Robert Dillon (abt. 1380)

Born about 1380 in Skreene, County Meath, Ireland

Ancestors

Descendants

Robert Dillon was born in Ireland.

Biography

Known as Sir Robert Dillon of Proudstown and Skreene in County Meath. He was the great-grandson of Maurice FitzThomas FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Desmond (ca.1295-1356), via his paternal grandmother.

Robert married the daughter of Sir James Bermingham^[1] of Carbury, County Kildare, by whom he had sons Richard, Gerald,^[2] James, Walter and Henry. His daughter Anne married Sir John Morres (born bef.1440) and his daughter Elenor married Owny O'More, Lord of Leix.^[3][4]

Research Notes

The Descendants of Sir Robert Dillon

Edited excerpts from the unsourced A Ramble Round Trim Amongst its Ruins and Antiquities:^[5]

• Richard, the eldest son of Sir Robert, succeeded in Proudstown and Skryne seigniories, and married the daughter of Sir John Bellew. The said Richard and his brothers, with 600 select Irish troops, in the reign of Henry VI, behaved so valiantly at the battle of Knocknashea, fought near Verneuil in France, on 28th August, 1424, that a complete victory was obtained by the Duke of Bedford, Regent of France, and Richard and James were knighted on the field. Richard's lineal descendants continued in the possession of their large estates in and about Proudstown, Tara, and Skryne, as well as in the counties of Louth, Kildare, and Dublin; until stript of much of their lands by Oliver Cromwell in the general calamity of 1652.

• The 2nd son, Gerald, married in Dublin with Elizabeth, daughter of John, Lord Barry, by whom he had Richard, Gerald, Robert, and James, and 3 daughters.
  • The eldest daughter, Alice, married Sir Thomas FitzGerald; the second, Mary, married Bellew of Rolinstown; and the third daughter married FitzEustace, of Ballymore.
  • Gerald's sons Gerald and Robert became officers in the English army, and James a Canon regular. Richard, the eldest son of said Gerald, devised to his son Thomas his dwelling and estate in Dublin, and his various lands in Dillon's Country and Westmeath, with his library. Thomas was an eminent lawyer, became Judge of the Queen's Bench, purchased a large estate, and settled in Clonbrock, in the county Galway. He married the daughter of Allen, of Palmerstown, by whom he had one son, Thomas; the second of Clonbrock, who married Elline, sister to Sir James Shane, by whom he had issue Thomas and Robert. On 6th October, 1603, this younger Thomas was made Chief Justice of Connaught, and he died in Dublin on 24th September, 1606. Thomas was killed unmarried, in the Castle of Curraghboy, by the Burkes and Keoghs, who assaulted the Castle; and Robert was married to Catherine Hussey, of Mullhussey, by whom he had 9 sons, Richard, Lucas, Bartholomew, James, Thomas, Gerald, Edward, Bartholomew, and Christopher; and 4 daughters, Jane, Mary, Ellice, and Anne. He died 18th December, 1628, and was buried in the Church of Kilcloon.

• Sir James Dillon, the 3rd son, married Jane Rivers, the only daughter and sole heir of the ancient Lord Rivers, Baron of Riverstown, by whom he had with his posterity the lordship of Riverstown, Tara, and Baron in capite. He had by said lady 5 sons; Bartholomew, his eldest, succeeded as Lord Baron of Riverstown; Gerald, his second son; Robert, his third son; Thomas became a Roman Catholic Bishop, and Edmond, Prior of the Abbey of Trim and Newtown.
  • Bartholomew, son to Sir James, and first of Riverstown, had issue James and Robert. James married Plunket, and having no family, his brother. Sir Robert, succeeded; and, marrying Catherine, who died 21st December, 1615, daughter of Sir William Sarsfield, of Lucan, Alderman of Dublin, he left 5 sons and 9 daughters, viz., Bartholomew, of Riverston; William, of Fitz-Leons, or Flinston, in Meath; Thomas, Michael, and Christopher; Eleanor, married to Richard Aylmer, of Dullardstown, and died 22nd November, 1635; Anne, to — Bermingham, of the Carrick; Thomasine, to Christopher Evers, of Rathtain; Frances, to — Cusack, of Cushinstown ; Genet, to Robert Leicester; Margaret, to John Baxter; Amy; Ismay, to Henry, second son of Sir John Elliott; and Cicely. Bartholomew, his eldest son, in 1585 married Catherine, daughter of Sir Alexander Fitton, of Bective, President of Munster, and, dying in Dublin on 6th March, 1633, was buried in the church of Tara, leaving 5 sons and 2 daughters, viz., Andrew, his heir, Thomas, James, Francis, and Peter; Jane, married in 1620 to Simon Barnwall, of Pinnerstown, son to Patrick of Kilbrew; and Mary, married to Thomas Barnwall, of Rosskiil, in the Queen's County. Andrew, born 1599, commanded a company of foot at the siege of Drogheda in 1641; and, marrying the daughter of Sir Christopher Plunket, of Kilshaghlin [? Dunshaughlin], he left 2 sons and 2 daughters, Edward and Thomas, who both died young; Catherine, married to — Archer, of Kilkenny; and Mary, to William Bath, of Colp. So the elder branch of Riverston became extinct, as James, the second son of Robert of Riverston, became a religious, and was Guardian of Kilkenny-west, and Provincial of his Order, the Grand Cordeliers.

Family Connections

Two of Sir Robert Dillon's descendants married several generations later. They were Sir John Morres (1545-1621) who married Honora O'More (1558-1604). Morres was descended from Sir Robert's daughter Anne, and Morres' wife Honora was descended from Sir Robert's daughter Elenor.

Following the trail of "Sir James Dillon, the 3rd son" above:

• Sir Robert Dillon was possibly the grandfather of the more famous Sir Robert Dillon (ca.1500-1580), a Tudor-era Irish judge, who was a younger son of Sir James Dillon of Riverstown, County Meath. The later Sir Robert Dillon had a great nephew (grandson of Robert's elder brother Bartholomew), also named Robert Dillon (ca.1540-1597) who was an Irish lawyer, judge, and politician.

It is unclear of his relationship to the future Earls of Roscommon (starting in the 1620s).

Sources

1. ↑ FamilySearch (unsourced, accessed 16 March 2021) put Sir James Bermingham, born. ca.1342, as the son of Sir Walter Bermingham of Carbury, Justiciar of Ireland, and his wife Elizabeth de Multon.
2. ↑ For further exploration. An unverified French family tree lists "Elizabeth Barry" as the spouse of Gerald:
   • http://leharivel.blogspot.com/2015/11/robert-dillon-et-birmingham.html
3. ↑ Eugene Conwell “A Ramble Round Trim amongst its ruins and Antiquities” Dublin 1878 p. 15-16
4. ↑ Sir John Morres was knighted at the Battle of Wakefield in 1460 by James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormond, and buried at Holy Cross Abbey, County Tipperary.
   • Hervey de Montmorency-Morres, Genealogical Memoir of the Family of Montmorency, 592 pages, published 1817, ISBN 134133841X, searchable online here:
     • https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=DSwAAAAAQAAJ&dq
     • https://archive.org/details/genealogicalmem00morrgoog/page/n4/mode/2up
5. ↑ Eugene Conwell, A Ramble Round Trim Amongst its Ruins and Antiquities (Dublin 1878), pp.16+
   • https://archive.org/stream/aramblearoundtr00conwgoog#page/n26/mode/2up

• The Peerage entry for Sir Robert Dillon, referencing L.G. Pine, The New Extinct Peerage 1884-1971 (London, Heraldry Today, 1972), p.75.