1st Baron Fermoy

THE BARONS FERMOY WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY CORK, WITH 15,543 ACRES

The family of DE LA RUPE, or ROCHE, according to the Irish Peerage, and Rudiments of Honour, by Francis Nichols, published in 1727, were materially descended from CHARLEMAGNE; and in the remarkable pedigree of the ancestors of this family, it is shown that they derive their descent from the most illustrious sources, their progenitors being allied, by intermarriages, with the great Counts of Flanders, the Counts of Bavaria, ALFRED, and other Saxon Kings of England; the House of Capet in France, WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR, and other Anglo-Norman kings.

The Roches came to Ireland in the reign of HENRY II, along with other Anglo-Norman chiefs in Strongbow's time; and in the reigns of RICHARD I and KING JOHN, they got large grants of lands in County Cork, in the territory of Fermoy, which, from them, was called Roche's Country, and they erected a castle, and founded a Cistercian monastery at Fermoy, and they had seats at Castletown Roche and other places.

RALPH DE LA ROCHE, son of Alexander de Rupe, alias DE LA ROCHE, was the patriarch of the family in Ireland.

He married Elizabeth de Clare, by the Princess Joan of Acre, his wife, daughter of EDWARD I and his Queen, ELEANOR, of Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester.

This Ralph was father of

DAVID DE LA ROCHE, father of

JOHN DE LA ROCHE, Lord of Fermoy, County Cork, whose son,

MAURICE FITZ-JOHN DE LA ROCHE, Lord of Fermoy, was direct ancestor of

DAVID ROCHE, Lord Roche, surnamed The Great, who sat in Parliament as VISCOUNT ROCHE, of Fermoy, in the reigns of EDWARD IV and HENRY VII.

He married Jane, daughter of Walter Burke, called MacWilliam, and had issue,

MAURICE, his successor;
Redmond;
Ulick;
Theobald;
William;
Philip;
Gerald;
Edmond;
Jacob;
Helena.

His lordship died ca 1492, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

MAURICE ROCHE, Viscount Fermoy, who married twice; and by Joanna, his first wife, daughter of James, Earl of Desmond, had a son and successor,

DAVID ROCHE, Viscount Fermoy, father, by Catherine his wife, daughter of MacCarthy Mor, of a son and successor,

MAURICE ROCHE, Viscount Fermoy, who wedded Grania MacCarthy, and had issue,

DAVID, his successor;
William;
John;
Helena; Marcella; Catherine.

The eldest son,

DAVID ROCHE, Viscount Fermoy, who succeeded his father in 1566, espoused Helena, daughter of James, 10th Baron Dunboyne, and had issue,

Maurice, his successor;
William;
EDMOND, of whom we treat;
Gerald;
James.

The third son,

EDMOND ROCHE, died in 1540, leaving (with a daughter, Joan, married, in 1508, to David de Courcy, Baron Kingsale) a son,

MAURICE ROCHE, Mayor of Cork, 1571, received an autograph letter from ELIZABETH I, with a patent and collar of sterling silver, in acknowledgment of his services in suppressing the rebellion of the Earl of Desmond.

He died in 1593, leaving three sons, JOHN, Edward, and Patrick, and was succeeded by the eldest,

JOHN ROCHE, who dsp, and the estates devolve upon his brother,

EDWARD ROCHE, who died in 1626, leaving three sons,

FRANCIS;
Edward;
Maurice.

The eldest son,

FRANCIS ROCHE (c1610-69), High Sheriff of County Cork, 1641, who entertained Sir Warham St Leger, Lord President of Munster, at his seat, Trabolgan, and assisted him for the King.

Mr Roche married Jane Coppinger, by whom he left at his decease (with a younger son, Edmond, an elder son and heir,

EDWARD ROCHE (1645-96), of Trabolgan, who wedded, in 1672, Catherine, daughter of James Lavallin, of Walterstown, County Cork, and had issue (with four daughters),

FRANCIS, his heir;
Edmond;
Maurice and
James, who both died in France.

The eldest son and heir,

FRANCIS ROCHE (c1673-1755), of Kildinan and Trabolgan, died unmarried, when the former estate descended to his elder nephew, Edmond, before mentioned, and the latter of Trabolgan, to his other nephew,

EDWARD ROCHE, of Trabolgan, who wedded, in 1781, Susanna, elder daughter of Sir George Wombwell Bt, of Wombwell, Yorkshire, by whom he had one son, Edmond Edward, who predeceased him in 1803, a prisoner of war at Lyons.

Mr Roche died in 1828, and bequeathed his estates to his nephew (only son of his elder brother, Edmond),

EDWARD ROCHE (1771-1855), of Trabolgan and Kildinan, County Cork, who married in 1805, Margaret Honoria, only child and heiress of William Curtain, and had issue,

EDMOND BURKE, his heir;
Frances Maria.

Mr Roche's only son and heir,

EDMOND BURKE ROCHE (1815-74), Lord-Lieutenant of County Cork, 1856-74, wedded, in 1848, Elizabeth Caroline, daughter of James Brownell Boothby, and had issue,

EDMUND FITZEDMUND BURKE, his successor;
JAMES BOOTHBY BURKE, 3rd Baron;
Alexis Charles Burke;
Ulick de Rupe Burke;
Edmund Burke;
Eleanor Charlotte; Ethel Kathleen; Eliza Caroline.

Mr Roche, MP for County Cork, 1837-55, Marylebone, 1855-69, was elevated to the peerage, in 1865, in the dignity of BARON FERMOY, of County Cork.

His lordship was succeed by his eldest son,

EDMUND FITZEDMUND BURKE, 2nd Baron (1850-1920), JP DL, who espoused, in 1877, Cecila, daughter of Standish, 3rd Viscount Guillamore, and had issue, an only child, ADA SYBIL.

His lordship died without male issue, when the title devolved upon his brother,

JAMES BOOTHBY BURKE, 3rd Baron (1851-1920), MP for East Kerry, 1896-1900, who married, in 1880, Frances Ellen, daughter of Frank M Work, and had issue,

EDMUND MAURICE BURKE, his successor;
Francis George;
Eileen Burke; Cynthia Burke.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,

EDMUND MAURICE, 4th Baron (1885-1955), who married, in 1931, Ruth Sylvia, daughter of Colonel William Smith Gill, and had issue,

EDMUND JAMES BURKE, his successor;
Mary Cynthia Burke;
FRANCES RUTH BURKE, COUNTESS SPENCER; mother of DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES;

His lordship was succeeded by his son and heir,

EDMUND JAMES BURKE, 5th Baron (1939-84), who wedded, in 1964, Lavinia Frances Elizabeth, daughter of Major John Pitman, and had issue,

PATRICK MAURICE BURKE, his successor;
Edmund Hugh Burke;
Frances Caroline Burke; Elizabeth.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,

PATRICK MAURICE BURKE, 6th Baron (1967-), who married, in 1998, Tessa Fiona, daughter of Major David Pelham Kayle, and has issue,

Arabella Elizabeth Burke, b 1999;
Eliza Lavinia, b 2000.

TRABOLGAN, near Whitegate, County Cork, was a Georgian house comprising two storeys at the front, and three at the rear.

Single storey wings were added during the 19th century, creating a long facade.

The main block comprised two storeys and eight bays, with wings of five bays on either side.

It had a roof parapet and a single-storey Doric portico.

The wings had round-headed windows.

The mansion was approached by an avenue exceeding one mile in length.

Half-way along this avenue there is a triumphal arch; and a tower on the headland between the house and Roche's Point at the entrance to Cork harbour.

The family sold Trabolgan ca 1880 to William Clarke, whose family sold it in 1947.

The mansion house was demolished in 1982.

Trabolgan subsequently became a holiday camp.

Other former seat ~ Kilshannig, County Cork.

First published in December, 2019.  Fermoy arms courtesy of European Heraldry.