Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnel
Richard Talbot (1630 14 August 1691), the fifth son of Sir William Talbot, Bart., of Carton, was descended from an old Norman family which had settled in Leinster in the eleventh century. Like most Anglo-Norman families in Ireland the Talbots had adopted the customs of the Irish and had, like the Irish, adhered to the Catholic faith. He married Frances Jennings, sister of Sarah Jennings (the future Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough). Talbot had been introduced to Charles II and James, Duke of York (later James II) when they were exiles in Flanders, as a result of the English Civil War. He escaped from Ireland after Oliver Cromwell's punitive campaign there in 1649 and was party to various intrigues to restore the Stuart monarchy. After the Restoration in 1660 he joined the household of the Duke of York and used his influence at court to promote his own interests. He was arrested and exiled for supposed complicity in the Popish Plot. After the accession of James II in 1685, he was created Baron of Talbotstown, Viscount Baltinglass and Earl of Tyrconnel, and sent as commander in chief of the forces in Ireland. In this capacity and as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (168788) he placed Catholics in positions of control in the state and the militia, which the Duke of Ormonde had previously organised. Consequently the entire Roman Catholic population sided with James II in the Glorious Revolution. Thus, in 1689, when James landed at Dublin with his French officers, Talbot had an Irish army ready to assist him. After James came to Ireland, he created Tyrconnel a dukea title recognized only by the Jacobites. After defeat in the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, Tyrconnel went to France for aid. He returned to Ireland in 1691, but died suddenly just before the fall of Limerick. Some contemporary accounts say that he was poisoned, but this is unsubstantiated.
Richard Talbot's brother Peter entered the Society of Jesus and remained in it many years. Later he left the Jesuits and became a secular priest, and was in 1669 appointed Archbishop of Dublin by the Pope. Peter was arrested in connection with the Irish branch of the Popish Plot. He died in prison in 1680.
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