Woulfes of Kildare and Wexford

By Paul MacCotter

The original Woulfes of County Kildare

  Kildare is unusual in having early Woulfes of Anglo-Norman origin and later, 17th century English planters quite unrelated to those who went before. The section on the later English Wolfes is below.

   The original Woulfe lands in this county lay along a five mile stretch of the River Barrow, from the town of Athy upriver to the great bog of Monovullagh, mostly on the east bank of the river but with some lands on the western one. Here the family were powerful freeholders, one of the largest landowners in the barony of Reban and the most prominent inhabitants of the medieval town of Athy. The association of the family with this territory eventually conferred the native title, Crich Bhulbach, or Woulfe's Territory, upon it. 

   The ancestor of the Kildare family must have been the William Lupus/le Lou who donated the ecclesiastical tithes of his lands to the Archbishop of Dublin in 1190. While the lands are not identified in the actual deed a later diocesan register identifies these as "Clonard in Agory", and further identifies the latter place with the Tullygory, near Athy, later held by the family. The actual church site here must be that demarcated on the first edition Ordnance Survey map in the townland of Geraldine, adjacent to Tullygory. Over a century passes before mention of his descendants occurs.

In 1297 a servingman of John le Lou was convicted in court of stealing property near the town of Athy. A second reference to this case, heard the next year, saw Isabella, the wife of John Wolf, fined for receiving Robert le Wolf and other serving-men of her husband who had stolen goods in his absence near Athy. Note here the interchangability of le Lou with le Wolf. Records of the same period record the civic duties of both John and Thomas le Lou in this area. In 1296 a John, son of Richard le Lou held lands at Ballyregan in Co. Wexford, and this may, perhaps, be John of Athy. A detailed pedigree can be traced from this first John, almost uninterruptedly, until the last of the 'Woulfe's Country' Woulfes lost their lands under Cromwell in the 1650s.

  John le Lou was dead by 1308, as also was his eldest son and heir, Robert Wolf, when Robert's younger brother, David Wolf, had succeeded as family head. In the Kildare feodary of 1315 he occurs as David le Lou, holding the fee of Kilcolyn of the lords of Kildare by half a knights' fee. This fee must represent the Wolf territory here, and Kilcolyn itself appears to be a corruption of the 17th century Kilcolman, now Tomard, Barrowford and Paudeenourstown in Kilberry Parish, and where the first manor house of the family may have been located. In 1326 the last use of the French style occurs when, "David le Loue" witnessed a deed; he is "David Wolf" in the Kildare feodary of 1331. Other early references from this period usually use the style Wolf but one Stephen le Lou does occur in 1306. In 1330 David "son of John Wolfe" was claiming, as heir and kinsman to Roes, daughter of Roger de Lychfield, le Milton next Castleton of Reban which she died siezed of, and, in 1335 an acre in Befford which had been his mother, Agnes Nyemans, property (marriage and divorce were commonplace at this period among the wealthy). The former place is now Millton, in Churchtown Parish. Befford is most interesting, being more usually written Beauford. This is one of the very few examples of a French placename in Ireland, being derived from Beau Ford, "pretty ford", does it perhaps indicate a Norman French origin for the Woulfes of Kildare? This placename has become corrupted over the centuries and is now Beart, in Kilberry, a few miles north of Athy, where a bridge spans the old ford, at the very centre of the old Woulfe territory here.

  David was sheriff of Kildare in 1336 and must have been old by 1345, when he made over to his son and heir, James, his lands. In 1339 James was seeking a mill and 15 acres at Balysothenan (?), Co. Kildare, as heir to his unnamed mother, one of the daughters and co-heiresses of William Alesaundre, and, in 1358, was appointed a collector for the barony of Reban. James must have been dead by 1360, when his son and successor, John, is styled "of Beauford". Three years later he is described as "of Wodestock". This is Woodstock in Athy, where the family may have had an urban residence. Soon we find an interesting light being thrown on the frontier nature of the Wolf possessions here. While originally the area of colonial settlement would have extended much farther westwards from 'Woulfes Country', taking in much of eastern Laois, the famine and lawlessness of the 14th century had resulted in the native Irish pushing eastwards the frontier of settlement - by overrunning and driving out those settlers in east Laois, almost to the River Barrow and the Woulfe lands. In 1372 the government ordered John and Ralph Wolf to return to the O'More chief of Laois the cattle they had taken by force from his lands when he was outlawed, as he had now made reparation and was inlawed. Some echo of this situation may be reflected in the sale by John, in 1378, to the earl of Ormond of the lordships of Balymacgillewan and Loghdyok in Laois. Ormond was a powerful Norman lord and probably had more resources to extract a rent from the Irish who had overrun these lands and now occupied them then the Wolfs. The places themselves cannot be identified. John served as custos pacis (keeper of the peace; a paramilitary position akin to sheriff in the Wild West) for Kildare in 1369 and was dead by 1390 when his widow, Anastasia, was claiming her dower from his lands at Stroulan. This is the modern Srowland in Kilberry where later generations of the family maintained a castle.

  John's successor was his son, Roland, who first appears in 1382, when appointed a custos pacis for Co. Kildare. The following year he occurs in a pleading in connection with "Beaford", where he may have resided. Before leaving the 14th century we should mention the various offshoots of the family who occur, for there appear to have been several junior branches established in 'Woulfes Country' at this period. Some of these can be connected to the mainline. In 1337 one John, son of Thomas Wolf was claiming an interest in the lands of Stroulan, Clonegan and Corkfalyagh. This Thomas was a younger brother to family head, David, and John was his nephew. I cannot identify the middle place but, if Cork here represents the Gaelic Corcach, Corkfalyagh may represent an older form of the later Monovullagh, the great bog on the northern boundaries of Woulfes Country. As well as his heir, Roland, John Wolf had at least two remaining sons, Richard and Gerald. In 1360 Gerald, who had married Isabella Gaydon, leased her inheritance, the lands of Gaydonston, in the barony of Rathangan, to the Earl of Kildare for 12 years. Richard Wolf was dead by 1383, leaving a young son, John, as heir. Other branches were represented by the Richard Wolf, a minor whose lands were in the custody of family head David in 1337, Richard being the son of Richard son of Robert Wolf, the latter perhaps the Robert le Wolf of 1298 noted above, and the John son of William Wolf who held lands at Corkfalyagh in 1339.

Family head, Roland son of John Wolf, is certainly to be identified with the "Roland son of John Wolfe of Weusford" who sold the lands of Wolfeston and Castelueth in Co. Wexford to John Roche of Deps in 1410, the lands in question having earlier been mortgaged to another local family, the Synnots. This Roland is the only man bearing this rare christian name to occur in association with the Wolfs in the medieval period and there cannot have been two individuals with the same rare name and father's name. Indeed, the spelling "Weusford" here looks suspiciously like a scribal misreading for "Beauford". As noted above, Wolfeston is the civil parish of Ballyvalloo (*Baile Bhuilbhach), an area of around 2,000 acres. The increasing lawlessness of the period made the possession of widely separated lands difficult to manage and the more outlying were often sold, as in this instance. Roland must have been dead by 1420, when his son and successor, Thomas, occurs. The 15th century is a time of little surviving record yet, even here, we are able to discern the dim outline of a likely descent. Record of an interesting nature is a complaint, undated apart from being located within the reign of Henry VI (1422-1461). In this, Thomas and James Wolff complain of a new government policy of appeasement towards the native Irish of the west which saw their captive, Shane Boy O'Conner (of Offaly) being released from their custody without payment of the usual ransom. This is yet another example of the milieu of frontier politics in which the Woulfes operated. By 1489 one James Wolf occurs as family head, then apparently in middle age or later, to judge by the succeeding generations, and from whom the later descent is clear. It is just chronologically possible that he was the son of Thomas of 1420 - then a young man - and that both men, as father and son, are those involved with the O'Conner complaint.

  The record of 1489 involves a complaint by the diocese of Dublin against "James Wolfe alias de Lupo, sue nacionies capitaneus" ("chief of his nation", a standard formula for a lineage head at this time), for detaining tithes due from his lands to the church. The same year the Annals of Ulster record the death of "Mac an Bhulbaigh, tiarna Crich Bulbach a cois Bearbha" (the son of Woulfe, lord of Crich Bulbach on the Barrow). (A second reference occurs to Crich Bulbach in the same annals four years later, when an event is recorded as occurring at a castle at Baile na mBathlach there, perhaps Ballynabarna).

  The ecclesiastical record of 1489 can be seen as yet another effect of the gradual social changes brought about by the effective collapse of law and order as the 15th century wore on. If lessor lineage heads such as the Woulfes could break the increasingly non-existent law even more so could the great lords. In Co. Kildare the local magnates were the FitzGerald earls of Kildare, one of the most powerful families in Ireland. One of the practices which became common in this period was for these magnates to demand -with the power to enforce - exorbitant rents far in excess of what had been customary from the freeholders under them, resulting in the freeholders selling parts of their ancestral estates to offset the debt. This practice only ceased with the renewed English presence and the re-establishment of the common law around the middle of the 16th century. This phenomenon appears to account for the serious reduction of the Woulfe estates in Woulfes Country during the first half of the 16th century.

  In 1506 "Arland le Wolffe of Beuford" sold to Sir Gerald son of Earl Gerald of Kildare all his lands in Tullaghgori, Russelston, Blackwood, Carhaliagh and Percevalston. Then, in 1518, "Walter Wolfe of Bewford" also sold these lands, in addition to the Wood of Sawell, Clonenart, Fanederry, Oldrath, "and all lands the Earl [of Kildare] has in his hands this day". Finally, in 1531, "Nicholas son of Walter son of James Woulfe" sold the lands in the original deed, as well as Woodstock, Ardscolle, Kilmyde, Youngestown and Skyeris to Kildare. Some of these lands can be identified with modern townlands or places, viz. Tullygory, Shanrath,, Russelstown and Preswelstown, all in St. Michael's Parish around Athy, Blackwood in Kilberry, Woodstock in Churchtown, Ardscull in Moone, and Kilmeede and Skerris in Narraghmore.

  By adding additional information it is possible to chart a probable pedigree of these men. It seems certain that Walter and Arland (a local form of Arnold) were both sons of James of 1489, accounting for they both selling the same lands or rather, their claim to these lands. Both are described as of Beauford, where a castle existed, and which would seem to have the chief residence of the chiefs of the family since at least the mid 14th century. (The nearby townland of Oldcourt, whose name suggests it to have been the original site of the ancient manor house, does indeed contain a rectangular earthwork of Anglo-Norman type which may locate the actual site of the original le Lu site here). Walter of 1518 occurs five years earlier, when he received a gift of a harness from Kildare, while his son, Nicholas, received a similar gift in 1531.

  Later chiefs do not descend from this Nicholas, however, but from one Thomas Woulfe, whose parentage is uncertain but who was most likely Nicholas' uncle and a brother to Arland and Walter, sons of James of 1489. This is suggested by Thomas' address as given in a later inquisition, "Beafforde", and by the gift he received in 1525 of a horse from Kildare, such gifts being only given to clients of important status. Thomas was among the commissioners appointed to the task of detailing the rents due to the Earl of Kildare in Laois in 1542, and must have succeeded Nicholas as family head by this time. It is certain that Thomas came into possession of all remaining Woulfe lands in Woulfes Country as these are found in the possession of his descendants, from which it would seem that Nicholas died childless. Later inquisitions show Thomas to have been succeeded by his son, Arland, who occurs on a jury in 1540 when described as of Kilcolman. This Arland had at least two sons, the eldest, John, of Beafforde or Beart, as it was becoming known, his heir, and a younger son, Edmund, who seems to have been given Kilcolman as his portion, although held of his older brother. A later inquisition extends John's lands as Kilcolman, where there seems to have been a village ("13 messuages and 13 gardens"), one third of Tollgreti (Tullygory?) and other lands in Athy held of the manor of Athy by suit, the manor of Beafforde with its castle, containing Newton, Oldcourt, Shanrahin, Ardscul, Ballybarnie, Youngstown, Kilmide and Sroland with its castle.

  In a later inquisition John was said to have died in 1552 but such sources are notoriously incorrect as to earlier dates and are certainly so in regard to John's son, Thomas, who was alive long after 1568, the date given for his death. It may well be that it was John who died in 1568. John was the father of Thomas Woulfe of Beart. In 1578 this Thomas mortgaged the lands of "Beaffort alias Bearte, Newtown and half of Ballenebearme, viz., one castle, twenty messuages [homesteads], sixty tofts [small farms], one water-mill, one dovecote, twenty gardens, 100 acres of land, 500 acres of pasture, 500 acres of woodland, two salmon weirs, and 1,500 acres of moor" to James Eustace, Viscount Baltinglass. Not happy with this virtual sale, Woulfe then sold the lot a second time to Humphrey Mackworth, an English officer in the Elizabethan Army of the period, this in 1582. A few weeks after the sale to Mackworth Thomas Woulfe died without heirs. As Baltinglass forfeited his lands as a rebel Mackworth's son was able to get possession of the lands in 1592. The inquisitions show that the lands had been held by Thomas of the Earl of Kildare. By comparing the boundaries of these lands in 1656 with their modern equivalents it is possible to show that the lands Thomas Woulfe sold were Bert Demesne, Newtownbert, Oldcourt, Clogorrow, Smallford and half of Ballynabarna, in total about 2,500 acres.

  To judge by subsequent litigation, the Wolfe estate here was held under entail, meaning the portions not sold by Thomas passed to his nearest male relative, in this case his uncle, Edmund (son of Arland son of Thomas) Wolfe, of Shrowland Castle. Edmund died in 1593, to be followed by his son, Arland, born around 1559, who married Ros, daughter of John Lalor of Naas, and who himself died in 1599 leaving as heir a ten year old son, Nicholas Wolfe, whose mother later died, in 1605. Arland's lands are listed as Kilcolman, Shrowland, Ardskoll and half of Ballynabarny. Kilcolman was held of the Earl of Kildare while the others were held of the king in chief. Something is known of this last chief of Woulfes Country, principally through his efforts to recover the lands earlier sold by his cousin, Thomas Woulfe, who may not have had clean title through the Irish partible inheritance system. Nicholas certainly had some claim and, in 1610, when he came of age, began legal moves to recover these lands, resulting in the holding of a county inquisition which found that Gerald, son and heir of Humphry Mackworth had sold his right in the manor of Beart to Thomas Hoyser who in turn had leased the lands to Thomas Dongon of Tubberogon. Among the other findings of this inquisition was that Isabella Brown, late widow of the earl of Kildare, had disseised Nicholas, while a minor, of the Shrowland lands, one Thomas FitzGerald had possession of Kilmeed and Shanrahin since 1568, and Youngestown was in the possession of Maurice fitz Edmund of Burtown since 1588.

On this occasion Nicholas was unsuccessful in recovering all but the Shrowland lands, as was the case in 1619, and was claiming overlordship of Kilmeed in 1625, when styled as of Kilcolman. Some time after this he must have succeeded in having his superior title to Beart manor recognised as, in 1641, he occurs as joint owner of the Beart lands in company with one Thomas Pilworth - Mackworth's heir? - as well as sole owner of the Shrowland and Kilcolman lands, with his address given as Shrowland.

  As an "Irish Papist" Nicholas joined in the rebellion of 1641 against English rule, and was duly outlawed by the English, along with Gerald Wolfe of Mote (Ardscull?), gentleman, and Fr. Edmund Wolfe of Athy. These men were probably related to Nicholas, and may be descendants of Nicholas' uncles, Robert, James and Thomas. The rebellion was finally crushed in 1650 and, in 1654, Nicholas Woulfe of Shrowland, then aged about 65, was transplanted to Connacht with his goods and family as a forfeiting Catholic proprietor by the Cromwellians and his lands given to an English soldier. Nothing more is known of him. In 1664 a list was drawn up of lands to be returned to the heirs of those who had lost them ten years before but the weak English king failed to act on this and the Woulfe lands were lost forever. The heir to the Woulfe lands in this list was Thomas Woulfe "of Greenswolfe" (?) who must have been a son or grandson of Nicholas.

  In modern terms, the lands forfeited by Nicholas Woulfe consisted of Srowland, Willsgrove, Bellview, Salisbury, Tomard, Barrowford, Paudeenourstown, one third of Ardscull, half of Ballynabarney, and Youngstown, in all about 2,000 acres, as well as the Beart lands. When we add to these lands those of the head-rent and those sold by earlier Woulfes to Kildare we get a total acreage for Woulfes Country of around 9,000 acres.

Other Wolfes occur in Kildare who must represent offshoots of the main Beafford line. A Peter Wolff was a Kildare priest in the period 1497-1512 as earlier, was one John Wolf, in 1433. In 1518 Ellen Wulf was the prioress of Temolyn nunnery in Kildare while one Robert Wolfe was the last prior of the Blackfriars (Dominicans) in Athy at the time of its suppression, in the 1540s. Not all such were clerics however. In 1553 Walter, son of James Wolf was a kern (footsoldier) with an address at Boleybeg, just north of Woulfes Country, while another kern was Nicholas Wolff of Brownestown in Woulfes Country, in 1570. Other contemporary kerns included Oliver Wolf of Kildare and Nicholas Wolf of Dowganstown, Co. Carlow. In 1575 Nicholas Wolf was a large farmer at Moireagh, Co. Offaly, just west of the Barrow while, in 1587 one John Wolf held lands at Newtown in Woulfes Country. One Robert Woulf of Athy was pardoned in 1599 while Gerald Woolfe of Naas was a merchant, in 1610.

The new English Wolfes of County Kildare

  Mc Lysaght and other authorities, seduced into error by the presence of the same surname in the same county, have not realised that the original Woulfes of 'Woulfes Country' and the later Wolfe 'Protestant Ascendancy' family of Kildare have no connection whatsoever with each other. 'Woulfes Country' lies around Athy while the ascendancy family are associated with the other end of the county, around Naas. R.T. Wolfe, in his excellent work The Wolfes of Forenaghts, Kildare and Dublin, written in 1885, proves this beyond any shadow of a doubt. Wolfe, a highly able historian and genealogist, makes extensive use of documents subsequently destroyed in the PRO fire of 1922 and no longer available to us, and the quality of his work, unusually for the period, is beyond reproach.

  The ascendancy or New English Wolfes descend from one Richard Wolfe, and there is abundant evidence that he was a native of Durham in England and arrived in Ireland in 1658. He was essentially a yeoman, or large farmer holding lands on lease, at Huttonread, Co. Kildare. After his death, in 1678, these lands and others at nearby Baronrath are found in the possession of his son, John Wolfe. This John, who died in 1715, was the father of Richard Wolfe (1675-1732), who purchased the lands of Forenaghts, near Naas, during the 1690s, marking the elevation of the family from yeomen to landlords. Around 1720 Richard built the first 'big-house' at Forenaghts.

  From Richard's three sons descend the various later branches of the family. His eldest son, John (1700-1760), inherited Forenaghts and the mainline descend from him. From another son, Thomas of Blackhall (1705-1787), descend the Blackhall line, which later succeeded to Forenaghts upon the male extinction of the Forenaghts line, while from yet another son, Richard of Baronrath (1712-1779), descend the Baronrath line.

  The Forenaghts line flourished until 1841, when it became extinct upon the death of Richard Wolfe of Forenaghts, great-grandson of John who died in 1760. A junior branch of this family became the most famous of all the Irish Woulfe families. These were founded by one of the younger sons of John of Forenaghts, Arthur Wolfe (1738-1803). Arthur qualified as a solicitor and was later called to the bar, going on to become a kings counsel. He continued to rise and became Irish solicitor-general (1787) and then attorney-general (1789), the senior legal position within the Irish government of the day. In 1796 he reached the apogee of his career, being appointed lord chief justice of the kings bench, the most senior judge in Ireland. Upon his elevation to the bench he was created Baron Kilwarden of Newlands. A few years later he was killed in Thomas Street, Dublin, by the rebels during the rebellion of 1803. Arthur was succeeded as Lord Kilwarden by his son, John, upon whose death without heirs, in 1830, the title became extinct.

After Richard Wolfe's death, in 1841, the Forenaghts estate passed to his distant cousin, Theobald Wolfe (1815-1872), great-grandson of Thomas Wolfe, founder of the Blackhall line. The estate in turn passed to his son, Richard, killed in the battle of Abu Klee in the Sudan in 1885, who was succeeded by his brother, George. George Wolfe was TD for Co. Kildare in the Irish Parliament (Dáil) between 1923-32 and died at Forenaghts in 1941. George's only child, a daughter, Maud Charlotte Wolfe, born in 1892 and who never married, was still resident at Forenaghts in 1976. It would be interesting to discover who has the house today.

    The third line of the family, the descendants of Richard of Baronrath who died in 1779, chiefly distinguished themselves in military and colonial service, and their descendants were chiefly found in England and South Africa by 1885. Baronrath itself passed out of Wolfe possession upon the death of William Standish Wolfe, in 1869. His younger brother, John (1787-1858), inherited lands at Rockford, near Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, from his mother, and from him descend the Rockford branch of the family.

  By 1885 R.T. Wolfe traces 24 families descending from the first Richard Wolfe of Huttonread. Four of these are of the Blackhall line while twenty are of the Baronrath line, living in Kildare, Tipperary, and Cork in Ireland and in England, America, Australia and South Africa overseas.

  Perhaps the most interesting link with this family is not mentioned at all by R.T. Wolfe. This concerns Theobald Wolfe Tone, (1763-98), one of Ireland's greatest patriots and a leader of the United Irishmen rebellion of 1798. Tone was imprisoned after being captured after arriving with French reinforcements for the rebels, and was poisoned in prison by the English. Tone was not in fact a Wolfe at all but did have an association with the family in so far as his grandfather had worked for the Kilwarden branch of the family at Castle Warden and was so impressed that he added 'Wolfe' to his surname, which was carried down to his grandson.

The Woulfes of County Wexford

  As both Kildare and Wexford lay in the original lordship of Leinster it may be that the Woulfes in both counties shared a common ancestor. In light of the later possession of Ballyvalloo in Wexford by the Kildare Woulfes (see above) it is interesting to note that the first Woulfe on record in Wexford is Robert le Lu, who witnessed a Roche charter regarding Begerin Island around 1182. This is near Ballyvalloo, of which the same Roches were certainly landlords. This Robert must have been one of the first Kildare Woulfes. Apart from the Kildare connection, the earliest Wexford reference comes from around 1226, when Simon and Robert Lupus occur as witnesses to deeds concerning lands in Bantry, that part of Wexford north of the town of New Ross. Another early connection was with Crosspatrick in the very north of the county, where John and Robert Lupus witnessed charters of around 1230. Finshoge in the parish of Old Ross in Bantry is the Ballydermod of 1247, where Luke le Lu held a quarter fee of the lord of Leinster. While this fee had descended to another family by 1284 a branch of this family must have settled in the nearby town of New Ross, where resided Walter le Lou, in 1307. In 1330 Thomas le Lowe purchased the seven ploughlands of Clonshenbo in Rosbercon parish, Co. Kilkenny, from William de Bermingham, for 14 marks of silver. These lands lay near New Ross. Six years later, as Thomas "Wolfe", he sold them to the archbishop of Dublin, the charter being given at New Ross. In 1376 another Thomas Wolf was a juror in New Ross while, in 1394, one John Wolf was accused of interfering with the king's bailiff at nearby Dunbrody. In 1408 Maurice Wolf was the reeve or mayor of New Ross, and is probably the Maurice son and heir of Thomas Wolff who sold a property on Bothestreet in the town in 1416.

Two other significant branches are found in the county. Henry le Lu held half a knight's fee of the lord of Leinster in 1247 in a place which Brooks identifies with Ballyhine in Kilbrideglyn Parish. The second branch are associated with the manor of Ballyregan in Ballymore Parish, near Wexford town, where in 1296 Richard le Lou held one ploughland and John son of Richard le Lou held three. Just one further record of the surname survives, from 1658, and concerns one Nicholas Woulf of New Ross. While it is tempting to suggest he may have been a descendant of the earlier family it is more likely he was a New English settler, as the surname does not appear in the county in modern times.