Christopher Barnewall

Sir Christopher Barnewall(1522–1575) was a leading Anglo-Irish statesman of the Pale in the 1560s and 1570s.Hewas the effective Leader of the Oppositionin the Irish House of Commons in the Parliament of 1568–71. He is remembered for building Turvey House, where heshelteredthe future Catholic martyrEdmund Campion,for his impressive tomb in Lusk Church,and for the eulogy to him in Holinshed's Chronicles,which was written by his son-in-law Richard Stanyhurst.

He was the son of Patrick Barnewall, Solicitor General for Ireland (died 1552),and Anne Luttrell, daughter of Richard Luttrell. Through both his paternal grandparents he was closely related to the senior branch of the Barnewallfamily, who held thetitleBaron Trimleston. His father, a close associate of Thomas Cromwell, was a key figure in the Irish administration between1535 and 1542. Patrick initially opposed the Dissolution of the Monasteries, butchanged his mind intime to profit handsomely from the Dissolution, acquiring Grace Dieu Abbey in Dublin and Knocktopher in Kilkenny. Christopher himself built Turvey House near the ruins of Grace Dieu, reputedly from the Abbey's stones.

Unlike his father and his uncle Thomas Luttrell, who both went on tobecome eminentjudges, he didnot practice at the Irish Bar. Nor was he a Bencher of the King's Inn, which his father had helpedto found, although he was aparty to the renewal of the lease of the Inn from the Crownin 1567. He may however have had some legal training, since Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormonde, of whom he was a close associate,appointed Barnewall in 1556as steward and receiver of all the Earl's lands within the Pale.

He sat in the Irish House of Commons as member for Dublin countyin the Parliaments of 1559-1560 and 1568-71,and was Sheriff of County Dublin in 1560.He played a majorrole in Elizabeth I's second Irish Parliament, especially in the crucial year 1569. Heemerged as the effective leader of the Anglo-Irish landowners of the Pale,who were opposed to the Court party which supportedto the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Sir Henry Sidney. His supporters attempted to have Barnewall chosen asSpeaker of the House of Commons but he was defeated by the Crown candidate James Stanyhurst. Barnewall assumed the role of Leader of the Opposition, concentrating his assault on the composition of the House, which he alleged had been "packed" with Crown supporters; in particular he objected to the presence ofcertain English members who represented boroughs where they did not live, and which in many cases they had never even visited.Hebrought a legal challenge tothe validity of the House's composition, but although the judges ruled in his favouron two technicalpoints, he was not successful in excluding the absentee members, and Sidney was able to get hisprogram of legislation throughParliament without serious difficulty.

As a Member of Parliament Barnewall was required under the Act of Supremacy (Ireland) 1560 to acknowledge Elizabeth Ias head of the Church of Ireland. This wasan advantageous step sincehis familyhad benefitted greatly from the suppression of the religious houses, and, whatever their private religious beliefs, theyclearly had no wish to lose any of the former monastic lands which they had acquired. Christopher's own private sympathies were undoubtedlywith the Catholicfaith, which his son Patrickin later years openly championed. Christopheragreed to shelter the future martyr Edmund Campion in 1569, at the request of Richard Stanyhurst (son of James), who was Campion's pupil. Campion spent several weeks at Turvey House and later acknowledged Barnewall's role in saving his life. James Stanyhurst was also involved in shelteringCampion,which suggests that despite their sharp political rivalry, he and Barnewall were prepared to cooperate on certain issues.

Barnewall died in 1575 at Turvey and was buried in Lusk Church. His widow Marion, who remarried Sir Lucas Dillon, commissioned an impressive tombfor her "first and loving husband", dated 1589, which still exists. Her second husband apparently paid for it, suggesting that he shared the generally high opinion of Barnewall's character. Marion died inJune 1607 and was buried in the same tomb as Christopher.

Holinshed's Chronicles contain a remarkable tribute to Barnewall; the warmlypersonal tone is explained by the fact that it was written by Richard Stanyhurst, who knew Barnewall all his life and married his daughter Janet:

the lantern and light as well of his house as of that part of Ireland where he dwelt, who being sufficiently well furnished with the knowledge of the Latin tongue as of the common law of England, was zealously bent on the reformation of his country; a deep and a wise gentleman, spare of speech and therewithal pithy, wholly addicted to gravity....very upright in dealing, measuring all his affairs with the safety of conscience, as true as steel....fast to his friend, stout in a good quarrel, a great householder....of nature mild, rather choosing to pleasure where he might harm than harm where he might pleasure.

Barnewall married Marion Sherle, daughter of PatrickSherle of Shallon, County Meath; she inherited the estate of Shallon from her brother John. They had nineteenchildren,of whomthirteen reached adulthood:

• Patrick (died 1622), who inherited his father's estates, and was the father of the 1st Viscount Barnewall
• John (died 1599) of Flemington, who married Cecily Cusack, widow of Christopher St Lawrence, 8th Baron Howth, by whom hehad a son and heir, Patrick
• Catherine, who married Thomas Finglas of Westphailstown
• Margaret (died 1576),who married Nicholas St Lawrence, 9th Baron Howth and had three children, including Christopher St Lawrence, 10th Baron Howth
• Janet (1560-1579),who marriedthe celebrated historian Richard Stanyhurst
• Alison, who marriedfirstly John Plunkett and secondly Sir Edward FitzGerald of Tecroghan, County Meath
• Elizabeth (died 1607),who married Richard (or John) Finglas of Westphailstown
• Anne (died 1639), who married Sir John Draycott of Mornington, County Meath, son of Henry Draycott, Master of the Rolls in Ireland and had six children
• Mabel (died 1620), who married Sir Richard Masterson of Ferns, County Wexford
• Ismay, who married Richard Delahide of Moyclare
• Eleanor, or Helen(died 1628),who married James Dillon, 1st Earl of Roscommon
• Maud, who married Richard Nugent
• Mary, who married Patrick Plunkett, 7th Baron Dunsany.

Lady Barnewall remarried in 1578 the prominent judge Sir Lucas Dillon, who was father (by his first wife) of Eleanor's husband, James Dillon, 1st Earl of Roscommon, as well as eleven other children. She died inJune 1607, and was buried beside her first husband at Lusk.