Edward Brabazon, 1st Baron Ardee

Edward Brabazon, 1st Baron Ardee (c.1548 – 7 August 1625) was an Anglo-Irish peer. Brabazon was the eldest son of Sir William Brabazon, (died 1552) the Lord Justice of the Kingdom of Ireland, and Elizabeth Clifford (died 1581). His mother was the daughter and co-heiress of Nicholas Clifford of Holme in Kent. She was a much married lady, and Edward had numerous half-siblings, including the distinguished soldier Sir William Warren, and Garret, 1st Viscount Moore. He grew up at Thomas Court, near present-day Thomas Street in Dublin city, where his father had built a house out of the lands of the former Abbey of St Thomas, which were granted to him after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The Abbey's lands included Killruddery, near Bray, County Wicklow. The building of the original Kilruddery House seems to have begun in Edward's later years: Kilruddery is still the family home, although no trace of the original house survives. He built and occupied Ballinasloe castle in the 1570s or 80s, on land previously held by Seán na Maighe Ó Cellaigh. He was made a member of the Privy Council of Ireland in 1584. In 1585, he held of the office of Member of Parliament for Wicklow County in the Irish House of Commons. He was knighted on 24 August 1595. Brabazon was High Sheriff of Staffordshire in 1606 and served as MP for Bangor between 1613 and 1615. He was a member of the Council of Munster in 1615. On 19 July 1616, he was created Baron Ardee in the Peerage of Ireland and took his seat in the Irish House of Lords. Brabazon married Mary Smythe, the daughter of Thomas Smythe Esq., and together they had five children. His eldest son predeceased him and his second son, William, was made Earl of Meath in 1627.