The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-07-28
ny la MARQuIsE DE roNTENoY.

=
I ORD GORMANSToN. whose i'm
pending marriage TO Miss Eileen
- Butler. daughter OF that bril-
liant Irish soldier, the late General Sir
William Butler. and OF Lady Butler,
known on both sides of the Atlantic
under the name OF Elizabeth Thompson.
as the painter OF THE Roll Call" link
erman." and "Balaclava,'D has just
been announced. is the premier VS.
count of Ireland. is like his bride. a
Catholic. is about thirty-one years OF
age. and is retired officer OF the army.
in which he served as a subaltern OF
the Manchester Regiment.
He is chief OF very old family In
Ireland. which may he said to have
haen founded by Sir Roger dc Preston
who was justice OF the Court OF Com
mon Pleas In the reign of King Ed
ward III. His son. Sir Robert de Pres
ton. was knighted on the field of bat
tie by Lionel Plantagenet. Duke of
subsequently appointed Lord High
Chancellor of Ireland, was created in
1879 Lord Gormanston. lie had few
years previously purchased from AL
meric de St Armand the castle and es-
tate of Gormanston. in the county OF
Meath. 1t is an old stronghold of the
Knights of the Temple, near BalbriS-
gan. and remains to this day the prin-
cipal home of Lord Gormanston-a big,
grand old place, a few miles inland,
commanding beautiful views in all di-
rections, one of the most attractive
being from the dining-room windo,, $,
where stretches broad grass LAID
avenue, bordered with immense old
trees. In an unbroken line, 10 a
point where the headland suddenly
ends and gives place to the Irish Chan
mel. The castle is full of relies OF the
Stuarts, to whose cause the Prestons
were devoted in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries. Indeed. the NTH.
sixth and seventh V;scounts German
ston had their honors attainted on &C
count of their services to the Stuarts,
and it was not until the eiose Of the
eighteenth century that the attainders
were removed, in favor of Jenico,
twelfth Viscount Gormanston.
The peculiar Christian name of Jeni-
co. which is also borne by the present
Lord Gormanston, and by many OF his
predecessors in the family honors.
dates from the marriage of the third
lord. with Jane, daughter of n French
knight. Sir Jenico d'Artois, the Artois
being, as Froissart remarks In his fam
Gus Chronicles. "of the Oluest blood IN
the world" Lord Gormanston is the
of the line, in unbroken male descent.
Burkc's "Peerage" and other stand
ard works of reference include the
Barony of Birmingham among the
minor honors of Lord Gormanston-the
Birmingham in question being, not the
great manufacturing city of that name
in England. but the patronymic OF an
ancient Irish house. The Barony Of
Birmingham was assumed. without any
right whatsoever, by the late Lord
Gormanston. He appropriated it on the
ground that the first Lord Gormanston.
that Is the Lord High Chancellor of
Margaret. daughter OF Walter de Bir-
mingham. Walter de Birmin CHANTS
peerage was not. however. that OF the
Barony of Birmingham, but the Barony
of Athenry. which, until the death of
Thomas Birmingham, twenty
Baron of Athenry. and also Earl of
Louth in the eighteenth century, was
the premier barony of Ireland the
barony antedating that of Kinsele by "a
number of years.
On the death of this Thomas Birmins-
ham, the only heirs in the male line
OF succession were the descendants OF
younger brother of Richard Birming-
ham. sixteenth Lord Athsnry. These
were John Birmingham. of Dalgan and
Cloonedargan, and Captain John Bir-
mingham. of Ashgrove and Ballintava,
who were cousins. John Birmin CHAM.
of Dalgan. made an effort to obtain
the family honors. by proving his de-
scent. But as the procedure required
to establish the rights to such honors
before the Committee of Privileges OF
the House of Lords Is terribly ex-
pensive. amounting to some 100000 or
$15o,000, he allowed the matter to
drag on until his death. without issue,
In 1909. That left his cousin, Captain
John birmingham. OF Ashgrove. above
mentioned. as sole heir. He was an Of
ficer of the Seventh Fusiliers, and had
aaryed- "a a. n G. to. the Duke Of Kent