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Castle Widenham circa 1865 (Robert French)
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BLACKWATER CASTLE
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SCROLL WAAAY DOWN FOR BIBLIOGRAPHY
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excerpted from:
http://www.blackwatercastle.com/history-and-heritage/history/
David de Rupe – David de la Roche – Early 13th Century – 1229
David de Rupe, was the son of one of the Anglo-Norman Invaders (or perhaps more accurately Cambro-Norman Invaders or “settlers” or even “invitees” depending on your point of view) Rodebert Fitz-Godebert (son of Godebert Flendrensis of Rhos, Pembrokeshire, Wales). Fitz-Godebert travelled to Ireland with Strongbow, and was of Flemish descent. David becomes the founder of the Roche family in Cork on his marriage to Alexander Fitz-Hugh’s daughter Synolda and the first of the Roche line to become known as “de la Roche”. (Other sources contend that Synolda married an Adam de Rupe and not David and that the first Roche on site was accordingly Adam who may well have been a brother of David. The genealogical line here is not clearly established but our sources seem to confirm that David was the first Roche.) The name “Roche” has its origins in the prominent rock /”roch” on a projecting peninsula in Pembrokeshire in Wales (from where Strongbow, Fitz-Godebert and Fitz-Gerald came from) and over time the fort of Dun Cruadha became known as “Roche Castle” and the adjoining village became “Castletownroche”.
Gerald de Rupe – Gerald de la Roche – 1229 -1262
By all accounts the second Roche was a warlike man who was deemed at the time to be the “third best knight of his time in Ireland” and, in a manner befitting such a knight, died in battle in 1262.
David de Rupe – David de la Roche – 1262 – 1300 circa
This third Roche was chiefly distinguished by his marriage to Amicia de Caunteton, heiress of Fermoy, which firmly established the Roches in the region when the estates of the Roches merged with the significant holdings of the de Cauntetons (subsequently known as Condon) and the Roches triumphed over the Condons following years of litigation to assume the overlordship of the area.
Alexander de Rupe – Alexander de la Roche
Alexander had two sons, David and Ralph, and as Alexander predeceased his father the estate passed on his father’s death to his own son David.
roche family crest
David (de Rupe) de la Roche – Lord Roche– Sir David 1300 – 1374
David was a minor when he inherited his grandfather’s estate and had a long reign consolidating the influence of the Roches in the region. In 1351 and 1356 we know he received letters from King Edward III indicating his position of power at the time. By the early 14thcentury he was known as Lord Roche and by 1358 he was signing letters as “Lord of Fermoy” and was the first of the Roches to assume this title. Furthermore while previous incumbents were officially addressed as “de la Rupe” David became the first to be formally addressed as “de la Roche”. By the mid 14th Century many of the High Anglo Norman settlers had totally seceded from the English government and it was perhaps to affirm his loyalty to the Crown that he was knighted by King Edward III in 1365 which further cemented his degree of influence. David also died in battle in 1374.
King Edward III
King Edward III knights David, Lord Roche.
John, Lord Roche – 1374 – 1387
John, the second Lord of Fermoy, was made Sheriff of Cork in 1382 and died after a relatively short period in power in 1387.
Maurice, Lord Roche – 1387 – 1448
Maurice was a minor when he came into his title and estate and had a long period of over lordship in the area and also acted as County Sheriff from 1422.
David Mór (The Great), Lord Roche, Viscount of Fermoy – 1448 – 1488
David Mór was again quite warlike in his approach to the over lordship and engaged in many local battles, invasions, and raids and was one of the most significant of the Lords Roche in terms of renown and importance. His activity against rebels earned him further favour with the Crown and he was created a Viscount on an unknown date but some time before 1478. It is under David’s reign that the construction of the keep that remains standing to this day began. The keep acted not just as a last line of defence in the event of attack but, built some 75 feet above the river valley in a commanding position visible for miles around, it also served as a very striking reminder to all of the wealth and power of Lord Roche. It is likely that David is the Roche warrior buried in the tomb of Bridgetown Priory. See this link by Time Travel Ireland for some more detail on Bridgetown and images of the Priory and tomb of the fallen Roche knight.
The Roches generally and David Mór in particular were great patrons of the arts as would have been customary for such powerful figures. The manuscript The Book of Fermoy or The Book of Roche, now preserved in the Royal Irish Academy, was written under the patronage of the Roches during the 14th-16th Centuries and contains a fragment of Lebor Gabála, a collection of poems and material relating to the Roche family, poems of Gearóid Iarla, lives of saints, historical tracts, genealogies, mythological tales and fragments of medical treatises. One poem in particular is some 56 stanzas long extolling the virtues of Lord Roche. The Book is of significant importance as a late Medieval manuscript given that so few have survived and while it is not in pristine condition (seemingly for a period part of it had served as a pot cover) it is still legible in parts and some work has been done in analysing its contents but in general it shines a light on the folklore and traditions of Ireland (which were diligently recorded by scribes down through the ages) and for our purposes it is invaluable in tracing the history of the Castle and the geneaology of its former residents.
Maurice, Lord Roche, Viscount of Fermoy – 1488 – Early 16th Century
The second Viscount of Fermoy continued the dominance of the Roche Family in the area and was a trusted servant of the Crown. He was summoned to Greenwich by Henry VII along with other Irish peers confirming his position of power and influence in the region by then known as “Roche Country”.
King Henry VII
King Henry VII summons Maurice, Lord Roche to Greenwich.
David, Lord Roche, Viscount of Fermoy – Early 16th Century – 1544
David carried on the Roche tradition of much raiding and invading but with continued fealty to the Crown. The political importance of the Roche family at the time was acknowledged by William Wyse in a letter to Lord Cromwell where Roche is acknowledged to be on the government side.
Maurice “The Mad”, Lord Roche, Viscount of Fermoy – 1544 – 1561
Sadly and, tantalisingly given his name, we know very little about this Lord Roche. Invaluable historical documents were destroyed during the Irish Civil War on 30 June 1922 when a huge explosion of stored munitions destroyed the Public Records Office blowing to pieces one thousand years of Irish state and religious archives and with it a huge swathe of Irish cultural memory and historical documentation. Many of the Court records have also been lost and as the Roches were quite litigious in their dealings with their neighbours (especially the Condons) we have no doubt lost valuable primary sources of information.
Destruction of the Public Records Office
Destruction of the Public Records Office in 1922.
David, Lord Roche, Viscount of Fermoy – 1561 – 1583
David was quite pragmatic and set about establishing the exact extent and value of his estate when he came into his inheritance and invested further in the purchase of lands thereby extending his estate and consolidating his influence in the region. The Roches had always been recognised as loyal subjects but for the first time some doubt was raised as to the allegiance of David. In a letter written by the Lord Lieutenant at the time, Thomas Sussex, he mentions a rumour that the Earl of Desmond had sworn Lord Roche to him. There is a wider context to unrest by the Catholic overlords in Munster at this time. There were rebellions by the Earl of Desmond, head of the Fitz-Gerald Dynasty in Munster, and his followers the Geraldines and their allies which were known as the Desmond Rebellions and which took place during the years 1569-1573 and 1579-1583. The rebellions were motivated primarily by the desire to maintain the independence of feudal lords from their monarch, but also had an element of religious antagonism between Catholic Geraldines and the Protestant English state. Despite these persistent rumours David continued to support the Crown and this loyalty was rewarded when Sir Henry Sidney knighted David. He also received letters from Queen Elizabeth in 1565 requesting that he assist in maintaining order in the troublesome province and in 1572 he received a further letter thanking him for his continued support.
Queen Elizabeth I
Queen Elizabeth I corresponds with David, Lord Roche.
In 1576 the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Sir Henry Sidney, visited Roche Castle and
“lodged two nights by the way netherwards at my lo: Roches, where I and all my trayne were verie largely and bountiefullie entertayned”.
(The Roches, Lords of Fermoy, Eithne Donnelly, p24)
David’s position with the authorities however was not helped by the fact that his son Maurice and brother -in-law James Fitz-Maurice were openly on the side of the rebels with the consequence that his son’s activities in particular led to doubts being raised as to the trustworthiness of David.
Matters took a turn for the worse in 1580 at the height of the rebellion when Walter Raleigh (later Sir Walter Raleigh) succeeded (with a degree of cunning and deceit) in taking control of the Castle when he
“advanced to the Castle, attended by six men only, and the Chieftain (Lord Roche) received him with apparent cordiality. Sir Walter contrived to keep him in conversation on various topics, while the men who accompanied him contrived to give entrance to all their companions fully armed, each musket containing two balls. Lord Roche, perceiving the Castle to be in the hands of the English, made a virtue of necessity, and addressing Sir Walter with kindness, ordered refreshments for his men, and invited him to dinner. He yielded when he could not resist and Sir Walter carried him to Cork that night, which proved dark and stormy…”
The Castles of County Cork, by James N. Healy, The Mercier Press, 1988, p.401
Sir Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh overcomes David, Lord Roche.
Was the suspicion surrounding Lord Roche justified? Four of his sons died defending the Crown in the Desmond Rebellion (Redmond, John, Ulick and Theobold). Ironically it was another son, Maurice, who had been in open rebellion and was pardoned in 1580, was the son who succeeded to the title on his father’s death in 1583. The upheaval of the Desmond Rebellion and the attempts by the Crown to control the Chieftains led to David losing much of his influence due to the confiscation of a significant proportion of territory. The stronghold of Roche Castle and the surrounding lands remained within the Roche family but the dominance the Roches enjoyed for nearly 4 centuries was beginning to wane. The Roches would no longer control Roche Country and David was the last of the Roches to be held in favour with the Crown.
Maurice, Lord Roche, Viscount of Fermoy –1583 – 1600
Maurice had been in open rebellion with the Crown and following his pardon in 1580 and inheritance some 3 years later he then turns his mind towards restoring the influence of the Roches by attempting unsuccessfully to win back the confiscated lands by claiming he had seen the error of his ways and that he was now a faithful servant of the Crown. Despite his best efforts he was not trusted so his attempts failed and eventually he relapsed into his old rebellious ways and by 1597 found himself imprisoned in Dublin for a time for “crymes of high nature”.
David, Lord Roche, Viscount of Fermoy – 1600 – 1635
Carrying on the tradition of his father this David opposed his own father and sided with the rebels in his youth but when he came into his inheritance and title he supported the Queen. He wrote to Queen Elizabeth I in 1600 protesting his loyalty and regretting his father’s rebellious ways while he bewails his poverty and inability to furnish men for the Queen’s service. He was successful to the extent that he remained in power and his lands were not further diminished during his over lordship.
Maurice, Lord Roche, Viscount of Fermoy – 1635- 1670
Maurice, the last Lord Roche, continued the Catholic tradition of the Roches and was openly a staunch adherent to the Catholic faith. In this however he had to pay the price on foot of the Penal Laws which were a series of laws imposed in an attempt to force Irish Catholics and Protestant dissenters to accept the reformed Christian faith as defined by the Anglican Church in England and practised by members of the Church of Ireland. Maurice was summoned to Dublin in 1636 by writ of Charles I to justify his contention that his lands should not be forfeited to the Crown. During this period Catholics were barred from holding public office or serving in the army and a concerted attempt was underway to disenfranchise those, such as Maurice, who refused to convert. Maurice was imprisoned for several years in England and as unrest grew in Ireland, partly due to Catholic resentment, he was released. On his return to Ireland in 1641 he joined the Catholic insurgents and was a member of the Supreme Council of the Catholic Confederates in Ireland. He was part of the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and as a result skirmishing took place around the Castle by Lord Inchiquin (later Earl of Inchiquin) during Easter 1642.
Maurice held on for a further seven years until order was restored by Cromwell’s Conquest during 1649 – 1653. Roche Castle was attacked by Cromwell’s forces under Lord Broghill during the conquest in January 1650 and as Lord Roche was away at the time of the attack Lady Ellen Roche bravely led the defence. The Castle came under heavy cannon fire from the “Camp Field” where Cromwell’s troops were positioned opposite the Castle which resulted in the near destruction of the house between the 12th and 15th century towers while some damage was done to the battlements of the 15th century tower.
Lord Broghill, Oliver Cromwell's General
Oliver Cromwell
Sir Oliver Cromwell and his general Lord Broghill who laid
siege to the Castle in 1650.
After a siege and a heroic defence of the territory the Castle fell to Lord Broghill and the six officers commanding the troops under Lady Roche were summarily executed and it is suggested their remains were tossed into the river valley as Lord Broghill was known to be particularily ruthless and unnecessarily cruel with the vanquished. Lady Roche herself was hanged in 1652 on a trumped up charge of murder.
“She was brought before on of those High Courts of Justice (or injustice) set up immediately after the surrender of the Irish in 1652 where they hanged women for want of men. There she was tried, condemned and afterwards hanged, on the evidence of a strumpet, for shooting a man with a pistol whose name was unknown to the witness – although it was ready to be proved Lady Roche was twenty miles distant from the spot”.
(A Brief Narrative of the Sufferings of the Irish under Cromwell – London 1660).
Shortly after Lady Roche’s death in June 1652 Lord Roche laid down his arms and surrendered. He was dispossessed of his entire estate and died in poverty in 1670. The loss of his estate marks the end of the Roche reign in Roche Country. Thereafter the title “Viscount of Fermoy” was an empty one and the family dispersed from Munster, dwindled, and died. The title“Viscount of Fermoy” passed to David until 1681, thereafter to John (1681 – 1694), David, (1694 – 1703) and finally dies with Ulick, the 12th Viscount who died without a male heir. Incidentally in 1856 Edmond Burke Roche of Trabolgan was elevated to the peerage as Baron Fermoy and it is from this line that the late Diana, Princess of Wales, is descended from. Click here for more information on the Roche lineage.
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The late Diana, Princess of Wales.
Lieutenant Colonel John Widenham
The Roche Estate (although much diminished from the glory days of the 14th and 15th Centuries) was viewed as a significant prize so many supporters of the Crown lobbied for the estate to be granted to them. In 1666 Lieutenant Colonel John Widenham received the Castle as a reward for his loyalty although no evidence of his support has been unearthed so the grant, even then, was deemed dubious.
The Castle was thus renamed “Castle Widenham” and the reign of the Roches was consigned to history. As the estate had been much diminished in the aftermath of the Desmond Rebellion and reduced further after Cromwell’s Conquest the Widenhams did not exercise anything like the degree of power wielded by their predecessors. The Castle had been damaged during the siege so the main house was completely rebuilt during the late 17th century by Colonel Widenham on the site of Roches’ house using the same foundations and materials. The Keep on the western side of the Castle, although damaged, remained intact as did the 12th century tower and both remain standing to this day. The main house, also intact, was extended during the 18th and 19th Centuries.
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SOURCES
Researches in the South of Ireland Illustrative of the Scenery, Architectural Remains, and the Manners and Superstitions of the Peasantry, by T. Crofton Croker, 1824.
Historical and Topographical Notes, County Cork, collected by Colonel James Grove White, published 1906 – 1915.
The Roches, Lords of Fermoy: The History of a Norman Irish Family, by Eithne Donnelly, published in Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaelogical Society 1934 – 1937.
The Norman Invasion of Ireland, by Richard Roche, Anvil Books, 1970
The Castles of County Cork, by James N. Healy, The Mercier Press, 1988
The Sub-infeudation and Descent of the FitzStephen/Carew Moiety of Desmond, by Paul McCotter published in Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaelogical Society Vol 102 1997
The Medieval Castles of Ireland, by Davis Sweetman, The Collins Press, 1999
An Anglo-Norman Monastery, Bridgetown Priory and the Architecture of the Augustinian Canons Regular in Ireland by Tadhg O’Keeffe, Cork County Council and Gandon Editions, 1999.
Archaeological Inventory of County Cork, vol IV, parts 1 & 2, Duchas The Heritage Service, 2000.
A Viceroy’s Vindication? Sir Henry Sidney’s Memoir of Service in Ireland, 1556 – 1578, edited by Ciaran Brady, Cork University Press, 2002
Oliver Cromwell Soldier, The Military Life of a Revolutionary at War, Alan Marshall, Brassey’s, 2004
Blackwater and Bride, Navigation and Trade, 7,000 BC to 2007, by Niall O’Brien, Niall O’Brien Publishing, 2008.
The Old Rustic Bridge, A History of Castletownroche GA.A., Sport, Culture, and Folklore 1888 – 2008, research by John McHugh & Billy Mannix, compiled by Tommy O’Brien, printed by Carraig Print inc. Litho Press, 2008
Medieval Ireland, An Archaeology, Professor Tadhg O’Keeffe, Tempus Publishing Limited, 2000
Iverni, A Prehistory of Cork, William O’Brien, The Collins Press, 2012
The Origins of the Irish, J.P. Mallory, Thames and Hudson Limited, 2013
With thanks to local historian Christy Roche, Fermoy, County Cork and consultant archaeologist Eamonn Cotter, Rathcormac, County Cork.
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http://www.blackwatercastle.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/www.blackwatercastle.com-castletownroche_croftoncroker-1824.jpg
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This image of Roche Castle was drawn on an unknown date by Alfred Nicholson. The bridge at the bottom left of the drawing is the (now collapsed) Old Rustic Bridge by the Mill immortalised in Thomas Keenan’s ballad of the same name.
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