Theobald Taaffe, 1st Earl of Carlingford (c. 1603 – 31 December 1677), known as 2nd Viscount Taaffe, of Corren and 2nd Baron of Ballymote between 1642 and 1661, was a Royalist officer who played a prominent part in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and accompanied Charles II in exile. Following the Restoration, he was created 1st Earl of Carlingford.
Sir John Taaffe, 1st Viscount Taaffe of Corren, left fifteen children, of whom the eldest was Theobald.
Theobald Taaffe was appointed to lead the Irish Munster army by Donagh MacCarthy, Viscount Muskerry in 1647. He was not an impressive commander, failing to prevent the sack of Cashel and then leading the Munster army to defeat at the battle of Knocknanauss in 1647. He had an antiquated sense of chivalry - before Knocknanuss he suggested to Baron Inchiquin, the enemy general, that the battle should be decided by 1000 hand picked men from each side. Inchiquin's reply was sarcastic: you have performed as much as I desire in bringing your army hither, I shall not desire you to loose any advantage you have in numbers of men, being your offer was only made for recreation.
As fate would have it, Taaffe and Inchiquin fought on the same side at the Battle of Arklow two years later. Unfortunately for Taaffe, Inchiquin lost this time.
With the defeat of the Royalist cause in Ireland, Taaffe went into exile with Charles II. He was one of the ten named in Act for the Settlement of Ireland 1652 as leaders of the Royalist forces in Ireland.
Following the Restoration, he was created Earl of Carlingford.
He was sent on missions to the Duke of Lorraine and to the Holy Roman Emperor, by which was established the connection of his family with the house of Habsburg and Lorraine, which continued to the end of the Habsburg monarchy.
He was married twice, firstly to Mary White, by whom he had a son, The Hon. John Taaffe, who married Rose Lambart, and secondly to Anne Pershall, without issue. He also had a daughter by Lucy Walter named Mary Crofts (The Hague, 1651–1693), whose father some sources claim to have been Theobald Taaffe, 1st Earl of Carlingford[1][2] and others Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington, married firstly William Sarsfield and had female issue, and married secondly William Fanshawe (b. The Hague, May 1651), and had issue.[3][4]
| Wikisource has the text of the 1885–1900 Dictionary of National Biography's article about Theobald Taaffe. |
See Würzbach, Biographisches Lexicon Österreichs. Memoirs of the Family of Taaffe (Vienna, 1856), privately printed; article in the Contemporary Review (1893), by EB Lanin. The Prague Politik published in December 1904 contains some interesting correspondence collected from Taaffe's papers.
| Peerage of Ireland | ||
|---|---|---|
| New creation | Earl of Carlingford 1661–1677 |
Succeeded by Nicholas Taaffe |
| Preceded by John Taaffe |
Viscount Taaffe 1642–1677 |
|