Edward Plunkett, 4th Baron of Dunsany

Edward Plunkett, 4th Baron of Dunsany (died 1521) was an Anglo-Irish nobleman: he was killed in battle during the Irish Rebellion of 1520-1.

Family

He was the son of John Plunkett, 3rd Baron of Dunsany, and Catherine Hussey, daughter of John Hussey, Baron of Galtrim.[1] He succeeded his father as 4th Baron in 1500. His date of birth is uncertain but he was old enough to fight at the Battle of Knockdoe in 1504. He married Amy, daughter of Philip de Barmingham, and they had one surviving son, Robert Plunkett, 5th Baron of Dunsany.

Death

In 1520 a rebellion against the English King Henry VIII broke out in Ireland. It was led by the O'Connor and O'Carroll families, although Surrey, the Lord Deputy of Ireland, was certain that the moving force behind it was Gerald FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Kildare, who saw Surrey's firm rule in Ireland as a threat to his own great power in Ireland.

Dunsany, who was described as "a valiant man", and who had already seen military action at the Battle of Knockdoe, raised troops to crush the rebellion : but in a skirmish with the O'Connors on 23 January 1521 his horse broke a leg and he was dispatched by his enemies.[2] He was buried at Dunsany, with an impressive memorial.

References

  1. Burke's Peerage 107th Edition 2003 Vol.1 p.1240
  2. Ellis, Stephen G. Region and Frontier in the English State- the English Far North 1296-1603 Pisa University Press 2009 p.89 fn.