Tynte baronets

Tynte family origins

One of the legends that surround the families who have lived in Halswell House is that of the first Tynte who, as a young knight of the Arundel Family, is said to have gone on the Third Crusade with King Richard the Lionheart. He was singled out for his bravery at the 1192 battle of Ascalon. The King observing him is supposed to have said:

" .. the maiden knight had borne himself like a lion, and had done work enough for six crusaders"

For which service to the Christian cause the King is said to have conferred on the young Knight his armorial bearings (Heraldic device), a lion argent on a field of gold between six crosslets of the first and the motto Tynctus Cruore Saraceno ("tinged with Saracen blood"). Examples of the Tynte family crest can be seen in the church of St Edwards in Goathurst, and the inn The Tynte Arms in nearby Enmore.

However, later historians have concluded that the Tyntes only rose from the yeomanry in the late 16th century (so would not have been entitled to have a coat of arms until then).

Tynte baronets, of Halsewell, Somerset (1674)

Tynte baronets, of Dunlaven, County Wicklow (1778)

Anglo-Irish background

Sir Robert Tynte of Youghal and Ballycrenane

Robert Tynte was born in Wraxhall, North Somerset, near Bristol. Possibly his interest in Ireland came through contact with Sir Walter Raleigh’s close friend and cousin, Sir Arthur Gorges, whose family also came from Wraxhall.[36] He came to Munster as an Elizabethan soldier during the Desmond Rebellion. After the wars, he secured possession of the castle in Youghal from the Walshes, an affluent merchant family resident in Youghal since the 14th century but dispossessed for supporting the Earl of Desmond. The castle gave him a firm foothold in the new economic infrastructure of Munster and he quickly worked his way up the administration, filling the office of High Sheriff from 1625 to 1626. As Youghal developed to serve the needs of the new colonists, so Tynte’s Castle provided an excellent base for storage and organization. During his lifetime, Tynte also acquired lands in the Barony of Imokilly, including the tower house at Ballycrenane, near Ladysbridge, County Cork.

A friend of Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, Tynte was married in 1612 to Richard Boyle's cousin Elizabeth (née Boyle), widow of Sir Edmund Spenser the poet. In time, Tynte's eldest son Robert had a daughter Catherine who married William Hyde of Carrigoneda, Tynte's other son Henry would marry Sir Percy Smyth’s eldest daughter, Mabel. Sir Robert Tynte outlived Henry by two years, passing away in 1663. He was buried at Kilcredan graveyard, near Ladysbridge.

Kilcredan Effigies Near the east end of the south wall is the tomb of Sir Robert Tynte, which he erected in 1636. Sir Robert died in 1643. The tomb was badly damaged when the roof of the church was removed in 1924 and had already suffered somewhat when it was proposed to remove it to St Mary’s, Youghal in the 19th century. It consists of a tomb chest on which rests the recumbent figure of Sir Robert clad in armour. Map Reference: X013700 (2013, 0700) His sword is now missing as are the lower legs. The face is worn smooth. It is flanked at head and feet by two kneeling female figures, said to be his two wives Phillippa and Elizabeth. Both are missing heads, hands and upper torso.

Above the effigy is a stone tablet with a long commemorative Latin inscription and above this an other tablet with the Tynte coat of arms.

Directly in the north wall is another tomb. This is the monument to Sir Edward Harris, who died in 1636 and his wife, Elizabeth, who died in 1622. Within a rectangular frame are two kneeling figures which face each other. Both are missing head and hands and the figure on the left is also missing the upper torso. Sir Edward was Chief Justice of Munster and his eldest daughter, Phillipa, was the daughter-in-law of Sir Robert Tynte.

Mabel Smyth and Sir Henry Tynte

Mabel Smyth was the eldest daughter of Sir Percy Smyth by his first wife, Mary Meade. She married Sir Henry Tynte, MP for Youghal, eldest son of Sir Robert Tynte, the Somerset entrepreneur who owned Tynte’s Castle in Youghal. On April 25, 1661, Sir Henry was returned for County Cork, alongside the Hon. Richard Boyle, to the Restoration Parliament. He died soon after this for, in a by-election of 2 June 1661, his seat was filled by Sir John Perceval, Bart, of Bruton. The Tynte family held the castle in Youghal until 1866 and, despite moving to Wicklow, remained interested in Youghal politics to such an extent that the Right Hon. Sir James Tynte of Old Bawn, Dublin and Dunlavin, Co. Wicklow was elected MP for Youghal in the early 18th century.