James Cotter MP (abt. 1630 - 1703)

Born about 1630 in Ballinsperig, Cork, Ireland

Ancestors

Husband of Eleanora (Plunkett) Cotter — married 30 Jul 1688 in Cork, Ireland

Descendants

Died 15 Feb 1703 at about age 73 in Carrigtwohill Church, Carrigtwohill, Cork, Ireland [uncertain]

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Sir James Cotter was a member of the aristocracy in Ireland.

Biography

Sir James Cotter was the son of Edmund Fitz Garrett Cotter and his first wife, Elizabeth Connell.

Sir James Fitz Edmond Cotter was descended from the Cotter family ^[1], specifically the the Cotters of Inismore and Anngrove. His mother was Elizabeth Connell. His father, Edmond Cotter, came from Dublin to Carrigtwohill in 1627. "Edmond apparently obtained a lease of 221 acres at Ballyvoloon, near the great island, Cobh. This agreement was with the De Barries famliy (known later as the Barrymore family). Edmund Cotter resided at Ballinsperrie, Annegrove, in a lodge which was became known as Cotter’s Lodge"^[2]By 1652, Edmond Cotter prospered so well after he purchased the land at Ballinsperrie from the Barrymores of Carrigtwohill."^[2]. It is assumed that James Cotter was born at Cotter’s Lodge.

James Cotter was one of the most prominent English Catholic landlords in Ireland, especially on Cork. He lived at Ballinsperig^[3]. He made himself an ally of the House of Stuarts and the Catholic brother of King Charles II and King James II. He was politically astute and even though he was a Jacobite, the support of his Protestant neighbours allowed him to retain his property and lands. He was heralded by poets in Ireland as one of the few Catholic landowners. He may have been involved with in a murder plot to John Lisle, who was a known Regicide.^[4]

Sir James was also a Member of Parliament for Cork as well as Commander-in-Cheif of King James II's forces in Cork, Limerick and Kerry^[5]. He also lived at Cotter's Lodge.

Marriages

He married twice . His first wife was Mary Stapleton, daughter of Sir William Stapleton of Leeward Islands, died without issue.^[6].^[5]

His second wife was Eleanor (Ellen) Plunkett. Aside from his eldest son, James Cotter, there were other children named Laurence Cotter, Mary Cotter who were both mentioned in his Will and Alice-Monica Cotter who died as a child (b. 1696). ^[7] There were also two sons named Edmond Cotter and Matthew Cotter (died as a child).^[5]

Burial

Dr. Crow in "1703"...confirmed "a grant of Sir James Cotter's burying place. This Sir James represented the City of Cork in Parliament, and was Collector of Customs for that port. He married, in July 1789, Eleanor Plunkett, daughter of Matthew, the seventh Lord Louth." ^[8][9]

Will of Sir James Cotter

Mentioned in his Will of 1705 were: his niece, Anne Cotter, who was the daughter of his brother, John Cotter; his niece Eleanor Barry; and his late wife, who was the daughter of Mathew Lord Baron of Louth; his son, James Cotter; his son, Laurence Cotter; his daughter Mary Cotter and his brother-in-law, Michael Durdin.

Sources

• http://thepeerage.com/p26043.htm#i260428

• Old World Colony: Cork And South Munster 1630-1830.By David Dickson.

• Pg. 244. A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire.By John Burke.(Henry Colburn, 1839,London)

• Neal Garnham, ‘Cotter, Sir James (d. 1705)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004

• Annals of the Cathedral of St. Coleman-Cloyne .By Richard Caulfield

See Also:

• Cotter, p. 296-297. Under "Cotter", pg. 297. A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire, Volume 42, Part 1. Henry Colburn, (1880).

• "Notes on the Cotter Family of Rockforest, Cork, Ireland" Pgs. 1-12. Second Series. Vol.XIV. No.77. Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society (The Society, 1908). Link on Google Books. January-March 1908.

• Cuív, Brian Ó. "James Cotter, a Seventeenth-Century Agent of the Crown." The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 89, no. 2 (1959): 135-59. Accessed August 17, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25509362.

• Seamus Mac Coitir By Brian Ó. Cuív. Accessed 16 August 2021. https://archive.org

1. ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotter_family
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} A Brief History of the Cotter Family, Ballinsperrie, Carrigtwohill 1627-1720.By Michael White, of Gortnamucky, Carrigtwohill. Carrigtwohill Community News. Winter 2017. Pg. 62. Accessed Online (July 31, 2019). References: A history of Ireland by Edmund Curtis; A short history of Ireland by Martin Wallace; The Trial and Execution of James Cotter by A.K Geoeger;Articles by Richard Henchen of Cork. Carrigtwohill Community News. Winter 2017. Published Nov 20, 2017.Carrigtwohill, (Carrigtohill), Cork, Ireland
3. ↑ Old World Colony: Cork And South Munster 1630-1830.By David Dickson
4. ↑ Pg. 809. Sir Leslie Stephen, ed. The Dictionary of National Biography Founded in 1882 by George Smith. Vol. I-XX, XXII. London, England: Oxford University Press, 1921-1922. One of the poets was a royalist and a Catholic, William McCartain
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003.
6. ↑ Journal. By Cork Historical and Archaeological Society.Vol 1.2nd Series.(1895,Guy & Co. Ltd.70 Patrick Street, Cork)
7. ↑ Under "Cotter", pg. 297. A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire, Volume 42, Part 1. Henry Colburn, (1880).
8. ↑ Pg. 21 Annals of the Cathedral of St. Coleman-Cloyne.By Richard Caulfield. GoogleBooks
9. ↑ Betham’s Wills Abstracts of Sir James Cotter. 15th February 1703 with his Will being proved, 17th August 1705.