Robert Shilyngford
Quick Facts
Biography
Robert Shilyngford (died c.1555) was Mayor of Dublin in 1534–35. Apart from his tenure of this office, he is mainly remembered as the first of the six husbands of Jenet Sarsfield.
Jenet was only about seven when her future husband held the office of Mayor, so their marriage probably did not take place until the mid 1540s. The couple had one daughter, Katherine, who was to be Jenet's only surviving child.
Robert died before 1556 when Jenet married James Luttrell. She had six husbands in all, including Robert Plunkett, 5th Baron of Dunsany and the eminent judges Sir Thomas Cusack and Sir John Plunket.
Although Shilyngford was the father of her only known surviving child, Jenet does not seem to have attached much importance to his memory, preferring always to be known as Lady Dunsany, under which title she was buried.