The Plunketts
The origin of the Plunkett line is lost in history and there is not a clear agreed etymology for the name (often spelt "Plunket" in earlier records). The name would appear to have derived in Ireland and is only found in those descended from Irish lines. It is believed that the family are, like many Irish houses, of Danish stock, having arrived in Ireland as Norse settlement was becoming well-established, perhaps in the late 900's.
The line of the Plunkett nobility, so prominent in the mid- and north-east, can be traced back to Johan (?) Plunket of Beaulieu (now Bewley) near Drogheda in County Louth. The Dunsany branch descended from Richard Plunkett of Rathregan in southern Meath, whose grandson, Christopher, married into the de Cusack family, who held substantial lands including Killeen and Dunsany. Christopher Plunkett was a knight and held office as Sheriff of Meath and later, Deputy Governor of Ireland; he was created as first in the continuing line of Lords of Killeen (his father-in-law had held this title by summons). His eldest son, John, was to inherit Killeen, while the second son, another Christopher, was given Dunsany (Killeen and Dunsany were twin castles of the Norman Pale, dating back to the 1180's), becoming its first Lord. Other sons took holdings at Dunsoghly, Rathmore and Balrath.
Family Crest (individual holders may bear derivatives of the basic form) : Arms : Sa., a bend arg., in the sinister chief point a castle of the last. Crest : A horse passant arg. Supporters : Dexter, a pegasus per fesse or and arg., sinister, an antelope arg. collared, chained, armed and hoofed or. Motto : Festina Lente.
More will be presented on the family at a later date.
Famous Plunketts
St. Oliver Plunkett, Martyr
Oliver Plunkett was born at Loughcrew, Co. Meath, in 1629 to a branch of the Plunkett family closely related to those of Dunsany and Killeen. He completed his education on the Continent and was ordained at Rome in 1654. He worked as a Professor in the Irish College in Rome prior to his return to Ireland in 1669.
Dr. Plunkett became Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland in 1669, at a time when the organisation of the Church in Ireland was in poor order, and worked tirelessly across Ireland and with the Gaelic-speaking Catholics of Scotland. He was arrested on trumped-up treason charges in 1679 and sent to London for trial as there was no chance of a conviction in Ireland. A first prosecution failed but a second attempt succeeded, in a trial described as disgraceful even by establishment figures in Britain. He was hanged, drawn and quartered in London on the 1st of July, 1681.
His head is preserved in St. Peter's Church, Drogheda. The Dunsany family hold his watch and ring, and a crozier, as precious family relics (for security reasons, they are no longer held routinely at the Castle).
Oliver Plunkett was declared blessed in 1920 and canonised in 1975 (October 12th) at a ceremony attended by many Plunketts, including representatives from the Dunsany and Killeen families. His feast day is the 11th of July.
Horace Plunkett
Horace Curzon Plunkett, one of the pioneers of the co-operative movement and shining lights of Irish agriculture, was born in 1854, the third son of the 16th Lord Dunsany. He was educated at Eton and Oxford and spent two years as an agent on the Dunsany estate, where he experimented with a co-operative store for tenants and land workers. Partially for reasons of health, he moved to Wyoming in 1879; he spent ten years there, ranching. On his return, he began promotion of the co-operative concept with a full-time assistant. After more than fifty meetings/ lectures, the first co-operative creamery was formed in Drumcollogher (Limerick) in 1889 and by 1893, thirty co-op creameries had been established, despite opposition from commercial interests. The Irish Co-Operative Agency Society Ltd. was founded in 1893 (followed by the Irish Agricultural Wholesale Society, IAWS, in 1897) to act as wholesale buyer and the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society (IAOS) in 1894 (become ICOS in 1979) as a co-ordinating body for the new movement. In the meantime, Horace Plunkett had also become MP for South Dublin in 1892 and promoted the cause of agriculture in Parliament, ultimately seeing the formation of the Department of Agriculture (and Technical Instruction) of Ireland, of which he was first vice-president (1900-1907); he lost his MP's seat in 1900. He reassumed the presidency of the IAOS in 1908 (-1931), assembled a reference library, set up a model farm in Foxrock and worked to try to moderate the Home Rule debate, chairing the national convention seeking a peaceful resolution. His influence declined after 1916 but he backed the Free State government and accepted a nomination as Senator. His house was burned down during the Civil War. He spent the last years of his life in England and died in 1932.
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