Colonel Bryan Townsend (200)
| Date of Birth: | 1648? |
|---|---|
| Date of Death: | 1726 |
| Generation: | 2nd |
| Residence: | Castletownshend and Derry |
| Father: | Colonel Richard Townsend [100] |
| Mother: | Hyde, Hildegardis |
| Spouse: |
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| Issue: | |
| See Also: | Table II ; Scrapbook ; Lineage |
Notes for Colonel Bryan Townsend
Bryan is thought to have been born in Kinsale but the date of his birth is uncertain.
Marriage license 13 May 1682. Mary Synge (d. 1726) was the eldest daughter of Rt Rev Edward Synge, Bishop of Cork and Ross and sister of Most Rev Edward Synge, Archbishop of Tuam. See 1976 Edn Burke's Irish Family Records - Synge.
Bryan was a Cornet of Militia Cavalry in 1660 and later is said to have commanded the frigate 'Swiftsure', though there is some confusion about this. He was High Sheriff of Cork 1671-72 and Burgess of Clonakilty 1678.
Bryan was appointed Colonel of Militia in 1689. That same year, along with his brothers Francis Townsend [102] and Kingston Townsend [105], his name appeared in the list of those proscribed under the terms of the Act of Attainder 1689 (1) passed by James II's Irish Parliament and he was forced to flee to England with his family. His estates were valued at the time as being worth £300 per annum. Bryan returned shortly afterwards and was at the Duke of Schomberg's headquarters in Belfast in May 1690, three weeks before William III landed in the province and six weeks before the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690 (2).
'Lewis' Topographical Dictionary 1837' under the entry for Bantry records that in June 1691, following a number of disturbances during the previous twelve months "Col. Townsend, with his forces, killed 100 of the rapparees or insurgent marauders, and brought away a quantity of plunder".
Bryan was Sovereign of Clonakilty in 1693/94 and in that same year he and his son, John Townsend [300], signed the Protestant Oath. Two years later he was MP for Clonakilty 1695-99 and when he came home from Dublin it was to assist his neighbours evade the laws passed by the very Parliament in which he had been sitting! These laws made it virtually impossible for any but the Protestants to hold land and many of his Romanist neighbours, trusting Bryan's integrity, gave their lands over to him. At one time he had in his care £80,000 worth of property, which he defended at some cost to himself, and, when the time was right, he returned it to the real owners along with accrued arrears. In 1696 Bryan with the rest of the Association of Lords and Commoners signed the address welcoming William III as King. He was elected Sovereign of Clonakilty for a second time 1697/99.
Bryan bought Derry (3) in 1686 and the property passed to his son Philip Townsend [500] in 1726. He inherited the Castletownshend estate on the death of his nephew Richard Fitzjohn Townsend [113] in 1722.
There is a tradition in the family that Bryan was so distraught by the early death of his son Bryan Townsend [203] that he placed a curse on any member of the family who used the name. There is a further family tradition that he shot the last wolf in Co Cork near Kilcrea Abbey (4) in 1710. Bryan reputedly had a most healthy appetite and once complained that "a goose was an awkward bird - a little too much for one but not nearly enough for two".
He is buried alongside his father at Castlehaven and his will was proved in Cork in 1727 (5).
(1) The Act summoned all who were in rebellion against James II's authority to appear for trial on a given day, or be declared traitors, hanged, drawn and quartered, and their property confiscated.
(2) Bryan's brother Horatio Townsend [104] brought the Duke of Schomberg to Ireland in the sloop 'Lynn'.
(3) Ordnance survey of Ireland. Discovery Series. 1:50,000. Map sheet 89, grid reference W274372.
(4) 'The Post Chaise Companion or Traveller's Directory through Ireland 3rd Edition 1804' page 346 records "Two miles beyond Oven's Inn, on the L. is Elm Park, the seat of the Rev Mr Kenney; and near it are the ruins of the castle and abbey of Kilcrea".
(5) 'Cork and Ross Wills 1548-1800'.
Chapters V & VI of 'An Officer of the Long Parliament' refer.