Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell

Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell (painting by François de Troy )

Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell (Jacobite Duke of Tyrconnell since 1689) (* 1630 , † August 14, 1691 in Limerick ) was a Catholic-Royalist nobleman. He played a leading role in Ireland during the reign of James II before he became the last Catholic in 1687 to become Lord Deputy of Ireland . He held even after the Glorious Revolution of Wilhelm III. loyalty to the old king. The French support for the Irish Jacobites resulted in Ireland becoming a site of the Great Alliance War .

Early years

He came from an old, originally Anglo-Norman Catholic family. He was a son of the lawyer and politician Sir William Talbot. The brother Peter Talbot was Archbishop of Dublin .

Richard Talbot fought in the royalist troops in Ireland during the Confederate War against the English parliamentary army . He was in Drogheda when the place was conquered by Oliver Cromwell in 1647 . He first fled to Spain and later went to Flanders, where his brother introduced him to the Duke of York, later Jacob II . He was involved in overthrowing the Cromwell regime. In 1655 he was arrested in London for this and interrogated by Cromwell himself. He was able to evade further proceedings by fleeing to Flanders.

He entered French service and served under Conde in 1656 . He commanded the Duke of York's regiment, which consisted mostly of Irish from the Munster area . Talbot was prone to duels and quickly became ready for duels.

Charles II's time

At the time of the Stuart Restoration under Charles II , Talbot was a confidante of Jakob Duke of York. He held the office of gentleman of the bedchamber at his court and received an income of £ 300 a year from it. Although he was involved in intrigues against his wife Anne Hyde, he did not fall from grace. He prospered by acting as a commissioner for Irish Catholics to get their confiscated property back. Against this background there was a conflict with James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde in 1661 . Talbot was detained in the Tower, but was allowed to travel to Ireland to apologize to his opponent. He then traveled to Portugal and probably came back in the wake of the Infanta Catherine of Braganza , the future wife of Charles II. He helped the Duke of York with its affairs and had relationships with a number of high-ranking women.

Frances Talbot, Countess of Tyrconnel

In 1665 he went to Ireland. His first marriage was Katherine Baynton in 1669. The marriage resulted in two daughters. After the death of his first wife, he married Frances Jennings, the sister of the future Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough . In Ireland he made himself the advocate of the Catholics, which brought him again into conflict with Ormonde. Again he was briefly detained in the Tower. Talbot took part in the 1672 Sea Battle of Solebay in the war with the Netherlands and was captured in the process.

As a result he probably lived in Ireland. In 1678 he was arrested in connection with the papist conspiracy , but was allowed to go into exile. Shortly before the end of Charles II's reign, he was able to return.

Politics in Ireland

The king charged him with reorganizing the Irish army. After Jakob became king in 1685, he recalled Ormonde from Ireland and handed over his old regiment to Talbot. This now commanded the army in Ireland. He began to change staff in the Catholic sense. In contrast, the Protestant militia under Ormonde was disbanded. A short time later, on June 20, 1685, the king appointed him Earl of Tyrconnell , as well as Viscount Baltinglass and Baron of Talbotstown . Talbot, together with his brother, also planned to reverse the land expropriations from Catholic Irish. In London he managed to undermine the position of the new viceroy for Ireland Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon and to take a position largely independent of this. In 1686 he was made Lieutenant General in the Army in Ireland. As a result, the army became more and more Catholic. The king accepted him into the Privy Council . He was also appointed Viceroy (Lord Deputy of Ireland) in 1687. As such, he pursued a decidedly Catholic policy.

After Wilhelm III in the course of the Glorious Revolution. of Orange had ousted James II from the throne in 1688, Talbot continued to rule Ireland in Jacob's name. From the perspective of the new government, he was an insurgent. In the following time he commanded Jacobite troops against the soldiers of Wilhelm III. James II himself landed in Ireland in March 1689. Talbot joined him in Cork . A short time later, Jakob appointed him Marquess and some time later Duke of Tyrconnell . These titles were only recognized by the Jacobites. James II later charged him with the siege of Protestant Londonderry . The troops of Wilhelm III. went on the offensive in early 1690. Talbot, though ill, took part in the Battle of the Boyne . When Jacob left the battlefield, Talbot led back the defeated army.

After Jacob left Ireland again after the lost battle of the Boyne, Talbot stayed behind as his agent. When Wilhelm III. began to besiege Limerick, Talbot traveled to France to seek support. In Ireland itself he had lost support. When he returned in January 1691, his influence was little. He also made himself unpopular by advocating negotiations in his own camp.

Web links

• Entry on britannica.com

literature

• Richard Bagwell: Talbot, Richard (1630-1691) . In: Dictionary of National Biography Vol. 55. London, 1898 version on en-Wikisource