Thomas Lestrange (1518–1590)

Sir Thomas Lestrange (1518 – 14 March 1590), also Le Strange, Le Straunge, or Strange, was an English official in the Presidency of Connaught and landowner during the Tudor conquest of Ireland.[1][2] He was one of the seven sons of Sir Thomas Le Strange of Hunstanton in Norfolk and Anne Vaux, daughter of Nicholas Vaux, 1st Baron Vaux of Harrowden, and like his brothers Nicholas and Richard, the younger Thomas went to Ireland.[2] By 1557 he was sub-constable of Athlone Castle and in 1559 became sheriff of Westmeath.[1] In 1565 he gained two crown leases in County Westmeath: one of 21 years for the lands of the dissolved abbey of Lough Sewdy, the other of 37 years for lands of the attainted Sir Oliver FitzGerald.[3] He used his official positions to acquire lands in counties Galway, Roscommon, and Longford,[1][2] and at his death owned "30 quarters of land in the territory of Clankerno" [Clann Ceithearnaigh, or Ciarraige Aí].[4][5] Lestrange had a castle called Castlereogh near Athleague,[4][1] in what is now the townland of Castlestrange in the civil parish of Fuerty, County Roscommon.

Sir

Thomas Lestrange
Born1518 (1518)
Died14 March 1590 (aged 71–72)
NationalityEnglish
Other namesLe Strange, Le Straunge, Strange
Occupation(s)official and landowner
Known forduring the Tudor conquest of Ireland
Spouse
Margaret Bath (or Bathe)
​
​
(m. 1557)​
Childrentwo daughters

In 1569 Lestrange was made constable of Roscommon Castle by Henry Sidney.[1] He led the garrison defending Loughrea Castle in a 1577 siege during the Mac an Iarla War.[6] In August 1584 John Perrot appointed him knight bachelor and member of the Privy Council of Ireland.[1][7] In 1585 Lestrange was a commissioner in the Composition of Connacht and member of the Irish Parliament for County Galway,[1] and deputed for Richard Bingham as Lord President of Connaught.[6] He held the Aran Islands for a few years but in 1588 his title was ruled to be defective, although he stayed on as tenant of the new proprietor, Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormond.[6]

In 1557 Lestrange married Margaret Bath (or Bathe), widow of Nicholas Shane (or Shaen). Her existing children included Francis Shane, Thomas' fellow MP in 1585; Alice, who married Thomas Dillon, later a judge and Chief Justice of Connacht;[1] and Katherine, who married Thomas FitzGerald, son of the aforementioned Sir Oliver.[8] Thomas Lestrange and Margaret had two surviving daughters and no sons.[2] His heirs were two sons of his late brother Richard — Thomas, who acquired Castlestrange,[2][9] and Richard — and one William Anderson.[6]

References
  1. Mannion, Joseph (March–April 2017). "'A mere Irish man, but good Protestant': Sir Francis Shane, 1540–1614". History Ireland. 25 (2).
  2. Fraser, Thomas (1914). "Appendix; Le Strange". Recollections with reflections: a memoir of a Scottish soldier family in Ireland from the seventeenth century. Edinburgh: W. Blackwood. pp. 434–436. Retrieved 8 December 2021 – via Hathi Trust.
  3. Deputy Keeper of Public Records in Ireland (18 March 1879). "Appendix III: Calendar of Fiants of Reign of Queen Elizabeth; 1558–1570". Eleventh Report. Command papers. Vol. C. 2311. Dublin: HMSO. pp. 128–129, Nos 882, 883.
  4. Ó Macháin, Pádraig (2007). "Two Documents Relating To Ó Conchubhair Donn". Ériu. 57: 113–114. doi:10.1353/eri.2007.0006. hdl:10468/1415. ISSN 0332-0758. JSTOR 20696353. S2CID 245847823.
  5. Connellan, M. J. (1948). "Clann Ceithearnaigh Its Whereabouts and Extent". Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society. 23 (1–2): 70–74. ISSN 0332-415X. JSTOR 25535302.
  6. Robinson, Tim (2008). Stones of Aran: Pilgrimage. London: Faber. pp. 231–234. ISBN 978-0571241040.
  7. Shaw, William Arthur; Burtchaell, George Dames (1906). The Knights of England. A complete record from the earliest time to the present day of the knights of all the orders of chivalry in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of knights bachelors, incorporating a complete list of knights bachelors dubbed in Ireland. Vol. II. London: Sherratt and Hughes. p. 83.
  8. FitzGerald, Lord Walter (1895). "The FitzGeralds of Lackagh". Journal of the Co. Kildare Archaeological Society and Surrounding Districts. Dublin: Edward Ponsonby. 1: 257.
  9. Fuidge, N. M. (1981). "Lestrange (Strange), Richard (b. by 1526), of Hunstanton and King's Lynn, Norf.; later of Kilkenny, Ireland.". In Hasler, P. W. (ed.). The House of Commons 1558-1603. The History of Parliament. Boydell and Brewer – via History of Parliament Online.
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