Lettice Digby, 1st Baroness Offaly
Encyclopedia
Lettice FitzGerald, 1st Baroness Offaly (c.1580- 1 December 1658) was an Irish noblewoman and a member of the powerful FitzGerald dynasty. Heiress-general to the Earls of Kildare on the death of her father, the title instead went to the next FitzGerald male heir when her grandfather, the 11th Earl of Kildare
died in 1585. In 1620 she was created suo jure
Baroness Offaly by King James I of England
.
She was the wife of Sir Robert Digby
, a landed English aristocrat by whom she had ten children.
In early 1642, at the age of about sixty-two, her castle of Geashill
was besieged by a force of insurgents from the O'Dempsey clan; she managed to hold out against them until October 1642. Her defence has been described as having been the "most spirited episode in the history of the Irish Rebellion of 1641
".
and Sir Francis Knollys
. Lettice's maternal great-grandmother was Mary Boleyn
, elder sister of Anne Boleyn
, the second queen consort
of King Henry VIII of England
, who had been the lover of Mary prior to his courtship of Anne and possibly the biological father of her daughter Catherine. Her paternal grandparents were Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare
and Mabel Browne
. One of her aunts, and after whom she was likely named, was Lettice Knollys
, the celebrated rival of Queen Elizabeth I
, who was also a distant cousin.
Her father died in June 1580, around the time of her birth, so Lettice never knew him. He was nineteen years of age. Upon his death, Lettice became heiress-general to the Earls of Kildare; however, the earldom passed to her uncle, Henry
. Her mother married secondly Sir Philip Butler, but it is not known whether she had additional children.
, whose brother was John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol
. The couple resided in Ireland where Sir Robert held the office of MP
for Athy
, County Kildare
in 1613.
The marriage produced ten children:
had been claimed for her when she was a child; in 1599, she assumed the title Baroness Offaly. Lettice has been described as having been an accomplished negotiator, and this skill paid off when finally, on 29 July 1620, after years of dispute, King James I granted her the suo jure title of 1st Baroness Offaly for life. This was made under the Great Seal of England, and the King also invested her with the lands of Killeagh
, and the territory and demesne
of Geashill
in King's County, Ireland. Geashill had been her dowry which she had brought into the Digby family upon her marriage. Her husband had died in May 1618. On the same day of her investure as Baroness Offaly, her eldest son, Robert was made Baron Digby
.
to surrender Geashill Castle to the O'Dempseys, and leave with her people in a safe convoy provided by them. The letter continued with the threat to burn the castle, town, as well as massacre all the Protestant inhabitants, should she fail to yield to their demands. Lettice, who resided at the castle with her sons and some of her grandchildren, refused to hand over the castle, and sent a scornful letter back to Henry O'Dempsey:
In early 1642, the O'Dempseys made an assault on the castle, and more letters were exchanged, however, she and her people managed to hold out; she later refused to leave under the convoy of a relief party sent by Dublin, preferring to defend her fortress. When the rebels had captured one of her sons, and brought him under the castle walls in chains, they threatened to decapitate him if she did not immediately surrender Geashill. Lettice retaliated by bringing one of her own prisoners, a Catholic
priest, onto the ramparts and threatened to kill him on the spot unless they released her son, unharmed. The rebels complied with her demand, and her son was returned to her.
Well-armed with weapons and ammunition from Dublin, Lettice kept the insurgents at bay until October 1642 when Lettice was finally persuaded to leave Geashill in the company of Sir Richard Grenville
. She departed Ireland to retire to her late husband's family estate in Coleshill, England where she died in December 1658. She was buried alongside Sir Robert in Coleshill Parish Church.
She was not succeeded by her eldest grandson, Kildare Digby (c.1627- 1661) as the patent of the barony of Offaly stipulated that upon her death the title was to pass to the head of the House of Kildare who in 1658 was George FitzGerald, 16th Earl of Kildare
.
Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare
Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare , also known as the "Wizard Earl" , was an Irish peer....
died in 1585. In 1620 she was created suo jure
Suo jure
Suo jure is a Latin phrase meaning "in her [or his] own right".It is commonly encountered in the context of titles of nobility, especially in cases where a wife may hold a title in her own right rather than through her marriage....
Baroness Offaly by King James I of England
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
.
She was the wife of Sir Robert Digby
Robert Digby, 1st Baron Digby
Robert Digby, 1st Baron Digby was an Anglo-Irish peer.Digby was the son of Sir Robert Digby of Coleshill, Warwickshire and Lettice FitzGerald, of Geashill, Ireland, granddaughter of Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare. John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol, was his uncle, and Essex Digby, Bishop of...
, a landed English aristocrat by whom she had ten children.
In early 1642, at the age of about sixty-two, her castle of Geashill
Geashill
Geashill is a village in County Offaly, Ireland. It is situated between the towns of Tullamore and Portarlington on the R420 regional road. Geashill has a Church of Ireland church, a shop, a petrol station, post office, primary school, a Gaelic Athletic Association and two pubs, .-History:The...
was besieged by a force of insurgents from the O'Dempsey clan; she managed to hold out against them until October 1642. Her defence has been described as having been the "most spirited episode in the history of the Irish Rebellion of 1641
Irish Rebellion of 1641
The Irish Rebellion of 1641 began as an attempted coup d'état by Irish Catholic gentry, who tried to seize control of the English administration in Ireland to force concessions for the Catholics living under English rule...
".
Family
Lettice was born in about 1580, the only child and heir of Gerald FitzGerald, Lord Offaly and Lord Garratt by Catherine Knollys, who was a younger daughter of Catherine CareyCatherine Carey
Katherine Carey, often spelt Catherine Carey, after her marriage Katherine Knollys and later Lady Knollys, pronounced "Noles" Katherine Carey, often spelt Catherine Carey, after her marriage Katherine Knollys and later Lady Knollys, pronounced "Noles" Katherine Carey, often spelt Catherine Carey,...
and Sir Francis Knollys
Francis Knollys (the elder)
Sir Francis Knollys , of Greys Court, in Oxfordshire, KG was an English courtier in the service and favour of Henry VIII, Edward VI and Elizabeth I of England, and was a Member of Parliament for a number of constituencies....
. Lettice's maternal great-grandmother was Mary Boleyn
Mary Boleyn
Mary Boleyn , was the sister of English queen consort Anne Boleyn and a member of the Boleyn family, which enjoyed considerable influence during the reign of King Henry VIII of England...
, elder sister of Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...
, the second queen consort
Wives of Henry VIII
The wives of Henry VIII were the six queens consort married to Henry VIII of England between 1509 and 1547. The six women to hold the title 'queens consort' of King Henry VIII were, in order:* Catherine of Aragon ,* Anne Boleyn ,...
of King Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
, who had been the lover of Mary prior to his courtship of Anne and possibly the biological father of her daughter Catherine. Her paternal grandparents were Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare
Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare
Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare , also known as the "Wizard Earl" , was an Irish peer....
and Mabel Browne
Mabel Browne
Mabel Browne, Countess of Kildare was the wife of Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare, Baron of Offaly . She was born into the English Roman Catholic Browne family whose members held prominent positions at the courts of the Tudorsovereigns for three generations...
. One of her aunts, and after whom she was likely named, was Lettice Knollys
Lettice Knollys
Lettice Knollys , Countess of Essex and Countess of Leicester , was an English noblewoman and mother to the courtiers Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex and Lady Penelope Rich; through her marriage to Elizabeth I's favourite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, she incurred the Queen's undying...
, the celebrated rival of Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
, who was also a distant cousin.
Her father died in June 1580, around the time of her birth, so Lettice never knew him. He was nineteen years of age. Upon his death, Lettice became heiress-general to the Earls of Kildare; however, the earldom passed to her uncle, Henry
Henry FitzGerald, 12th Earl of Kildare
-Background:Kildare was the son of Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare and Mabel Browne.-Military career:Nicknamed Henry "na Tuagh", or Henry "of the Battleaxes", he fought against the Spanish invaders in Ireland in 1588...
. Her mother married secondly Sir Philip Butler, but it is not known whether she had additional children.
Marriage and issue
On 19 April 1598, when she was about eighteen years old, Lettice married Sir Robert Digby (1575- 24 May 1618), a landed aristocrat of Coleshill, WarwickshireColeshill, Warwickshire
Coleshill is a market town in the North Warwickshire district of Warwickshire, England, taking its name from the River Cole. It has a population of 6,343 and is situated east of Birmingham.-Location:...
, whose brother was John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol
John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol
John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol , was an English diplomat and a moderate royalist during the English Civil War.- Early career :...
. The couple resided in Ireland where Sir Robert held the office of MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Athy
Athy (Parliament of Ireland constituency)
Athy was a constituency represented in the Irish House of Commons to 1800. Following the Act of Union 1800 the borough was disenfranchised.-History:In the Patriot Parliament of 1689 summoned by King James II, Athy was represented with two members....
, County Kildare
County Kildare
County Kildare is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county...
in 1613.
The marriage produced ten children:
- Mabel DigbyMabel DigbyMabel Digby, Lady of Dromana and Decies was an Anglo-Irish noblewoman being the eldest daughter of Sir Robert Digby and Lettice FitzGerald, 1st Baroness Offaly. She was the wife of Sir Gerald FitzGerald, Lord of Dromana and Decies. In 1642, during an Irish rebellion, she was openly sympathetic to...
, married firstly, Sir Gerald FitzGerald, Lord of Dromana and Decies, by whom she had issue; and secondly Donagh O'Brien - Robert Digby, 1st Baron DigbyRobert Digby, 1st Baron DigbyRobert Digby, 1st Baron Digby was an Anglo-Irish peer.Digby was the son of Sir Robert Digby of Coleshill, Warwickshire and Lettice FitzGerald, of Geashill, Ireland, granddaughter of Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare. John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol, was his uncle, and Essex Digby, Bishop of...
(died 6 June 1642), married firstly Lady Sarah Boyle, by whom he had issue; and secondly Elizabeth Altham - Essex Digby, Bishop of DromoreDromore- Places :* Dromore, Ontario, Canada* Dromore , a crater in the Lunae Palus quadrangle of Mars- Other :* Bishop of Dromore, named for the town in County Down; the pre-Reformation antecedent of:** Roman Catholic Diocese of Dromore...
(died 12 May 1683), married firstly Thomasine Gilbert, by whom he had issue; and secondly Lettice Brereton, by whom he had issue. - George Digby
- Gerald Digby
- John Digby
- Simon Digby. MPMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for PhilipstownDaingeanDaingean , formerly Philipstown, is a small town in east County Offaly, Ireland. It is situated midway between the towns of Tullamore and Edenderry on the R402 regional road. The town or townland of Daingean has a population of 777 while the District Electoral Division has a total population of... - Philip Digby, married Margaret Moore
- Lettice Digby, married Sir Roger Langford
- Abigail Digby, died as a child.
Baroness Offaly
As the daughter and only heir of the eldest son of the 11th Earl of Kildare, the barony of OffalyBaron Offaly
There have been two creations of the title Baron Offaly, both in the Peerage of Ireland.Two earlier medieval creations as Baron of Offaly existed; for an earlier FitzGerald, who owned land in County Kildare, including what was then "Offelan", a word that derived from the Gaelic "Uí Faelain" and not...
had been claimed for her when she was a child; in 1599, she assumed the title Baroness Offaly. Lettice has been described as having been an accomplished negotiator, and this skill paid off when finally, on 29 July 1620, after years of dispute, King James I granted her the suo jure title of 1st Baroness Offaly for life. This was made under the Great Seal of England, and the King also invested her with the lands of Killeagh
Killeagh
Killeagh is a small village located in east County Cork, Ireland. It is approximately 32 kilometres from Cork city, 10 kilometres west of Youghal and 14 kilometres east of Midleton and is situated on the N25 National Primary route and the former rail line connecting Youghal and...
, and the territory and demesne
Demesne
In the feudal system the demesne was all the land, not necessarily all contiguous to the manor house, which was retained by a lord of the manor for his own use and support, under his own management, as distinguished from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants...
of Geashill
Geashill
Geashill is a village in County Offaly, Ireland. It is situated between the towns of Tullamore and Portarlington on the R420 regional road. Geashill has a Church of Ireland church, a shop, a petrol station, post office, primary school, a Gaelic Athletic Association and two pubs, .-History:The...
in King's County, Ireland. Geashill had been her dowry which she had brought into the Digby family upon her marriage. Her husband had died in May 1618. On the same day of her investure as Baroness Offaly, her eldest son, Robert was made Baron Digby
Baron Digby
Baron Digby, of Geashill in the King's County, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1620 for Robert Digby, Governor of King's County. He was the nephew of John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol. Lord Digby's grandson, the third Baron, and the latter's younger brothers the fourth and...
.
Rebellion of 1641
In 1641, the Great Irish rebellion broke out. Lettice, by then a widow in her early sixties, became caught up in it at the end of 1641, when Lettice received an insolent letter by her cousin Henry O'Dempsey, Lord Clanmaliere containing fraudulent orders from King Charles ICharles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
to surrender Geashill Castle to the O'Dempseys, and leave with her people in a safe convoy provided by them. The letter continued with the threat to burn the castle, town, as well as massacre all the Protestant inhabitants, should she fail to yield to their demands. Lettice, who resided at the castle with her sons and some of her grandchildren, refused to hand over the castle, and sent a scornful letter back to Henry O'Dempsey:
"I am, as I have ever been, a loyal subject of my king. I thank you for your offer of a convoy, which however, I hold as of little safety. Being free from offending His Majesty, or doing wrong to any of you, I will live and die innocently, and will do my best to defend my own, leaving the issue to God".
In early 1642, the O'Dempseys made an assault on the castle, and more letters were exchanged, however, she and her people managed to hold out; she later refused to leave under the convoy of a relief party sent by Dublin, preferring to defend her fortress. When the rebels had captured one of her sons, and brought him under the castle walls in chains, they threatened to decapitate him if she did not immediately surrender Geashill. Lettice retaliated by bringing one of her own prisoners, a Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
priest, onto the ramparts and threatened to kill him on the spot unless they released her son, unharmed. The rebels complied with her demand, and her son was returned to her.
Well-armed with weapons and ammunition from Dublin, Lettice kept the insurgents at bay until October 1642 when Lettice was finally persuaded to leave Geashill in the company of Sir Richard Grenville
Sir Richard Grenville, 1st Baronet
Sir Richard Grenville, 1st Baronet was a Cornish Royalist leader during the English Civil War.He was the third son of Sir Bernard Grenville , and a grandson of the famous seaman, Sir Richard Grenville...
. She departed Ireland to retire to her late husband's family estate in Coleshill, England where she died in December 1658. She was buried alongside Sir Robert in Coleshill Parish Church.
She was not succeeded by her eldest grandson, Kildare Digby (c.1627- 1661) as the patent of the barony of Offaly stipulated that upon her death the title was to pass to the head of the House of Kildare who in 1658 was George FitzGerald, 16th Earl of Kildare
George FitzGerald, 16th Earl of Kildare
George FitzGerald, 16th Earl of Kildare was known as the "Fairy Earl", apparently for no other reason than that his portrait, still extant, was painted on a small scale." He was the son of Thomas FitzGerald and Frances Randolph and grandson of Edward FitzGerald and Agnes Leigh.-Family:He...
.