The Rochfort family came to Ireland (probably from France) in the thirteenth century and acquired substantial lands in counties Kildare, Meath and Westmeath. Several members of the family were prominent as lawyers and politicians. They gained the title Earl of Belvedere, and gave their name to the village of Rochfortbridge. The main Rochfort line ended with the death of the 2nd Earl of Belvedere in 1814.
Contents
History
While the name is clearly French, the family's origins are a matter of conjecture. They had settled in Ireland by 1243, when Sir Richard de Rochfort and Sir John de Rochfort were the lords of Crom and Adare. Sir John was still alive in 1269. In 1300 Henry Rochfort surrendered three manors in Kildare to the Crown. Sir Maurice Rochfort was Lord Justice of Ireland in 1302. The main Rochfort line descends from Sir Milo de Rochfort, who was living in 1309. His great-grandson John was Lord of Tristledelan; about 1415 John settled at Kilbryde, which was the principal family seat for centuries. John's son Thomas had two sons, Robert and Roger: Robert inherited the main estates including Kilbryde, while Roger was the father of the distinguished judge and cleric Thomas Rochfort (died 1522 ) Master of the Rolls in Ireland and Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.
Robert Rochfort of Kilbryde (1434-1489) married Genet Nangle, daughter of Thomas Nangle, Baron of Navan and had issue a son Christopher, (b. 1462 in Kileen, County Meath). Christopher married Margaret Eustace (b. 1466) and had issue one son, Robert (b. 1488) and a daughter, Genet, who married David Sutton of Castletown. Robert married firstly Jane St. Johns and had issue Robert, his heir, and two daughters Elinor and Ismay, who married John Elliot. The senior Robert married secondly Jane Boix, (b. 1490), daughter of James Boix, and had issue four children: 1. James, who married Margaret Lynum, 2. Walter, who married Joan Fitz Symons, 3. Katherine, who married Nicholas Dillon, and Elizabeth (b. 1522 in Laragh, County Kildare, and married Robert Lutrell.
Walter Rochfort, (d. 1630) married Catherine Sarsfield and had issue Alexander, Henry, James, and Nicholas. It is James Rochfort's first son, CaptainJames Rochfort, who died in the service of his majesty under Lord Dillon's Regiment of Foot on at Kilshaughlin on 24 Feb 1641 "TCD, 1641 Depositions Project, online transcript January 1970
[http://1641.tcd.ie/deposition.php?depID<?php echo 811122r089?>] accessed Tuesday 15 March 2016 02:44 PM " that often gets mistaken as the younger son, Prime Iron Rochfort. .
During the English Civil War Prime Iron Rochfort of Clogrenane, County Cork, served under Sir Charles Coote's Regiment in 1641, and in 1642 he was a Captain of Foot, garrisoned in Naas with 100 other men during In 1647 he was a Lt. Col under Col. Long. It was around this time he was married to Thomasine Pigott Hull, widow of Argentine Hull of Leamcon, Co. Cork, who died in 1637. Widow Hull had two children, Charles (b. 1636) and Mary(b. 1638) who was probably born post-humously. "TCD, 1641 Depositions Project, online transcript January 1970
[http://1641.tcd.ie/deposition.php?depID<?php echo 811122r089?>] accessed Tuesday 15 March 2016 02:44 PM " Prime Iron and Thomasine had two daughters, Thomasine (1648-1648), and Dorothy, (b. 1649). A third child, and heir, Robert, was born after the death of Prime Iron.
Lt. Col Prime Iron Rochfort was court martialed for the death of Major Turner, a fellow officer on 9 March 1652. The trial of Lt.Col.Rochfort indicates that Major Turner was bludgeoned to the head, without malice or intent to kill, but later died of his wounds. There is no detail in the court transcript to indicate what precipitated the incident. "I. Gentles, H. Maclean & M.
>>O Siochrú, ‘Minutes of courts martial held in Dublin, 1651–53’,
>>Archivium Hibernicum (2011). "Rather unexpectedly the Army treated the case as one of murder, and he was found guilty and on May 14, 1652 was shot.. He is buried at St. Patrick's in Dublin next to his brother, James.
Prime Iron Rochfort's son Robert Rochfort (1652-1727) was born 9 months to the day of his father's court-martial, and having been "bred to the law", had a highly distinguished career, being Speaker of the Irish House of Commons and Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer. Robert's grandson, also Robert was created 1st Earl of Belvedere in 1756. Their principal residences were Gaulstown House and, later, Belvedere House in Westmeath, of which only the latter exists.