Matilda Plunkett (abt. 1420 - 1482)

Born about 1420 in Killeen, County Meath, Ireland

Ancestors

Wife of Thomas Hussey — married before 1439 (to before 1439) in Malahide, County Dublin, Ireland

Descendants

Matilda / Maud was probably born at Killeen, co. Meath daughter of Christopher Plunkett and his wife Genet de Cusack

She married 3 times ^[1]

m1). 1439 Thomas Hussey, Baron of Galtrim, slain on their wedding day.

m2). Sir Richard Talbot d c 1442

m3). 1444 John Cornwalsh

Matilda / Maud died in 1482

Issue by Richard

1. Thomas Talbot (b. c 1442 - 1487) m. Elizabeth Buckley - Issue

Matilda, Maud, Plunkett is the famous Bride of Malahide. ^[2] Her story was a romance, it being recorded of her that she was a maid, a wife and a widow in one day. ^[3]

"A wife and a widow, A maid and a bride! "

Her bridegroom Thomas Hussey 5th Baron Galtrim having been called from the altar to head a hosting against an invading force..

"The foe’s on the border,

His weapons resound

Where the lines in disorder

Unguarded are found. "''

he was brought back to the bridal banquet a corpse, on the shields of his followers.

"With foreheads unruffled, The conquerors come

'But why have they muffled The lance and the drum?'

'What form do they carry Aloft on his shield?'

'And where does he tarry, The lord of the field? "'

"Now weep for the lover His triumph is sped,''

His hope it is over! The chieftain is dead! "

This time in the 1400s was typified by feuding between the young Earl of Kildare (Maurice FitzThomas FitzGerald) and the Earl of Ormond (James Butler), who Kildare would have seen as usurper of his hereditary lands. There was also warfare in these decades between Ormond and the Talbot Government in Dublin. These conflicts between Norman and English factions in addition to their shifting alliances with the Irish warlords such as the Mac Murroughs, O Neills, O More's, etc, ranged all over eastern and southern Ireland at this time, pulling in their respective client Lords and warlords throughout Leinster.^[4] It is unclear with whom Hussey was aligned, in this Game of Thrones-esque feuding, but no doubt this battle he ran off to, on his wedding day in Malahide, was related to these wider conflicts.

The Bride of Malahide

I.

The joy-bells are ringing

In gay Malahide,

The fresh wind is singing

Along the sea-side;

The maids are assembling

With garlands of flowers,

And the harpstrings are trembling

In all the glad bowers.

II.

Swell, swell the gay measure!

Roll trumpet and drum!

Mid greetings of pleasure

In splendour they come!

The chancel is ready,

The portal stands wide

For the lord and the lady,

The bridegroom and bride.

III.

What years, ere the latter,

Of earthly delight

The future shall scatter

O’er them in its flight!

What blissful caresses

Shall Fortune bestow,

Ere those dark-flowing tresses

Fall white as the snow!

IV.

Before the high altar

Young Maud stands array’d

With accents that falter

Her promise is made

From father and mother

For ever to part,

For him and no other

To treasure her heart.

V.

The words are repeated,

The bridal is done,

The rite is completed

The two, they are one;

The vow, it is spoken,

All pure from the heart,

That must not be broken

Till life shall depart.

VI.

Hark! ’mid the gay clangour

That compass’d their car,

Loud accents in anger

Come mingling afar!

The foe’s on the border,

His weapons resound

Where the lines in disorder

Unguarded are found.

VII.

As wakes the good shepherd,

The watchful and bold,

When the ounce or the leopard

Is seen in the fold,

So rises already

The chief in his mail,

While the new-married lady

Looks fainting and pale.

VIII.

“Son, husband, and brother,

Arise to the strife,

For the sister and mother,

For children and wife!

O’er hill and o’er hollow,

O’er mountain and plain,

Up, true men, and follow!

Let dastards remain!”

IX.

Farrah! to the battle!

They form into line

The shields, how they rattle!

The spears, how they shine!

Soon, soon shall the foeman

His treachery rue

On, burgher and yeoman,

To die or to do!

X.

The eve is declining

In lone Malahide,

The maidens are twining

Gay wreaths for the bride;

She marks them unheeding

Her heart is afar,

Where the clansmen are bleeding

For her in the war.

XI.

Hark! loud from the mountain

’Tis Victory’s cry!

O’er woodland and fountain

It rings to the sky!

The foe has retreated!

He flies to the shore;

The spoiler’s defeated

The combat is o’er!

XII.

With foreheads unruffled

The conquerors come

But why have they muffled

The lance and the drum?

What form do they carry

Aloft on his shield?

And where does he tarry,

The lord of the field?

XIII.

Ye saw him at morning

How gallant and gay!

In bridal adorning,

The star of the day:

Now weep for the lover

His triumph is sped,

His hope it is over!

The chieftain is dead!

XIV.

But O for the maiden

Who mourns for that chief,

With heart overladen

And rending with grief!

She sinks on the meadow

In one morning-tide,

A wife and a widow,

A maid and a bride!

XV.

Ye maidens attending,

Forbear to condole!

Your comfort is rending

The depths of her soul.

True - true, ’twas a story

For ages of pride;

He died in his glory

But, oh, he has died!

VI.

The war cloak she raises

All mournfully now,

And steadfastly gazes

Upon the cold brow.

That glance may for ever

Unalter’d remain,

But the bridegroom will never

Return it again.

XVII.

The dead-bells are tolling

In sad Malahide,

The death-wail is rolling

Along the sea-side;

The crowds, heavy hearted,

Withdraw from the green,

For the sun has departed

That brighten’d the scene!

XVIII.

Ev’n yet in that valley,

Though years have roll’d by,

When through the wild sally

The sea-breezes sigh,

The peasant, with sorrow,

Beholds in the shade

The tomb where the morrow

Saw Hussy convey’d.

XIX.

How scant was the warning,

How briefly reveal’d,

Before on that morning

Death’s chalice was fill’d!

The hero who drunk it

There moulders in gloom,

And the form of Maud Plunket

Weeps over his tomb.

XX.

The stranger who wanders

Along the lone vale

Still sighs while he ponders

On that heavy tale:

“Thus passes each pleasure

That earth can supply

Thus joy has its measure

We live but to die!”

(From The Poetical Works of Gerald Griffin. London, 1842) ^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ Burke, John; A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of The British Empire. Vol. 2 Pub 1832 pg 522
2. ↑ [http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/killeen1449.htm#KILLEEN_1449_8 Cracroft's Peerage; The Complete Guide to the British Peerage & Baronetage.
3. ↑ Sir Thomas Charles and Lady Morgan; The Book Without a Name,
4. ↑ pp 119-156, 2003. O'Byrne, Emmett; War, Politics and the Irish of Leinster
5. ↑ [https://books.google.ie/books?id=2kBjAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA198&lpg=PA198&dq=bride+of+malahide+ballad&source=bl&ots=-DedIe6xy3&sig=ACfU3U1zoze0VUbyFFNfz3WZpdZeoEShXw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiFv_zyn-voAhW-VRUIHScJCMU4ChDoATACegQIDBAx#v=onepage&q=bride%20of%20malahide%20ballad&f=false 'Bride of Malahide'.in Bolz an Dana, The Ballaad Poetry of Ireland ed. Charles Gavan Duffy 4th edition 1845]

See Also

thepeerage