI., New Series,
1867, page 63.)
f We find him acting, however, under Monro in the North in
1643. McQeoghegan.
58 THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND.
to an important military command.
Michael Jones seems to have been a stern republican
— a man after Cromwell's own heart. The Irish
Protestant party, if I may so designate the whole
body that at first acted against the Irish, gradually
became divided into two parties — the Koyalists, headed
by Ormond, and the Republican party. In 1G43 a
sujpei'sedeas which had been granted by the King long
before to remove Sir William Parsons from the post
of Lord Justice, but not acted on, was put in force
by Ormond, who obtained, in addition, an order to arrest
Lof tus Meredyth and Sir John Temple on the charge
of contravening the royal will in the management of
affairs. Public affairs were in a somewhat confused
state from this till 1647, the Scots fighting in the North,
the English and Irish Protestants against the Irish in
the South, with Ormond at the head of affairs, mean-
while the English Republican party growing stronger
and their friends in Ireland increasing in boldness and
resolution. In 1647 Ormond was turned out of
Dublin, having had to surrender all the regalia to the
Parliamentary Commissioners. Colonel Michael Jones
at once took possession of Dublin for the Parliamentary
party. Soon after Jones marched out of Dublin to
encounter the Irish army, or the Army of the Con-
federates, as it was called, commanded by General
THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND. 59
Preston, brother of Lord Gormanstown, at tliat time
reputed to be their best generah The object of the
Confederate generals, Preston and Taaffe, was to drive
the Parliamentary forces out of Dublin. Preston had
7,000 foot and 1,000 horse, and Jones, being inferior
in numbers, avoided a battle for some time, but being
reinforced by some troops from Ulster he encountered
General Preston at Dungan Hill in County Meath,
and completely defeated him, the Confederates "losing
5,470 of their men, of whom 400 were Red Shanks,
i.e., Highlanders, under the command of the celebrated
Alexander Mac Donnell, or Colkitto." (Haverty.
See also Wright.) Michael Jones seems to have been
very distinguished as a cavalry officer. This victory
made Dublin secure till 1649, after the execution of
King Charles, when the Duke of Ormond, who now
co-operated with the Irish in favor of Charles the
Second, besieged Dublin, with the intention of reducing
it by famine. Ormond was joined by Preston, the
Irish general, but they were surprised by Jones a little
above Dublin, at a place called Baggotrath, and totally
routed. Jones drew out from the city 4,000 foot and
1,200 horse, and with these he slew 4,000 and took
2,500 prisoners, with all their artillery, baggage, money
and provisions. Ormond fled with the shattered
remains of his army to Kilkenny.^ Jones remained
* Cartloads of bones were found here a few years ago.
GO THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND.
Governor of DiTl)lin, wliicli lie kept for the Parliam iiit
till tli3 arrival of Olivier CroinwoU sliortlj after, when
lie took the distinguished Parliamentary general, Jones,
with him as his chief Lieutenant and left his 1)rotlier,
Sir Theophilus Jones, Governor of Dublin. When
Cromwell had conquered and pacified the country,
and John Jones, his brother-in-law, and Fleetwood, his
son-in-law, were members of the Commission appointed
by the Parliament to govern Ireland, settle the Iribh
in Connaught, into which they were all driven, and
divide the rest of the country among the soldiers, for
their arrears of pay, and among those English who
had advanced money to the Government, most of
the orders in council at that time are signed hy John
Jones. These orders have lately been discovered by
Mr. Prendergast in the Castle of Dublin, whore they
had lain for ages, neglected and unknown.
"When Cromwell took the title of Protector, John
Jones and some others of the Commissioners strongly
disapproved of his conduct, and Michael and his
cousin seem to have fallen into disgrace, John being
dismissed from the office of Commissioner. After
Cromwell's death John Jones again appears as one of
the leading spirits who strongly advocated a republic.
When the Restoration took place, he seems to have
fallen into obscurity, though he appears to have lived
THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND. 61
on his estates in safety, whicli were cliiefly in Kilkenny,
wliere liis descendants live to the present day as
leading county people.
Of Michael Jones little is heard till we iind him as
Michael Jones, Esq., M. P. for Duleck, Connty Meath,
in the Irish parliament of 1603.
Both these men — cousins — were stern republicans.
They cared not for kings or titles. Stern of purpose
and with a high sense of duty, they possessed — Michael,
especially — that undaunted courage and resource in
the presence of danger that characterize, in all ages,
the born leaders c f men, and in critical times lead men
to victory and alter the fate of nations.
Theophilus, brother of Henry and Michael Jones,
was a successful leader in the Parliamentary army.
We have seen that he was left Governor of Dublin by
Cromwell in 1049. He seems, however, to have been
more like Henry, the bishop, in character, than Michael,
and to have kept the door of reconciliation to court
favor open. He succeeded the bishop as Scout Master
Genera] of the forces till his death. He was a friend
of the Earl of Ossory, the eldest son of the great Duke
of Oi-mond, and l)y his means a conspiracy which was
formed in 1663 by some discontented Republican
ofheers and Presl)yterians for seizing the C^Histle of
Dublin and overturning the Royal authority was
62 THE JONES FAMILY IN lUELAND.
discovered.* Sir Tlieopliilus Jones seems to have had
large estates, chiefly in Galway, for we find that the
eldest son of that time, called Tlieopliilus, was a mem-
ber of Parliament for County Leitrim, where the Jones
family had property and influence for a long time.
Theophilus Jones, Esq., of Ileadford (near Galway),
was M. P. for County Leitrim from 1G05 to 1703, and
father and son, the same name, represented the same
place in Parliament till lYGl.f
Ambrose Jones, the fourth brother, obtained a
living from the Crown in 1637. He had obtained
other livings from ecclesiastical patrons. We know
little about him till he succeeded his brother Henry
as Bishop of Clogher in 1661, which he held for a
few years, when, in 1667,:}: he was translated to
the see of Kildare, which he held till his death in
1678. He was allowed by the Crown to hold the rich
living of Maynooth in addition. §
* Patent Rolls. Wliitelaw's History.
f Patent Rolls.
\ Ware's bishops.
§ Ma: on. Notes, appendix.
CHAPTER VII.
HENRY JONES, D. D.
BISHOP OF CLOGHEE 16J:5-16G1 — BISHOP OF MEATII 1G61
-1681 HJS DESCENDANTS.
Shortly after tlie Kestoration, and as soon as the
necessary instrnments were complete, twelve bishops
were consecrated in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Henry
Jones, bishop of Clogher, being one of the consecrat-
ing bishops; but because he had been a commander
for a time,, it was thought better quietly by the
archbishops that he should not lay his hands on them,
and politic and conciliatory as he ever was he acquiesced.
Almost immediately after he was made bishop of
Meatli, which he held till his death.
From his long tenure of the see of Clogher — sixteen
years — he amassed a great deal of landed property in
that diocese. He was, in 1641, appointed by the
Crown to ascertain the damage the Protestants had
sustained by the rebels, and on his rejDresentations —
and they were partial to the Protestants — grants of
land were given to those who had suffered loss. His
estates lay in that part of Cavan adjoining Fermanagh,
64 THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND.
in the County of Fermanagh and in the County Meatli.
From him are descended all those of the name of
Jones who held projjerty in Fermanagh or Cavan and
held the rank of gentlemen. Squire Jones, of Monej-
glass in County Antrim — a tine county family, who,
in the "Lauded Gentry of Ireland, by Sir I>. Burke,"
only go back to the "BumpsrSquire Jones, of Carolan"
(Thomas Morres Jones, Esq.) — is descended in tlie
third generation from Henry Jones, D. D. This
Thomas Morres Jones, who died in 1761>, was great-
grandson of Henry Jones, Bishop of Clogher and
Meath. He possessed lands in Fermanagh and Leitrim,
and was married to the niece of Lord O'xN eill (French
John), who from his ancestry and great estates ranked
as a prince. Lord O'Neill gave with his niece, as a
dowry, the estate of Moneyglass in fee simple. Squire
Jones also became possessed of the property called
Jonesboro, in the County of Arm igli, which they still
hold. Squire Jones, of Moneyglass, was High Sheriff
for County Fermanagh in li ving memory. He has been a
magistrate for Derry, Antrim, Down, Armagh, Ferman-
agh and Cavan; High Sheriff for Armagh, Antrim,
Down and Fermanagh,in all of which he holds property.
Another branch of the same stock was John Moutray
Jones, Esq., who was High Sheriff of Fermanagh iii
1797. He had property in Fermanagh and about
THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND. 65
Beltnrbet, where lie resided much. He married a
Miss Singleton, of Fort Singleton, in Connty Mona-
glian, and had no legitimate issue. He lived for a
while in Ture, in the Parish of Drumlane, and is
buried in the graveyard of that parish. A monument
is put up in the church to the memory of his wife
and himself. He died in 1835.
From Bishop Henry Jones is descended, in the third
generation, the Jones family of Nahillah, that is, the
Hollow, near Belturbet, who have long held a leading
position in County Cavan. Of this family David
Jones was, in 1763, appointed High Sheriff of County
Cavan. His father was the Mr. Jones who bought
the freehold,. or Bishop's lease, of Drumlane early in
the eighteenth century from Doctor Thomas Sheridan,
who had to pay the money to Dean Swift. This land
still remains in the Nahillah family. This Jones
married a lady of Belturbet of good family and great
beauty, called popularly "Bjauty Copeland," and ever
since the name Copeland has been retained in this
family.
Many of Bishop Henry Jones's descendants in
Fermanagh, surrounded by the powerful and frugal
families of Creighton (Lord Erne), who did not come
here till a later period, and Butler (Lord Lanesborough),
gradually sold their property to one or other of them,
66 THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND.
so that at present few of the name of Jones and still
less of their property remain about Newton Butler,
the home for a considerable time of this family.
A great-grandson* of Bishop Henry Jones was
Alexander Jones, born early in the last century and
possessed of the lands of Cullion, Mullinahorn and
Piper Hill lying around Newton Butler. He married
a lady named Miss Brooke, a member of the Brooke
family of Fermanagh, Sir Victor Brooke is the
present head of this family; the baronetcy has been
in the Brooke family for several centuries. Sir Basil
Brooke obtained an estate in Donegal at the Plantation
of Ulster and was made Governor of Donegal town
and castle by King James I. His son Henry, for his
services in 1G41, and his losses, obtained 27,000 acres
of the forfeited lands of Fermanagh in the beautiful
valley called Cole Brook, which they have ever since
made their residence. The adjoining town is called
*Tlie son of Henry Jones, Bishop of Clogher and Meath, etc.,
was John Jones, whose son John Jones was father of Alexander
Jones, of Cullion, Mullin-horn and Piper IIill. The Parish
Register of Newton Butler having been burned many years ago
with the church, I accidentally found out John Jones, father and
sou, gentlemen of Belturbet, &c., witnesses to a deed of sale of
property from Kineelagh, a gentleman, to a Mr. Joseph Ingham
in 1709. Mr. Ingham's father came over with William the
Third and obtained some forfeited lands near this. James Jones
met, in 1.S85, a descendant of these Inghams.
THE JOWES FAMIL 7 IN IRELAND. 67
Brookborongh. Tliis family are connected with the
most eminent in the kingdom and have always had
great influence in Ulster. Alexander Jones kept
hnnters and lived in the usual style of the squires of
the time. His sons were John and Robert. John
Jones married Elizabeth Moore, of an old and highly
respectable family whose branches were widely extend-
ed through that part of Fermanagh, some of them
being allied with an old family named Montgomery,
some of whom lived at Swanlinbar till very lately and
took the name of Montgomery Moore. Several of the
family of Montgomery Moore are distinguished at the
present day by their talents and position.
John Jones had issue: Alexander, Sarah, Jane,
Robert, Christiana, James, David and Catherine.
Alexander died a few years ago at Moher, the residence
of his brother Robert, at a very advanced age, without
issue. Sarah died young. Jane married James Patter-
son. They are long dead and their children scattered.
Robert Jones married Mary Elliott, daughter of James
Elliott, of Knockadoos. His father, "William Elliott,
came from another part of Fermanagh, called "Lack,"
in early life to the place where the family have since
lived, about a mile from the beautiful village of
Ballyconnell. He was possessed of considerable
property. He died from exposure in a snow storm,
68 THE JONES FAMILY TN IRELAND.
while crossing the Balljconnell mountains by a near
road to Swanlinhar, in comj^any with liis 1)rother,
going to see cattle on lands he had there. At his death
liis children were very young and his widow very
handsome. She soon married again, and the greater
part of the property gradually left its rightful oM'ners.
In 1884 gentlemen from Ohio, M'ho were seeking to
(istablish a right to property about Swaidinbar, County
Cavan, said to belong to people of the name of Taylor,
deemed it of importance as one link in the chain of
evidence to get the inscription from this gentleman's
tomb (Mr. Elliott's) in Callowhill graveyard, County
Fermanagh. There is a tradition abont this Taylor
property that it would never prosper in one of the
name or their relations, from the way it was obtained ;
and I have lately come across tlie sani3 tradition, with
some additional particulars from another source, that
M'ould point to the possibility of its having been tilched
in some way from the Elliott family.
Robert Jones, who is still living at a very advanced
age on his freehold in the Parish of Drumlane, has
issne: AVilliam, Thomas, James and Mary Jane
(twins), John, Robert, Sarah, Eliza and Catherine.
William, Thomas, James, Mary Jane, Robert, Sarah
and Eliza are all in the City and State of New York,
and all are married and have issue, with the ex-
2 HE JONES FA MIL T IN IRELAND. 69
ception of James, who is unmarried. John lives at
home in Ireland witli his parents and is unmarried.
Catherine died unmarried some years ago.
Christiana, fifth child of John and Elizabeth Jones,
married Thomas Williams, of Castlecomer, County
Kilkenny, a master builder. His father, an architect,
was murdered by the rebels in 1798, leaving a wife
and helpless family. This family of Williams are
descended from Griffith Williams, who was made
bishop of Kilkenny in 1641, a little before the
Rebellion. He was a Welshman, born at Caernarvon
in 1589. He came back to his see after the Restora-
tion and died in 16T2, at the age of 83. He was a
simple-minded man, wonderfully learned, and had a
fondness for the mechanical arts and was a great
science scholar. He was a sound churchman, a Fellow
of College, and though he cared not for worldly
consideration, was famous for his learning aud the
innocence of his life. When the bishopric fell vacant
King Charles the First was importuned night and day
by bishop-seekei s for the place. "I'll give it to none
of them," said the King ; "I have a man in my eye
for it." "Who is that?" said his courtiers. "Doctor
Williams." "Doctor Williams!" said they. "Yes,"
said the King; "is he not learned enough?" They
answered "Yes." "Is he not pious enough?" They
70 THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND.
answered that lie was. "Well, then," said the King,
amused, "what objection can there be?" "Oh, he is
so poor." "And it is because he is so poor that I give
it to him," said Charles. During the civil war the
Parliamentary party offered him £300 a year (fully
equal to £3,000 now) if he would take it and agree
with them, as his great talents and the holiness of his
life would have added lustre to their party ; but his
principle was too high : he would not. He was much
beloved in his see, but he appears not to have got land
or founded family estates, like so many others.
Thomas Williams and his wife have issue.
James Jones, the sixth child of John and Elizabeth,
is married and lives in Scotland. David, the seventh
child, married Miss Longmore, of Knockbride. Both
are living and have issue — John, who is unmarried,
and Mary. This family also live in ISTew York.
Catherine, the eighth chilfl of John and Elizabeth
Jones, was married and died a year after.
CHAPTER VIII.
GEOKGE LEWIS JONES, BISHOP OF KIL-
MOEE.
THE JONES FAMILY NOTICES IN PATENT EOLLS, ETC.
George Lewis Joues was bishop of Kilmore from
17T4: till 1790, when he was translated to Kildare and
made^Dean of Christ Church Cathedral. He was of
the Jones family of this neighbourhood and was de-
scended from John Jones, a grandson of Henry and a
member of the Nahilla family. His daughter married
Robert Humphries, a gentleman of propertj'^ about
Swanlinbar, Avho lost most of his means by becoming
security to Joshua Taylor, who owned or got the
property already mentioned. Mr. Humphries died
broken-hearted,aged 33, leaving one boy, named Thomas,
and a daughter — infants — and a posthumous child.
Thomas, who was destined for the church, joined the
army and died paymaster of the Cavan Militia in 1843,
and was buried in the vault of his "uncle, Captain
Cross, in Kilmore, near Cavan. He married a Miss
Yeitch, whose father was a gentleman near Ballyhead,
in Cavan. His daughter, Elizabeth, is married to Mr.
72 THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND.
Finlay, who teaches a school in Kihnore. Thomas
Iluniphries' sister, Rose Ann. married Thomas Cham-
bers, County Fermanagh, and Phoel^e married Thomas
Lilbiirn, whose family lived and are still about Dun-
gannon, County Tyrone.
The following are some of the appointments of the
family of Jones, from the Patent Rolls :
1581. Thomas Jones. Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin.
1584. Thomas Jones. Bishop of Meath.
1605. Thomas Jones. Archbishop of Dublin. For
a number of years Lord Chancellor and Lord Justice.
1619. William Jones. Lord Chief Justice of
King's Bench.
1619. Sir William Jones. Lord Chancellor and
Lord Justice.
1628. Sir Roger Jones. Knight, Privy Councillor,
Yiscount Ranelagh — July 21, 1628. Titles: Baron
Jones of Navan and Viscount Ranelagh in the County
of Dublin.
1606. Lewis Jones. Dean of Ai-dagh — 26th June.
1608. Lewis Jones. Vicarage of Kilbla in addition.
1615. Robert Jones. F. T. C. D. Precentor of
Emly.
1620. Robert Jones. Three livings in Diocese of
Cork in addition.
1629. Lewis Jones. Dean of Cashel and three
THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND. 73
other Parishes.
1615. Richard Jones. - Prebend of Swords. In
162i) three other livings.
1628. David Jones. Two livings. Diocese of
Dublin.
1625. Henry Jones. Dean of Ardagh. (Lewis
Jones resigned.)
1634. Richard Jones. Deanery of Elphin.
1629. John Jones. Rectory of Sego. Diocese of
Armagh.
1637. Ambrose Jones. Parish in Diocese of Meath.
1628. Robert Jones. Parish of Kilconnell. Done-
gal in addition.
1637. Henry Jones. Dean of Kilmore.
1645. Henry Jones. Bishopric of Clogher.
1604. Sir Ellis Jones. To succeed in reversion as
Provost Marshal of Munster.
1610. Thomas Jones, D. D., Archbishop. Com-
missioner for Plantation.
1622. William Jones. Chief Justice. Commis-
sioner for Settling the Kingdom.
1671. Oliver Jones. Justice of King's Bench.
1662. Oliver Jones. Chief Justice of Presidency
of Connaught.
1666. Jones. Viscount Ranelagh. Lord President
of Connaught.
74 THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND.
10()3. Micliael Jones, Esq. M. P. for Diileck.
1660. Sir Tlieopliilus Jones. Scoul Mister
General of the Army.
1675. Robert Jones, Gentleman. Comptroller of
Customs, Galway.
1672. William Jones. Gentleman (father). Comp-
troller for Galway and Derry.
1668. Sir Nicholas Jones. Cluh. Reniembrances
and Receiver of First Fruits of All Ai-chbishops.
1633. Lewis Jones. Bishop of Killaloe.
1661. Henry Jones. Bishop of Meath.
1661. Ambrose Jones. Bishop of Clogher.
1667. Ambrose Jones. Bishop of Kildare.
1667. Ambrose Jones. Dean of Christ Church
(addition.)
1682. Edward Jones. Bishop of Cloyne.
1669. Francis Jones, Escj. Surveyor General of
Ordnance.
1673. Richard Jones. Viscount Ranelagh, Gov-
ernor of Athlone, Lord President of Connaught.
1765. Charles Jones. Viscount Ranelagh, Lord
President of Connaught.
1763. David Jones, Esq. High Sheriff of Cavan.
1774. George Lewis Jones. Bishop of Kilmore.
1707. John Montray Jones. High Sherift" of Fer-
manaiJ:h.
THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND. 75
KW)!. John Jones — Wexford. Commissioner of
the Peace.
1677. Edward Jones — Wexford. Connnissioner of
the Peace.
1639. Henry Jones. Royal Commissioiier to En-
quire, etc. (See above.)
161:1. • Ilenrj Jones. Royal Commissioner to En-
quire Losses of Protestants.
1647. John Jones. Parliamentary Commissioner,
etc.
Tlie foHowing are some of the notices of the family
of Jones in C(jnnection with Trinity College :
Thomas Jones, Bishop of Meath, gave £50 to help
to build it.
1061. Henry Jones, Bishop of Meath, gave £400
to furnish the Library ; equal to £4,000 now.
1646. Henrv Jones was made Vice Chancellor.
1602. John Jones entered College at 13; was a
Fellow at 19.
1015. Robert Jones, Fellow of T. C. D.
1675. Mattli3w Jones, Sr., Scholar of Trinity College
107*). Matthew Jones,
10)77. Michael Jones,
1079. William Jones,
1085. John Jones,
17<>4. William Jones,
76 THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND.
1737. John Jones, Scholar of Trinity College.
The following are some further particulars of the
Jones family :
1081 — John Jones got a parish in Wexford.
James Jones, D. D., was lately Chancellor of the
archdiocese of Armagh. Ili.s son is Jamj^ Jones,
D. D., a M^ell known clergyman in the same diocese.
Thomas J. Jones, Rector of a Parish in Tyrone, is.
sprung from the Jones family of this neighborhood.
His nephew, Thomas George Jones, Esq., was lately
living in the parish of Drundane. There are several
clergymen of this family in the Church of Ireland,
but not so many as there used to be.
The Jones family suffered in the end by acting
against the King, for they gradually sunk after the
Ee^toration in 1660, and by degrees fell altogether
out of the very high position they had held. The only
exception was Yiscount Ranelagh, who fought on the
side of the King throughout and after the Restoration
was raised to the dignity of Earl, 167'±.
As Lord Ranelagh is the head of the Jones family,
it may not be uninteresting to trace the family from a
point anterior to that from which I commenced at the
beginning of this book. Herbert, Count of Verman-
dois in France, came over w^ith William the Conqueror
in 1006. Ilis son, Herbert Fitz Herbert, married
THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND. 77
Lncia, danglitei' and co-lieir of Sir Robert Corbet.
Lord Alcester of Warwick, their son, was William
Ap Jenkin, alias Herbert, Lord of Cluariudee. Some
genealogists say that this William or Herbert was in
reality the son of King Henry the First (1100-1135),
and tlie Ranelagh and Herbert family hold this
opinion. William Ap Jenkin, or Herbert, married
Gwenllion, daughter of Llowell Ichon, a Welsh prince,
and had four sons — John of Werndu, David, Howell
and Thomas.
The son and heir of John of Werndu was ancestor
of the family of Proger of Werndu.
David was ancestor of the Morgan family, and from
Thomas, the fourth son, are descended the noble family
of Herbert, Earls of Pembroke and Montgomery in
Wales — the first Earls in dignity in England.
Howell Ap Gwillim, the third son, married Maud,
daughter of Howell Ap Rice. He had the estate of
Treown in Monmouth. His great-great-grandson, John
Ap Thomas of Treown, married, in 1481, Anne,
daughter of David of Gwillim Morgan, and had
William, David, Morgan, Richard and Walter.
William's great-grandson. Sir Philip Jones, was
Colonel of the Monmouthshire regiment and fought
for King Charles I. He was M. P. for Monmouth.
Sir Philip was present in Raglan Castle when it was
78 THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND.
taken l)y Fairfax, tlie Parliamentary ii:cneral. His
direct descendant is John Artlmr Ilerhert Jones, of
Llanartli Castle and Clytlia, C'onnty Monniontli, 1885.
David Jones, of Chepstow, second son of John Ap
Thomas, was sncceeded by his eldest son, Henry Jones,
of Middleton in Lancashire, who married the dani^hter
of Daniel Acton, of Snftolk. His son was Sir Roger
Jones, of Middleton and Alderman of London, with
whom I began this history. His son was Thomas,
Archbishop of Dnblin. His eldest son. Sir Roger
Jones, Visconnt Ranelagh ; his son, Arthnr; his son,
Thomas; his son, Richard, who in IfiT-i was created
Earl of Ranelagh. He died in 1711, when the earl-
dom became extinct. Richard, the last earl, married
Eliza, danghter of Lord Willonghby, by whom he
had two sons, who died yonng, and three danghters.
Eliza married the Earl of Kildare, eldest son of the
Dnke of Leinster, through whom the Dukes of Leinster
and the whole noble house of P'itzgerald spring from
the Jones family ; and Frances was married to Earl
Coningsby. Richard, the last Earl of Ranelagh, married
secondly Margaret, daughter of the Earl of Salisbnry.
The title lay dormant till 1751), when it reverted to
Charles Jones, the next heir, who became Viscount
Ranelagh. The present Viscount is Thomas Hei'on
Jones, Baron Navan and Viscount Ranelagh, only
THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND. 79
son of Thomas, Viscount Ranelagh, born 1822. He
served in the First Lifegnards and Fusileers. He
IS Inspector of the English Vokmteers, Colonel of
the South Middlesex Rifles, etc., etc. He is J. P. and
D. L. for Middlesex and Norfolk. His residence is
AUiert Mansion, Victoria Street, London, S. W.,
Ranelagh House, Fulham, S. W., and Carlton Club.
Family arms — Az., a cross between four Pheons point-
ing downwaixls; or. Crest — A dexter arm embowed in
armor, the hand in a gauntlet grasping a dart; or,
Supporters — Two Grifiins, Erminois. M^otio—Cielitus
Mlhi Vires. Burke, in his Peerage of Lord Rane-
lagh, gives no other children to Archbishop Thomas
Jones but his-own forefather. Sir Roger, and Margaret,
who married Gilbert Domville; and he passed over
the fact that Sir Roger Jones, of Middleton, Lanca-
shire, was also an Alderman of London in the time of
Henry VIU. All this is a piece of modern snol)bery
that would be laughable were it not so reprehensible.
Monk Mason, the highest authority in the kingdom
on the subject on which he writes, says it was a singular
coincidence in the lives of these two men (Adam
Loftus and Thomas Jones) that they had each a more
numerous and prosperous family than any of their
predecessors in the Deanery of St. Patrick's, or than
any of their successors; that the eldest son of each
80 TJIE JONES FAMILY TN IRELAND.
was eimoblecl, etc. Wliy did not Sir I>crn;ird P>nrke
take tlie trouble of lookiii<^ out for the Baptismid
Register of the archbishop's chikh-en and their several
advancements, etc. ? Pnre students of history make
short work of books of Heraldry and the Peerage, and
there are few nobles whose pedigree could stand the
sifting examination of a historian. Here are two in-
stances in which Lord Eanelagh makes a mistake in his
pedigree. The one arises from snobbery; the other
because all the descendants of the archbishop but
himself took the side of Cromw^ell in 1041-1600.
There are few counties in Ireland where the name
of Jones does not occur as a county family, while they
furnish more landed gentry in Wales and the adjoin-
ing counties of England than any other name. S(juire
Jones of Money glass, descended from Bishop Henry
Jones, was one of the committee formed by tlie
Convention of Volunteers that in 17S2 met at Dun-
gannon and gave us a free Parliament, and he was
one of live from the whole of Ireland selected to
w^atch and guide the movement in Dublin.
In 1800 John Jones, M. P., and Theophilus Jones,
M. P., voted for the union of the Irish Parliament
with .that of England. Both held Government posi-
tions, Theophihis being Collector of the Customs of
Dublin.
THE JONES FAMILY IN IRELAND. 81
There are a groat miiij officers in tlie Rojal Navy
f)f tlie name, and very many in tlie Army.
The Family of Jones in Ireland were able men tn
every department of public life, great statesmen, great
prelates and victorious generals, while they have left
many distinguished marks on the literary history of
Ireland for the last three hundred years. AVe had a
brilliant young sculptor of this same stock and from
this neighborhood, who died when attaining national
cmijience, and the President of the Royal Irish
Academy is Sir Thomas Jones, and this eminent man
sprung from the same stock also.
Everywhere the family are marked by an activity
and vital energy that speak well for their continuance.
There is that equal blending of the pliysical, the
mental and the moral never found but in pure rices of
people. That is in itself a strong gaarantee for their
endurance, while the flashes of greatness and genius
that occasionally burst forth wouKl indicate a latent
intellectual energy that may suddenly ajVpear in more
than one branch of the family to enlighten and to
guide their age.
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