The Woodlock family came to Ireland in the reign of Henry II. Ireland was in turmoil following the invasion by Strongbow and other Norman-Welsh barons, and the Irish princes appealed to the English king for protection. Henry landed in Ireland in AD 1172. He appointed a Justiciar to keep the peace, gave Dublin a royal charter and returned to England.

The charter gave Dublin the same rights and privileges as cities like Bristol and this attracted merchants and tradesmen from all over Europe. The names of more than a thousand new citizens were recorded in a parchment scroll, known as the Dublin Roll, which was compiled between 1172 and the end of the century. It is the earliest known document of Norman Ireland. Included in the roll are the names of the first two Woodlocks in Ireland: Torsten and Reginaldus. The name Woodlock was written in the Irish form of 'utlag' without an initial capital letter. The name Torsten utlag appears first and Reginaldus utlag was believed to be his son.

The Woodlock families of England were landed gentry in Hampshire and Wiltshire, and Torsten was probably the same person as Turstin son of Wudulach (Wudelach) of Wiltshire who was holding land in that county according to the Pipe Roll of 1180.

Later by circa 1240, Woodlocks settled in counties Tipperary and Waterford and it's from these families that all present day Woodlocks are descended.

John de Wodeloc of Cruagh

It is believed that there must have been two sons who were founders respectively of the Dublin and Tipperary branches of the family. The former appears to be John of Cruagh. Cruagh was a parish in the south of county Dublin, and according to its manorial records, the lands there were held in 1247 by the Canons of All Saints Priory and " a house near the church was held by one John de Wodeloc". If this John was then of middle age, and was born about 1200, he was quite probably a son of Reginaldus and a father of John of Fynglas.

David Woddelake of Knockgraffon, Cahir, County Tipperary

David who founded the Tipperary branch was also born around the turn of the century and could therefore have been a second son of Reginaldus. Norman magnates like the Earl of Worcester were offering strong inducements to English families from Dublin to settle their new estates in the south.

The Free Citizens of Dublin

Another ancient document lists some 500 men who were enrolled as freemen of the city of Dublin between 1225 and 1250. They include John Woodlock. In the list his name has the latinised form of Johannes Wdeloch, but in Archbishop Alen's Register it is translated as John Wodlocke, and in the Gormanston Register (1250) it is written as Wuduleac, a form very similar to Wudulach in the Wiltshire Pipe Roll. It was this John who acquired the family estates at Fynglas in the period 1255-65 and this puts his date of birth at about 1220 and suggests that he was a grandson of Reginaldus and a son of John de Wodeloc of Cruagh. The list also includes the name Johannes Wudelawe who may have been a son of Torsten. Wudelawe would appear to be an alternative spelling of Utlag because it is found in Kilkenny (1250-1350) in the forms Utlaghe and Utlawe.

Woodlocks of Dublin

John of Fynglas

By 1250 John Wodlocke was well established as a freeman of Dublin and proceeded to acquire interests in land at Keppok (Cappagh) in Fynglas. He was held by Richard the wardship of lands which were previously held by Richard de Camera, and then the tenancies the Provost and Amisia de Fynglas. The entry in Archbishop Alen's Calendar for 1256-66 reads : " J Wodlocke now holds all this land". Fynglas lies four miles northeast of Dublin City centre and Cappagh is the site of the present St. Marys Hospital. These lands remained in the Woodlock family for some 200 years.John of Fynglas was the progenitor of the main Dublin line of Woodlocks and it would seem that he had a brother who founded the Kildare branch. His son and heir was John Wodeloc who became the Sheriff of county Dublin in 1292. Contemporary with John the Sheriff were Phillip, Richard and Walran. The first two may have younger sons of John of Fynglas (though it is possible that Phillip came direct from England) but Walran, who lived in Kildare, was more likely a nephew.

John the Sheriff of Dublin

John Wodeloc, eldest son of John of Fynglas, was a man of substance before 1290. In 1287 he was standing pledge for Nicholas Comyn, and in 1291 he was acting in a case concerning Malahide Manor. In 1292 John was appointed Sheriff, and, in the following year, Constable and Keeper of Dublin Castle. For the latter office he was paid at the rate of 12 pence a day.The Sheriff's duties were to collect taxes and enforce the law. He was responsible for raising the King's revenue and had to account to the Exchequer for the moneys collected and for money spent locally on maintaining the King's castles and assembling the armed forces raised for the King. When the Justiciar of other royal judges were in session he was responsible for bringing before them all pleas and persons who should be present. He was responsible for the custody of prisoners, the collection of fines and damages ordered by the courts, and for the exercise of royal writs of all kinds.It was a tough and dangerous job but, in those days, there was great scope for personal profit (legitimate or otherwise) and the post was much sought after. John's day-to-day business is recorded in detail in the Treasury Accounts and also in the pleas Rolls of 1295-1307 when John Wogan was Chief Justiciar of Ireland.As Sheriff John had to take action on at least two occasions against a namesake who must have been his own son, John. In 1299 he was directed by the court to "levy from the goods of Robert Cryketot, John Wodelok and Reginald de la Felde" money, which they owed to some Florentine bankers. In the event John omitted to carry out the courts order.That was not the only occasion on which John appears to have spared his relatives. In 1297 James and Walter Wodeloc were among several men sued for trespass by Henry de Pencoyt. The record reads: "And as to Walter Wodeloc and James Wodeloc the sheriff returned that they are not to be found, and have not anything by which they may be attached".John's most celebrated case concerned the liability of the Knights Templar to pay taxes for the support of knights and horses for the King. The master of the Order refused to pay and, on the instructions of the court, John seized from the Order 16 cows, 6 steers and 279 sheep and sold them to produce the revenue that was due. The master appealed, and on 1 July 1302, in the Pleas of Plaints at Dublin before John Wogan, he produced charters of the Kings of England, which did in fact exempt the Order from tax. When it came to restoring the confiscated animals it transpired that John's men had undervalued them (thereby making a profit for themselves) and, moreover, the beasts had deteriorated from bad feeding in the meantime. John and his agents had to make good the deficit out of their own pockets.

Later that year John was succeeded in the post of Sheriff by David le Mazarin. This may or may not have been precipitated by the Templars affair, by nine years later John would have had the satisfaction of seeing the Order disbanded on the instructions of the Pope - a task that was given to the Englishman Henry Woodlock, Bishop of Winchester.Ten years was a long time for anyone to hold the position of sheriff. The opportunities for corruption and abuse of power were great, and for this reason it was eventually decided that all sheriff posts should be annual appointments.In 1306 a neighbour, Will Strangbowe, retained John Woodlock "to prosecute and receive his goods which were in a ship wrecked near Molaghyde (Malahide)". This might have been John the Sheriff, but it seems more likely that by this date it would have been his son. The case proved a considerable embarrassment to John for the following record appears in the Judiciary Rolls for that year:"Dublin, November 10.A ship called 'The Nicohlas' of Down in Ulster, laden with wine and other merchandise, was wrecked off Portmarnock near Mologhyde. John le Long of Mologhyde was charged with stealing part of the cargo and ordered to make restitution.Some men of John Wodelok of the parts of Mologhyde, including one Ph. Colgyn, are charged with divers robberies of goods cast up by the sea in the parts of Portmarnock, after said shipwreck, and other trespasses against the peace. They come and give to the King 20s to be mainprise (bail) until the Monday after the day of S. Martin, by pledge of said John Wodelok.John Wodelok, with Ric. Talebot and Adam le Houthe are required to be the mainpernors of the men charged with plundering the wreck.Afterwards at that day, Ralph Douok, Ph. Le Mileward and the other men of John Wodelok, of the parts of Mologhyde, by grace, are admitted to make fine with the King, for pardon of suit of peace, by 40 marks by pledge of (there follows the names of 12 persons)."John's estate at Fynglas was well guarded. The records for 1313 read :"Dublin, July 8th.John Upton, charged that he broke the grange of John Wodelok, at night at keppock and therefrom stole half a crannock of wheat and half a crannock of oats worth 4s. Comes and defends. Found guilty. Hanged."

Richard of Dublin

Richard appears to have been one of the sheriffs’ officers or sergeants. The Treasury accounts record that in 1295 and 1296 he was accounting to the Ex-chequer for the rents of Chapelizod, a place that is now a suburb of Dublin.

County Louth

Philip of Drogheda

Philip Wodeloc and Hugh Morys were appointed collectors of the "new custom in the will of Drogheda on each side of the river" in 1280. In the first year they collected £145.19. Their work is recorded meticulously in Treasury accounts from 1280 to 1302. According to the Gormanston Register Philip held land at Molymartel in County Louth. He was succeeded as collector in 1296 by his son, Philip Wodeloc Junior. Philip Senior died in 1302 and his executor was Master John del Nynch.

County Kildare

Walran

Walran Wodeloc (also written as Waleran and Walramus) was a comptemporary of John the Sheriff and was probably his cousin. We first hear of him in county Kildare at Tristled ermot (Castledermot) when he was witness to a transfer of property at Comyneston (Commonstown) in1295. Between 1295 and 1308 his name appears many times as juror, executor, pledge for other persons, and member of commissions of inquiry or property assessment. He is included in a "Roll of Attorney and Bail before John Wogan in 1302". In 1297, for example, he was member of a panel assessing the extent of the lands of William de Vescy, and in 1298 he stood pledge for a case in which David Saumpson was outlawed for having "carried off Alice who was the wife of David le Masecren with his goods to the value of 10d in time of disturbence".

Disturbance was rife in this age, especially in the marches (borders) of the Pale. In 1297 Nigel le Brun, Seneschal of Kildare, "went against the Irish of Irch and led with him" a party including "Walran Wodelok and his son... and as they returned many of the Irish, with a great party of the English, attacked them, and slew certain of the English in the Seneschal's company; and when they came outside the town of Leys, said Robert (Braynock) saw Will. Balaunce, an Englishman, and running his horse towards him, struck him with a lance through the middle, so that he died."There was an official inquiry into the incident and Robert Braynock was pardoned "for the great service done in defending the marches".Robbery and violence were endemic. In the same year 1297 "Gille Casse and Gilleboy, with their following, robbed a cart of the Earl of Ulster coming to Tristledermot with victuals; and robbed Thomas de Mane of his horse, value 20s and slew his serving man, an Englishman, and robbed a son of Walran Wodelok of his horse, value one mark, and took it to Dermot Odymesy; and Dermot is their master and has art and part of their robberies. Fled. Outlawed".

The Sons of Walran

Walran had three son: Hugh, James and Walter and, it would appear, a fourth, John. His lands were situated in the south of Co. Kildare, in the Barony of Kilkes near Castledermot at Brynyston and le Boulton which was also known as Bulton. Bulton is probably the present Burtown, 7 miles north of Castledermot. In 1311 Walter was holding land at Brynyston, James at Kilegan, and John and Walter at Bulton.

Hugh

Hugh was the unruly one. At Kildare in 1305 he was summoned by Nicholas de Renty to shew "wherefore he carried off Isolde, daughter of John Lenfaunt, wife of said Nicholas, at the Boly near Kilros, with goods of said Nicholas. And he came not. And the Sheriff was commanded to attach him. And the Sheriff returned that Hugh could not find pledges, and that he has not whereby he may be distrained. Therefore he (the Sheriff) is commanded to take him and have him to answer (in court)". The case came up in 1306. For some reason Nicholas de Renty dropped his prosecution but Hugh had to answer several other charges.He was in trouble again in 1314. This was the time when Edward II was at war with Scotland, and, outside the church at Mone in Kildare, Hugh was heard to express open criticism of the King. His brothers James and Walter had to stand pledge for the fines imposed upon him.

James

James, Walter and John were steadier characters. By 1306 James was a man of substance and apparently had some official standing as he was given temporary custody of lands in Huberdeston. In 1308 the court transferred to him some property which had been held by his father, Walran, as executor for Thomas de Heywode.

Walter

In 1310 Walter was on a jury which convicted Dermot Oseghe of theft and participation in the sacking and burning of Comyneston, Balymor, Russeltown and Carnelwey. Oseghe was hanged. In 1314 Walter was on a jury which convicted Richard de Lyret of theft and assault. He had stolen "woolen cloth, iron, horseshoes and linen at Moygaveney. He took prisioner William the baker, an Englishman, bound him, and broke his arms and teeth there and stole 4 pigs and a wether at Jordanystoun".

Bynde Wodeloc The Soldier

Living at this time in the northern part of Co. Kildare, in the Barony of Clare, was Bynde (or Bindus) Wodeloc, a soldier and landowner. From his connection with Kildare we think his father must have been a brother of Walran. Bynde served with Nigel le Brun in the army of Edward I in Scotland. On their return he brought an action against Nigel and this is recorded in the Judiciary Rolls:

Yet of Pleas of Plaints, Dublin, 1305

Bynde complains that Nigel le Brun detains from him 100s for a horse which Bynde lost in the last war in Scotland, in the service of the King, and also £15.10s.8d which Nigel received in the Exchequer at Dublin, as well, for wages of sergeant footmen of Bynde and for said horse. And Nigel saysas to the 100s that at the request of Bindus, the said horse was accounted for with other horses lost and Nigel will pay him when he receives the money from the King. The footmen were his men, not those of Bindus. Bindus said the sergeants left Nigel in Scotland because they got no pay; and came to him by licence of Ric de Burgo, Earl of Ulster and he had to pay them. Nigel claims that the men were in the service of the Mareschal and were not the liability of Bindus."

There is no record of the outcome of this case, but Bynde may have suffered some financial reverse, for in 1306 he conveyed to John of Offaly lands which he held at Taghmego which is probably the present Timahoe 17 miles west of Maynooth.

The Bruce Invasion of Ireland 1314 - 18

In 1314 disaster struck Ireland. Edward II was defeated at Bannockburn in Scotland by Robert Bruce, and in 1315 Robert's brother, Edward Bruce, landed at Larne in Ireland and was joined by some of the Irish Chiefs. He burned Dundalk and marched south, but was turned back at Kildare Castle. He returned to Dundalk and crowned himself King of Ireland.In 1317 Bruce marched south again past Dublin into Kilkenny and Tipperary, burning and plundering. To make matter worse, these were years of famine throughout Ireland and the whole of Europe. In 1318 Bruce struck again but was defeated and killed at Dundalk. Financial crisis followed. The Kings demesne lands in Co. Dublin had been "robbed, burned and destroyed by Scots and Irish rebels and enemies". The royal government was reduced to a few hundred square miles around Dublin.The Woodlocks of Dublin and Kildare survived the Bruce invasion. We do not have fully documented pedigrees but we can deduce the lines of descent in the two branches of the family from the dates when individuals appear in the records, from their occupations, and from where they held land.

The Woodlocks of Kildare 1318-1500

Bynde Wodeloc, and experienced soldier, no doubt took an active part in resisting the Bruce invasion. We hear of him again in 1334 when he was in Italy visiting, or perhaps living in, Florence. In a parchment deed of that date, which can be seen at the National library in Dublin, is a long inventory of goods and valuables which Bynde shipped back to Ireland. It includes gold and silver, tapestries, furnishings, medical and religious books, romances, armour, saddlery and a large quantity of jousting equipment.James Wodelok, son of Walran, had a son Richard. This is confirmed by the Rolls of Ireland, 1359, which refer to Richard, son of James Wodlok of Bulton; and in 1393 the Rolls tell us that Richard's son Robert was appointed to legal and administrative post in Kildare. Robert had a son, also named Robert, who is described in the Rolls of 1423 as Robert Woddeloke of Bryneston, suggesting that the lands in Bryneston which Walter held in 1311 were now held by the great-grandson of his brother James of Bulton.We do not know how long the Woodlocks remained in possession of the Bulton lands but think it may have been up to about 1500.

The Woodlocks of Dublin 1318 - 1500

John son of the Sheriff

John Wodeloc, son of John the Sheriff, was described in 1299 as being "in the service of the King" and he is mentioned several times thereafter as juror, commissioner and advisor, e.g. on fishing rights on the River Liffey. In 1322 he was standing pledge for Richard Dunkes and delivering him from prison. He apparently died before 1326 for in that year there was an official survey of the manor of Fynglas, and this stated that the property of 120 acres then held by Thomas Woodlock.

Thomas the Bailiff

Described officially in 1347 as "Thomas, son of John Wodelok", He lived about 1305 - 1362 he also was an official in the King's service, collecting the revenues and duly receiving his salary and out-of-pocket expenses. The Irish Exchequer records of 1343 include a detailed statement of his account, and refer to him as "late sheriff of county of Dublin". In 1354 Thomas became a Bailiff and held that position until 1362. He was succeeded on 2 July of that year by William Herdman and we might surmise that he died in office.

Laurence

Thomas was succeeded at Fynglas by his son John according to an entry in Archbishop Alen's Register of about 1362. Thomas also had a son Laurence and it appears that Laurence succeeded his older brother at Fynglas. In 1371 Laurence was serving on a commission to advise the King on certain commercial issues, and in 1373 he was summoned to represent the county of Dublin in the Great Council (parliament) of Ireland. Our last reference to Laurence is in 1389 and it uses the old Irish form of the name, describing him as "Laurence, son of Thomas de Utlag".

Sir John

Laurence's son John was knighted; we do not know the circumstances of this but read that in 1421 Sir John Wodloke was appointed an assessor of taxes and was elected to represent Dublin in the parliament. This parliament had difficult and contentious issues to deal with. The government had lost control of much of the country and was in debt; revenues were hard to collect and a bitter feud raged between the Ormonds and the Talbots. As a son of Laurence, Sir John would at this time have been in his fifties, and it would be his son who, in 1442, was involved in the unseemly quarrel between Ormaond, Lieutenant of Ireland, and Richard Talbot, Archbishop of Dublin, when the latter was appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Talbot refused to show his patent as Chancellor, and Ormond refused to hand over the Great Seal until he did so. We read in the proceedings of the parliament that John Wodlock, "narrator and one of the Chancellor's officials", went with Robert Cusake to request the delivery of the seal to Talbot. The matter was only resolved by the King appointing a new Chancellor.

John and Elen

By this time the Woodlocks seem to be acting more as politicians than as Treasury officials, and in the next generation we read of John Wodlock Esq. Being appointed in 1451, with other leading citizens, with responsibility for stopping and fortifying the fords between Lucan and Dublin, and between Dublin and Clontarf, to protect the city from incursions by "Irish enemies and English rebels." At that time, in the reign of Henry VI, the Pale was severely threatened all round, and, late in 1451, John was one of three citizens made responsible for oversight of the work of raising towers on the bridge of Kilmainham for the defence of the the city.In 1457 John made an advantageous marriage with a wealthy widow, Elen, whose husban, Henry Chamber, had left her the Manor of Hilton. This raised John's status yet further, and in 1466 parliament decreed that "as to establishment of company of men and arms the Archbishop, the Lord of Howth ..John Wodlocke and James Blakeney to have power and authority for the said county of Dublin"John and Elen had a daughter, Rose Wodlocke, born about 1460, but appear to have had no surviving sons, for it was Rose who inherited their property. They evidently lived in the city, owning land in St Nicholas Street bounded by Christ Church Place, Werburgh Street and Bride Road. The last we hear of them is in 1474 when John was referred to in the accounts of Hugh Gallaine as John Wodeloke of Cappage, and when they jointly gave surety for John Scurlege. Scurlege was apparently one of their servants and had been charged with assaulting a servant of Barnaby Barnewall and stealing his horse, sword and money.

Rose

Rose married into the Dillon family in about 1485 and her son, Peter Dillon, inherited the Woodlock lands at Keppocke and in St Nicholas St. In 1551 her grandson was granted livery and was described as "Bartholomew Dillon of Keppocke Esq., son and heir of Rose Wodlocke".

The Last Woodlocks of Medieval Dublin

It appears that Rose had an uncle who was referred to in the Diocesan Register as James Wodelok of Cappog, and some cousins who had no claim to her father's property. Contemporary documents mention three men who were probably her cousins: the Dublin Franchise Roll records the admission of Philip Woddeloke, yeoman, in January, 1477, and Thomas Woddloke, clerk, in 1478, while in 1479 the Statutory Rolls of Parliament mention James Wodeloke, gentleman, who was required to attend court to substantiate a claim to a property in High Street, Dublin. The latter might have been James of Cappog himself but we are inclined to think it was his son.Philip, Thomas and James are not mentioned again in Dublin records and we believe they went to Waterford. Some humbler branch of the family may have carried on in Dublin. In 1550, Walter Wullock of Kildare was in trouble over the theft of cows, and it is possible that he was a descendant of Walran and that the family had declined in the social scale and the name had been corrupted. Later, in 1571, a weaver named Bartholomew Wodlock was admitted to the franchise. We have no means of knowing whether he belonged to Dublin or had come from Tipperary or Waterford.The name does not appear in the Dublin Hearth Money Rolls of 1665 - 7 and it would seem that any who survived in Dublin did so under a corrupted form of the name. The name Woodlock does not appear again in Dublin until the middle of the 18th century.There is a very strong possibility that Philip and James had business interests in Waterford as well as Dublin, and that it was Philip who sailed to Portugal in 1472 and he, or James, who founded the great Waterford merchant families.

Woodlock families of Tipperary

The first Settlers

Two Woodlock Families are known to have been established in the south between 1270 and 1290. David Woddelake (using English form of the name) was holding land at Knockgraffon in county Tipperary, and Hugh de Utlagh (using Irish form) was a citizen of New Ross on the borders of counties Kilkenny and Wexford.

Knockgraffon

The Mote

Knockgraffon Mote was a fortress built by Philip of Worcester about 1190 when the Normans first advanced into Munster, and the purpose was to protect the lands, which Philip had acquired in Tipperary. The surrounding area was called the Barony of Knockgraffon and, much later, this became the Barony of Middlethird. The mote was strategically placed, some 3 miles north-west of Cahir, and it still stands today looking across the River Suir to the Galtee Mountains. Atop the huge earthen mound once stood a castle.

David Woddelake

Like other Norman barons Philip of Worcester sought tenants of French and English stock, and offered better conditions of tenure than usually obtained in the feudal systems of France and England. A system was developed called the burgage, a community in which the tenants held their land from the earl at low fixed rents and governed themselves in their own court.

A surviving record of 1274 tells us that David Woddelake was then a tenant of the burgage of Knockgraffon. He was evidently there a long time before 1274 because in 1297 the several lawsuits concerning Woodlock lands were in the name of his grandson, Robert, son of Robert Wodelok. We surmise that David was a son of Reginaldus utlag of Dublin, that he lived about 1197 - 1277 and that he came from Dublin to take up a grant of lands from Philip of Worcester.

The Estates of Robert and Alice

Robert (I)

David's son Robert became a landlord on a much grander scale. He was granted lands in Kilkenny as well as Tipperary by Ralph of Worcester, and his wife, Alice, had herself been heiress to large estates. Judging by later deeds and lawsuits their properties included land at Hayestoun (probably Hymenstown in Knockgraffon parish); Kilmoyler (across the river); Beayveriston in Asmaybeg; and Dunkild and Coulemok (Balitarsyn) in Kilkenny, lying on the north bank of the Suir between Carrick and Waterford. Robert and Alice had two sons, Robert and Richard; and in 1297 Robert (II) was holding the bulk of the estates while Richard had a portion at Coulemok.

Robert (II)

In 1297 a case was heard at Knockgraffon in which Robert Wodelok was one of several men standing pledge for the defendant, Geoffrey de Chaumberlein. Another case was for recovery of debt and this directly concerned the Woodlocks. They, like other Tipperary landlords, had borrowed money from Florentine bankers, the moneylenders of Europe. On 5 May "the Sheriff was directed" by the court in Dublin "to levy £10 of Rob. Wodelok for Theobald de Castellyon and his fellows, merchants of Florence, of a debt of £120 whch Robert, in court at Cassell, in 15 days from Easter (a.r. xviv) acknowledged that he owed. The sheriff returns that all goods of Robert are taken into the Kings hand for his debt, except 30 acres of Wheat and oats, value each 40d… And because the day of payment of another instalment was (due) at Easter, he is to levy £20".

Robert also had to acknowledge a debt of 10s to Will de Berdefeud. In the same year, at the Tipperary assizes, he successfully sued Raymund de Burgo and others for trying to dispossess him of lands at Hayestoun. This case provides evidence that his mother owned extensive property for it was recorded that "Raymund holds 80 acres by lease from Alice, mother of said Robert, rendering 40s yearly to her, which she held as dower".The case of debt to the bankers came up again in July 1297 when the court ordered seizure of goods from Robert's guarantors. However, sheriffs were somewhat lax when it came to forcing their countrymen to pay debts to foreign creditors and on this occasion - and again later - "the Sheriff did nothing". The bankers were still trying to get their money back eight years later.

Robert's feud with the Sheriff

Robert soon had more serious troubles on his hands. Thomas de St.John, Sheriff of Tipperary, tried to dispossess him of certain property, but Robert took legal action. In the Court of Common Pleas at Dublin on 17 May 1299 he accused the Sheriff of breaking the peace and robbing him. Unfortunately, the case was deferred, and Thomas (now no longer sheriff) took advantage of this to sue Robert for false accusation, and three county officials for wrongful arrest. On 25 June 1300 the case was heard in Cashel and the court found in favour of Thomas. The four were committed to prison and Robert was ordered to pay 200 marks damages.Robert neither went to prison nor paid the damages, for two years later, in June 1302, the court, sitting at Ross, were still trying to get the new Sheriff to recover the 200 marks from him. While the court was sitting in Ross, Robert was in England putting his case before King Edward I. On 27 July he was on his way back to Ireland with royal letters guaranteeing his safe passage. And on 20 October John Wogan, Chief Justiciar of Ireland, received from the King a writ directing that Thomas de St.John be arrested and taken to England to stand trial.

Robert's other litigation

Robert had no more trouble with the former sheriff, but the Florentine bankers were still pressing and there was other litigation. In 1305 he and eight others were sued by Brother Ric. De Kexeby "where fore they, in the King's street (highway) near Carryktobir, assaulted him to his damage of £200". This time Robert had to forfeit 5 acres of Wheat. He seems to have spent a good deal of time in the courts as plaintiff, defendant, or, as a juror as on the occasion when he served on an inquisition regarding the property of Ric de Gayton who had bequeathed land at Cassell, Kylsegan and Kyllyneran "to a son begot in concubinage".At Tipperary, on 22 January 1309, he brought a case against Baldewyn le Flemyng and Geoffrey Haket, which throws light on the history of the family at that time. He accused them of trying to dispossess him of a freehold at Beayveriston in Asmaybeg worth 40s of rent. His case was that the property belonged to Philip of Worcester and that Ralph, son of William of Worcester "enfeoffed one Robert Wodelok and Alicia his wife, father of this Robert Wodelok who now complains, of the said rent, to wit, to Robert and Alicia and the heirs begotten between them". As so often, the record of the outcome of the case is missing, but we may presume that Robert prevailed.A survey in 1315 of the "rents and services of the free tenants" in the Barony of Querke (Iverk) in Kilkenny shows that Robert Wodelok held land at Douncole (Dunkield) of which Roger Fitzmiles, Baron of Querke, was tenant-in-chief. In 1317 there is a reference to Robert's wife in the Close Rolls, which briefly mention "Rob. Wodlok and Beatrix his wife". They evidently had three sons for after this date the affairs of the estates were in the hands of Robert Wodelok and Nargerye his wife, and Stephen and Adam Wodelok.

Other Woodlocks in the Southern Counties

Although this chapter is about the Woodlocks of Tipperary we must briefly mention records of Woodlocks in adjoining counties at this time. A deed of 1290 mentions Hugh de Utlagh holding property in New Ross, in the "Street behind Market Street", and in 1305 William Utlawe is mentioned as soverign (Mayor) of the city of Kilkenny. William was a man of standing in the county; he was liable for knight service and in 1326 summoned to go with Edward II to the war in Aquitaine.Robert Outlaw, Prior of the Knights Hospitallers, may well have been a member of this family even though the Outlaw has usually been thought to be a nickname for a lawless person.

John Wedlock (a common variation of the name) is recorded as Lord Mayor of Cork in 1336. Such a position implies a long residence in the city and a mercantile background. He may have come from Bristol where a John Wodelok was living in 1316.Neither John Wedlock in Cork nor William Utlawe in Kilkenny appear to have had sons to succeed them in those cities.

The Estates of Robert and Margerye

Robert (III)

Tipperary was spared the depredations of the Bruce invasion of 1314-18 but the period 1325 - 1350 was one of war and tumult as a result of the challenge to royal authority presented by Maurice FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Desmond. At first he had the support of the powerful de Birmingham family, and, whether from necessity or compulsion, we find the Woodlocks conveying lands to the de Bermingham on several occasions between 1328 and 1345. In 1328 a deed was drawn up at Knockgraffon by which Robert conveyed to Walter, Son of Sir Walter de Bermingham, 3 carucates of land (420 acres) at Kilmoyler and 1 carucate (120 acres) at Coulemoc.In 1332 a jury was empanelled to consider charges against Desmond, and one of the jurors way Stephen Wodelok. The jury found Desmond guilty of conspiracy to establish an independent kingdom of Ireland for himself with William de Bermingham as a provincial King of Leinster. Desmond was spared out of political expediency but William de Bermingham was executed and his son Walter was imprisoned. However, in 1325 Edward II was preparing for an expedition to deal with a rising in Scotland and accepted offers of support from Desmond and Walter. The latter re-established himself with the King so successfully that in 1346 he was appointed Justiciar of Ireland.The de Berminghams continued to enlarge their estates despite the ups and downs of their political fortunes. In 1339 Robert and Stephen Wodelok were witnesses to a conveyance of land to "Sir Walter de Bermingham. In the manor of Balitarsyn"; in 1340 Stephen and Adam Wodelok witnessed a conveyance from Thomas Mauclerk to Sir Walter in Dungildergan; in 1342, at Balitarsyn, "Robert, son of Robert Wodelok… conveyed a carcuate of land, with the appurtenances in the tenement of Coulemok in Muskerye Oqurk"; and in 1343 Richard Wadlok conveyed another carucate in Coulemok.Robert's wife Margerye brought lands into the family. It may have been her second marriage, for a deed in the British Library dated 1303 refers to "Margerye Wodeloc who was (formerly) the wife of Madoc Cornubiensis of the city of Cork". In 1349 Robert and Margerye, in their old age appointed attorneys "for receiving full seisin of all lands, tenements and rents in counties Waterford and Tipperary both by reason of inheritance and dower of the said Margerye".

Robert (IV)

If, as it would appear, Robert and Margerye died about 1349 or 1350, it would be their son Robert (IV) who served on the jury empanelled by the King in 1351 to hear the case of the Earl of Kildare's marriage. Robert was mentioned in the Rolls of Ireland in 1356, and in 1359 his name appears in a case at Clonmel involving Thomas Etherard who was accused of having slain "Thomas Haket, an Englishman, and stealing from Robert Wodelok a horse worth 5 marks". Judging by the tradition of naming the eldest son "Robert" we might readily suppose that Robert (IV) did likewise but that his eldest died, leaving him with two other sons, Thomas and William. All we know about these two is that Thomas was fined for failing to attend court at Clonmel in 1358 and William served on an inquisition at Kells before the Escheator of Ireland in 1365.

Robert (V)

In the second half of the 15th century the family estates were in the hands of a Robert Woodlock. We do not know if he was the son of Thomas or William but we have little doubt that he was the grandson of Robert (IV) and was a minor when his grandfather died. From official documents of 1420 (see below) we deduce that Robert had a brother David, and that both had sons who were called Robert; and that Robert had a cousin Thomas whose son was also called Thomas.The Estates of Loughkent

Robert VI of Loughkent

After 1400 the records link the Woodlock family specifically with the manor of Loughkent which is close to New Inn 5 miles north or Cahir on the road to Cashel. Robert (V) was holding Loughkent until about 1415 when he was succeeded by his son Robert (VI). His brother David held an adjoining property.In 1404 the records tell us that David was ordered by the court to pay a levy of 20d, and that Thomas Wodelok, presumably the son of Thomas, served on a jury at Clonmel in a case of murder and robbery at Wydeston (wodineston) and Tullaghmeane (Tullamain near Rosegreen).Our Knowledge of Robert (VI) and of Robert the son of David comes from a record of 1420 concerning official appointments by the government. Robert, son of Robert Wodelok was appointed as an assessor of taxes, and Robert, son of David Wodelok was appointed as a collector.In 1429 and 1433 relates to a case which was heard at Knockgraffon over the refusal of the burgesses to pay rents to the Baron, Thomas Botiller. The list of jurors tells us that Robert Wodlock lived at Lokeanth (Loughkent), David Wodlok lived at Garyntobir (Garranlea, 3 miles north-west of Loughkent) and John Wodelok was lord of Chamerleystown.The record of 1433 was in a parchment, some 4 feet long, in which the Sheriff of the Liberty of Tipperary was instructed to summon: "archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, counts, barons, knights and all freeholders of the said Liberty from each town four lawful men and the reeve, and from each borough twelve burgesses throughout all you bailiwick" to assemble as required. The list of freeholders of Moien (roughly the Barony of Knockgraffon) included Robert son of Robert Wodlok, Robert son of David Wodlok, and John son of Nicholas Wodlok.

Walter (I) of Loughkent

This was the period of the struggle between the Dukes of York and Lancaster in England (the war of the Roses) while Ireland was torn apart by the feud between the Earl of Ormond and Richard Talbot. The feud lasted some 30 years with constant civil warfare and general impoverishment.Records were scanty. There is no reference to any sons of Robert (VI) and we believe that on his death his estates passed to his brother Nicholas, or direct to his nephew, John of Chamerleystown. It appears that John had a son Walter born about 1430 who took over Loughkent about 1470We hear about Walter in 1475 when he was appointed Seneschal of the Barony of Knockgraffon and was responsible for transferring to John Cantwell, Archbishop of Cashel, the lands at Glengoyle bequeathed by his father, Thomas Cantwell.In 1482 Walter was a principal witness against the Earl of Ormond himself. It had been alleged that the Earl had forced on Walter de Burgo to assign properties to his bastard son Richard (perhaps involved with an Ormond girl). Walter "says he saw said Walter de Burgo led by. the reeve at the command of the Earl to Clonmel… and heard that it was so that he should make charters to his son Richard, and that he was so taken and persecuted by the Earl. He also states that he heard that Walter was taken and led at the Earl's instance to kyllenayll (Killenaule) and there by great threats was compelled to make charters for his son Richard".William Wodloke, who, we believe, was Walters brother, was mentioned in a deed engrossed at Kells in 1484. The deed concerned 4 acres of arable land " in the parish of Klyry which extends from the road which leads from Kylrys to Shortalstown as far as 'le rath' which is in 'legrow', and one acre in Martynrath near William Wodloke's acre…" Martynrath is presumably Rathmadon 2 miles north of Loughkent.

Robert (VIII) of Loughkent

In 1500 the lord of Loughkent was Robert Wodlok who, we may assume, inheited the property from Walter. Described as Robertus Wodlok dominus de Lokkenthe, he was on a jury which considered a case between Thomas FitzRichard Bulter, Baron of Knockgraffon, and Maurice son of David Fitzgerald of Geraldstown with regard to :”a hawk found by the said Maurice in his lordship of Geraldstown. The baron claimed this hawk as an escheat or stray, but Maurice said that the escheats or strays of Geraldstown were not due to the baron…”The Jurys’s verdict was that all strays should be divided between landlord and tenant.

Walter (II) of Loughkent

We learn from an official document of 1549 that Robert (VII) was succeeded at Loughkent by Walter who was named, no doubt, after his grandfather, Walter (I). This document contained a list of men liable for service on juries and commissions in county Tipperary. It described Walter as Walter Wodloke of Loghkain and made him liable for service in any part of the county. Thus we find him serving on a jury at Clonmel in 1553.Another juror in 1553 was John Wodloke; he was on an inquisition at Clonmel and we assume that he was Walters brother.The records also mention Nicholas and Richard Wodloke and they show that the Woodlock family, which had been confirmed to the Knockgraffon area, had now begun to spread a little further afield and to engage in trade on a small scale.We know that Nicholas Wodloke lived in Fethard because a record of trials between 1547 and 1553 tells us that Nicholas fitzWilliam Butler, late of Carricke, footman, robbed Nicholas Wodloke of Fethard of two horses, 8 measures of salt worth 13s4d, a shirt worth 20d, a knife worth 6d and 16d in money. The quantity of salt sugars suggests that Nicholas was a merchant.Richard appeared, like Walter, in the jury list of 1549, but, in his case, liability for service extended to Clonmel and Cashel on the grounds that he was a merchant trading in both towns. Neither Richard nor Nicholas appear to be closely associated with the Woodlocks of Loughkent; we know that Richard was born in Clonmel and we think that he and Nicholas might be grandsons of William, the younger son of John of Chamerleystown. We have a vivid account of the hazards of being a merchant in these times.

Highway Extortion

Richard was the author of a petition addressed to the High Commissioners of Henry VIII in October 1537. It was complaint of extortion by the baron's officers who arrested Richard and his companion and had them tried by a rigged jury in Clonmel. With the help of family and friends they secured a retrial and were exonerated. The petition was written in English with all the peculiar spellings and style of the period. The following extracts give the story."Grevously complayning sheweth unto your honorable wisdomes the King's trewe subjects your trewe orators James Braye and Ric Wodlok, merchaunts and borne in the towne of Clonmel where as they with other young men halfe myle oute of the towne of Clonmel, one John Duff sergeaunt to Edmund Butler ... met them."

Richard was travelling with Walter Flemying, a merchant of Cahel; that town was outside the jurisdication of Butler and so Walter resisted arrest and went on his way to Cashel " with a pype of wyne in a cart ".

"...the forsaid sergeant retorned into the town of Clonmel and complayned to the suffrayn (mayor) that the said complaynaunts had forfeit the forsaid merchaundises and goods. The Soveraign(mayor) believing this open false sergeant compelled your forsaid complaynauts to abide the judgement of four men chosen by the forsaid Edmund Butler... The forsaid Judges without deliberation awarded that your fornamed shold paie unto the forsaid Edmond Butler ten pounds and to themselfs three pounds and to the forsaid sergeaunt for his fee twenty shillings and then sent your complaynants to Edmond Butlers place where they were kept in prisone twelve weeks and then paied fifteen shillings four pence for jaylor's fee and other besides the forsaid somes. One of your complaynants hath attached the forsaid Judges to the lawe... and the matter was brought before a quest... men who were sworne after the use of the towne dyd heare and receave your complaynants supposyng that the forsaid... burgesses were not egal (impartial) ... It may therefore please your honorable wisdomes to see a lawefull ordre in this matter and thus in the waie of Justice and charitie."

The Outcome was:"We know that the said James Braye and Richard Wodloke of the towne of Clomel and Walter Flemyng of Cashel were interrupted by the said John Duffs servants when they passed in the King's highwaie and this unlawfully done not accordyng to the King's will."

David of Loughkent

In 1571 we find David Woodlocke at Loughkent in succession to Walter who probably died about 1565. This was a difficult time for the Irish landowners. Up to 1558 the Reformation had barely affected Ireland and religion was not a great issue. However, when Queen Elizabeth came to the throne in 1558 the Counter-Reformation was under way in Europe and she found herself threatened on all sides by catholic powers, particularly Spain who sought a base in Ireland. The dissolution of the monasteries in England had whetted appetites for lands and riches and there were greedy eyes on Irish Lands.There were four rebellions in Ireland. One of them was in Munster and it apparently received support in Tipperary, for David Wodlock of Loughkent was one of 22 men charged, rightly or wrongly, with some minor acts of rebellion for which, on 18 January 1571, they were pardoned subject to a fine of 10s each.

This is the last we hear of Loughkent as the family seat and, after this date, the Woodlocks are described as living at Wodineston. There may have been a loss of land at Loughkent but, as the two places adjoin, it might have been more a matter of description than an actual move.

David Woodlock fitzPhilip

There was a further rebellion in Munster led by the Earl of Desmond and supported by a Spanish landing on the west coast. It was defeated and Desmond lands were seized and given to new English settlers; and any subsequent disturbance in the country was used as a pretext for confiscating more Irish land. Every possible means was used to challenge the title deeds of existing landowners to their properties, and plots were fabricated with a view to conviction and confiscation.

Such a plot may have led to loss of land at Loughkent. There is reason for thinking that David's heir was not his natural son. for we read in 1585 of David Woodlock fitzPhilip and it looks as if he could have been prevented from inheriting Loughkent on grounds of alleged faulty title and rebellion. The grounds for faulty title might merely have been that he was an adopted or foster child. In that year, a pardon was issued to David Woodlock fitzPhillip and some 30 other menn

"provided that this parson shall be effective only to those who are willing to submit and fulfill all such articles as the Lord Deputy shall ordain, concerning the lands which any of the treasons of felonies committed wheter the lands have been found by inquisition or not".

In other words, even if they could prove their title to their land they would lose it if convicted of any kind of rebellious action.

The Estates Of Wodineston

William (I) if Wodineston

While David was in occupation at Loughkent, William Woodlock (sic) was holding Wodineston. We learn this from the report of a trial at Clonmel in 1583 in which William was a juror. He would seem to be Davids brother and to have inherited the Wodineston property from Walter of Loughkent.

The report of the trial confirms that there were other Wooldock families living in the area. While William of Wodineston was serving as a juror, another William Woodlock, described as a butcher and born in Clonmel, was appearing as a defendant. The chief defendant was a landowner who, with others, was accused of stealing 21 cows which they sold to the butchers of Clonmel. It was alleged that the butchers knew that the beasts had been stolden. We do not know the outcome of the trial.

It is interesting to note that the modern form of the name was being used in the records at this date. The relationship between the two William Woodlocks must have been fairly distant for one of them to be allowed to act as juror, and we think that William the butcher may have been a grandson of Richard the merchant of Clonmel.

William (II) of Wodineston

The status of the family in Tipperary was now in decline. In 1592 we find a deed by which William Woodlocke of Wodineston - presumably the son of William (I) - together with other landlords appears to be mortgaging lands to the Earl of Ormond. He is not at this stage styled "lord" of Woineston. The deed is a bond in the sum of £40, the condition of which was that :

"whereas said Peter, Thomas and William have by their deed of this date granted to the said Earl the towns and lands of Rathmackarty, Ballydonlebeg, Kilmiclowre and Gortcross in county Tipperary they shall when required make full assurance to said Earl for the premises".

By another deed in the next year William and the same associates :grant to Thomas, Earl of Ormond, all the manors, lordships, messuages, lands etc. (in the above places ) with the reversions and rents of the same. To hold to the Earl his heirs and assigns for ever of the chief lords of the fees etc., Patrick Bussher of Kilkenny to deliver seisin."

In modern terms it would seem that the freehold interests passed, or reverted to the Earl. It is not clear which piece of land belonged to William, nor how much land was involved.

Woodlocks continued to hold land at Wodineston even if it was no longer on such a large scale. At Easter, in 1629, a civil action was brought by Messrs Sall and Bennett against William Woodlock and Ellis his wife, and several other persons. The nature of the action is not given. William was, presumabley, William II of Wodineston; it was only 3 years before his death in 1632 and Walter was probably his son and heir. An inquisition was held at Clonmel on 22 August 1632 concerning Williams estate.

James of Wodineston

James was living at Wodineston at the turn of the century and may have been a younger brother of Walter. He was among some 250 men and women in Tipperary suspected of sympathising in the rebellion of Hugh O'Neil, Earl of Tyrone, 1598, Which was supported by a Spanish landing at Kinsale in 1601. The rebellion was defeated and retribution followed for any who had taken part. The Tipperary suspects were eventually given a general pardon in 1601, but only on the understanding that the pardon

"does not extend to murder by any of these persons before they entered action of rebellion

We do not know whether James was in fact a younger son of William II or held property in his own right, but he seems to have been a man of some status in the county for in 1606 he was among those giving evidence in Cashel to the commission on local government boundaries regarding the future of the Dugh Arne district.

The Long Twilight

With the outbreak of civil war in 1641 the records for county Tipperary become scanty. The last records of Woodlock property at Wodineston were the lawsuit of 1629 and the inquisition of 1632. The last record of property elsewhere in the county in the 17th century is in a list of wills which includes the bare statement that Philip Woodlocke of Fethard died and left a will in 1662.

Whatever landed property rights were still held in the family when Cromwell came to Ireland in 1649 little was left in 1665 when all householders were assessed for the purpose of the hearth tax. None of the 19 Woodlock households was found to possess more than one fireplace.

The details of the Hearth Money Rolls of 1665-67 so far as Woodlock households are concerned mark the 19 households listed in the rolls that modern Woodlock families are descended.

James and Walter of Wodineston would have died 10–15 years before the hearth tax rolls were compiled, but we cannot definitely indentify their sons and grandsons among the names and addresses listed in 1665. The best assumption we can make is that those living in Knockgraffon in 1665 were descended from James and Walter of Wodineston. And we might also reasonably assume that those living in Cashel and further north in Carrick and Killabeg (near Loughmore) were related to Philip of Fethard and were descended from Richard and Nicholas, the merchants of Clonmel and Fethard in the mid-16th century.

The names of those living in Knockgraffon in 1665 include William and James and it is easy to imagine that they were sons of Walter and James of Wodineston, that they were in their sixties, and that they were the fathers and grandfathers of the other householders of 1665.

Woodlock families of Waterford

ORIGINS

For about 200 years Woodlocks (Wodlokes) were leading citizens of Waterford, the third most important port of Ireland. They were merchants and were active in the government of the city, which they served as bailiffs, sheriffs and mayors.

We do not know when they first came to the city. Their presence there is not mentioned in the Ormond Deeds or the corporation records before 1533, but they must have been established there some years earlier, for at that date James Wodloke was serving as one of the city’s elected bailiffs. The records after 1533 show John, James and Thomas Wodloke living in New Ross, an inland port 15 miles up the River Barrow from Waterford harbour.

There is nothing in the records to suggest any links with the Tipperary and Waterford families at this period. The earliest records of Woodlocks in the city show them to be substantial ship-owning merchants and experienced navigators, and they would hardly have acquired such attributes as Tipperary farmers. On the other hand, Woodlocks living in Dublin in the late 15th century were styled “yeomen” and “Gentleman”, descriptions being used at the time for the emerging middle class of entrepreneurs who were seizing the opportunities offered by the great expansion of world trade stimulated by the discovery of America and the sea route to India. Already, in 1472 Philip Wodloke had made a voyage to Portugal for which he received payment from the Earl of Ormond, ambassador for King Edward IV.

As previously mentioned, the probability that Philip, James and Thomas Wodloke, who were living in Dublin in the 1440s, had moved to Waterford. Philip (yeoman) was admitted to the Dublin franchise roll in 1477 and was no doubt the same Philip who had made the voyage to Portugal. Thomas was a priest. James (gentleman) had property interests in Dublin. There is every likelihood that the three men were sons of James Wodelok of Cappagh, nephews of John Wodloke of Cappagh and Hilton, and cousins of Rose who inherited the large Dublin properties. Philip and James may have come to Waterford between 1480 and 1500, a south coast port that was prospering with the export of wool, import of wine and the growth of European trade generally.

As to the next generation, records are scanty and our only clue is that John Wodloke is mentioned in Waterford in 1538 and does not appear again in the more detailed records, which follow that date. He probably lived about 1470-1540 and was the son of Philip or James: more likely of James as that name rather than Philip recurs in succeeding generations. John appears to have had s brother or cousin, William Wodlake of London, father of Francis Woodlyke who in 1529 arrived in London from Brabant in the Netherlands. John no doubt had other brothers or cousins besides William, for in the next generation (living approximately 1495-1570) we have records of four Woodlock contemporaries in Ireland and two in England. The four Irishmen were Patrick of New Ross (above); Nicholas, a priest; James the bailiff; and Thomas, an official of the Admiralty.

The accompanying diagram does not purport to be an authentic pedigree and merely attempts to illustrate the possible transition of the Dublin families to Waterford.

THIRD AND FOURTH GENERATIONS IN WATERFORD

Patrick of New Ross

In September 1538 Patrick of New Ross made a contract with his mother-in-law, Morin Britton. In return for a cash settlement she granted, “to Patrick Wodloke, merchant of said town, and to Margaret Britton, her daughter, a house and land in New Ross bounded by the King’s street called Bath Street or North Street, James Benetts’s land, the land of St Mary’s Church, and the land of John Benett”. The witnesses included Nicholas Wodloke, chaplain, and Henry Walche of Waterford.

In 1540 Patrick and his wife conveyed two properties in Ross to Thomas Gregory, and the witnesses to the deed included James Wodloke of Waterford and Sir Henry Walsh, notary. Three years later, Morina acknowledged the rights of the Earl of Ormond in respect of her properties except for “the great house in Ross in which Patrick Wodloke now dwells”. At the same time Patrick and Margaret gave a similar acknowledgement to the Earl in respect of property inherited from Margaret’s father Nicholas Britton “excepting the house in which Patrick now dwells”.

  The rights vesting in the Earl appear to have been assigned to John de Brymyngham ( Bermingham ) of Ross, for this is recognised by Patrick and Margaret in two further deeds “excepting the New Hall lying from the King’s way called North Street or Bayth Street in the west to the land of James Benet fitzRichard in the east in which Patrick and Morina, widow, dwell”.

There is no further mention of Woodlocks in New Ross, but two factors indicate a connection with Waterford: first, the deed of 1540 was witnessed by citizens of Waterford including James Wodloke (presumably the bailiff) and, second, the French Church in Waterford contains a monument of mid-16th century style to Patrick Wodloc. The monument bears the epitaph: “Corpora terra premit; spiritus astra petit” (Earth presses down the body; the spirit seeks the stars). We do not know who inherited Patrick’s property.

James and Thomas of Waterford

James Wodloke was a bailiff in 1533 and continued to carry civic responsibilities for many years. He was the ancestor of the larger of the two Woodlock families in Waterford. The ancestor of the smaller one was Thomas Wodloke who became an official of the central government, answerable to the Lord Deputy in Dublin and the Lord High Admiral in London. The histories of the two families are traced in subsequent sections of this chapter.

The Great Parchment Book of Waterford

This famous record, Liber Antiquissimus Civitatis Waterfordiae, gives us valuable evidence as to the probable relationships of the fourth generation of Woodlockd in the city. The book is not, however for its consistency of spelling, and we find the name written indiscriminately as Woodlock, Wodlock, Woodlocke, Wodlocque, Woodloke, Wodloke and Woodlok. Six young men of the Woodlock family were enrolled as freemen of the city between 1545 and 1560 and we might assume that they were mostly about 21 years of age at the time of enrolment:

• Laurence enrolled 1545
• William enrolled 1548
• Jasper enrolled 1552
• James Whyt enrolled 1555
• Melchior enrolled 1556
• Balthazar enrolled 1560

It would be a reasonable assumption that Jasper, Melchior and Balthazar (named after the three wise men) were brothers and, together with James Whyte, were the sons of James the bailiff. We have no evidence to connect Laurence and William with James the Bailiff and believe that they were sons of Thomas of the Admiralty.

JAMES THE BAILIFF

Dissolution of the Monasteries

After serving as bailiff in 1533 James has other responsibilities in the city. This was the reign of King Henry VIII who had embarked on the reform of the monastic system. A royal writ dated 12 June, 1536, concerning the suppression of the Hospital of St John the Evangelist at Waterford was addressed to three named citizens: James Wodloke, James White and William St Loe.

Piracy

The growth of international trade at this period brought with it an increase of piracy and official correspondence was full of reports of the seizure and recovery of merchant ships along the southern coasts of Ireland. The following report, entitled “The Revenging of Waterford” was received at the courts of Henry VIII.

“ In 1538, 20 February, a Portuguese ship ‘La Sancta Maria de Feci’, one of four laden with wine for Waterford, was forced by stress of weather to anchor in Baltemore haven before Inyshircan Island and Dowinghlonge Castle. The islanders, Fynn Odryscoll, Conacher his son, and Gill Duff, his base son, came aboard and invited the Waterford merchants, Thos Wise and five others to dinner in the castle. This was accepted, and they had well dined the islanders treacherously cast them into irons, manned their galley, and took their ship and distributed 72 tuns of wine among their neighbours.

“ The news of this reached Waterford 3 March and forthwith Pierce Doben with 24 others set sail in a pickard called ‘The Sunday’ of Waterford, entered Baltemore haven next day and boarded their ship whilst Gill Duff and 24 others flew out at the other side. They then released the Portingales (Portuguese) merchants and took away the ship, promising to return shortly.

“On the 27th of the same month the Mayor fitted out a little fleet consisting of the ship lately retaken, another large vessel, and the great galley of the city, well appointed with artillery, victuals and men to the number 400, and put them under the command of Bailiff James Woodlock as chief Captain, Pierce Dobbyn, James Walsh, James Sherlock, Henry Walsh and John Butler under-captains.

“ They entered Baltemore haven 5 April, landed on the island and took the castle and burned all the villages and buildings, including an abbey of Friors Minor, and destroyed al they could not carry away. The same they did on the adjoining island of Inysspike and another island, and finally landing on the mainland they destroyed Baltemore and fired the parish church and Teig O’ Driscoll’s castle. In the latter Wm Grant stayed so long for pillage that the fire prevented his return, and he stood on top and cried for help; whereupon John Butler tied a small line to an arrow and shot it up, and with that he drew up a hawser, fastened it, slid down and so escaped. And so the great army came to Waterford on Good Friday with great joy and comfort.”

Riots

In the same year a disturbance occurred in Waterford involving the deaths of two citizens of Dublin. The government ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident, but the city was cleared of responsibility and a pardon was issued naming some 45 Waterford citizens including James Wodloke, Thomas Wodloke and John Wodloke. John, we think, was the father of James and Thomas (see above); he is not mentioned in subsequent records.

Business as Usual

In 1540 James Wodloke was again Bailiff of Waterford. At this time he was in a business consortium with James Shurlock and John Neele which obtained a royal licence from Hampton Court, London, dated 9 April 1540, “ to export 100 weighs of wheat, 60 weighs of barley, 60 weighs of malt and 100 weighs of beans, for the better victualling of the soldiers, crew, and other true subjects in the city of Waterford, Ireland”. In 1542 the same consortium obtained a lease of some property and a contract from the corporation.

The contract was recorded in the council minutes as follows. “ Memorandum 31 March 1542 on lease from Maister Mayor, Bailifes and citisayns to James Wodlock etc of the town of Kilkillin...in connection with the Pill of Donkit, the late house of Greye Freres within Waterford, the setting of ferns and rushes, pasture of horses resorting and carriage at the bank, the conveying of all manner laying and ballast stones and clay for the affairs of the city and suburbs”. The Pill of Donkit was a channel by which limestone was brought down from the quarries to the river for export to county Wexford.

James served again as bailiff in 1548-9 and 1551, on the first occasion with Thomas Grant and on the second with James Walshe. On July 21, 1548, the Mayor of Waterford wrote to the Lord Deputy of Ireland informing him that the corporation had “ arrested certain persons out of a great Portugal ship and a Spanish bark whom they suspected were pirates” and were now sending them to him under the charge of James Wodloke. On 27 April in the following year it fell to James to take a letter from the corporation to the Lord Deputy in Dublin promising that they would repair the fortifications of the city.

Shortly after this, James’s sons became enrolled as freemen and may have taken over much of James’s business for he seems to have retired from public life though no doubt he lived on for several years more.

DESCENDANTS OF JAMES THE BAILIFF

The Children of James

As the children of Bailiff James Wodloke, it was Balthazar who fathered the next generation. We hear no more of Jasper after 1556, James Whyt after 1555 or Melchior after 1556, though we think they had sons who became priests (see below). There was a daughter who married Nicholas Strange and, according to Balthazar’s will, a younger son, John, who may have been the husband of Neall Walsh, mentioned in Robert Walsh’s will as his cousin Neall Woodlocke, widow.

Balthazar

Balthazar prospered, judging by the taxes he had to pay. One instance we have was in 1580 in a corporation record of the “amounts of certaine monie, bred, bere and wyne received of severell of the citizens of this citie for which the corporation is to aunswer, and was delivered for the furneshing of hir majestie’s army by warrant from the right honorable Artor Gray, Lord Depute of Irlande, as followeth”. There follows a long list including: “ Of Balthazar Wodlock iili sterling”.

That was the year of the third Desmond war when Queen Elizabeth sent a fresh army to Ireland to counter the Spanish landing at Smerwick on the Dingle peninsula. The cost of maintaining this army was very heavy. In 1582 Balthazar became Sheriff of Waterford jointly with Robert Walsh, and he held that office again in 1592 along with Thomas White.

Although Balthazar was the last of James’s sons to be enrolled as a freeman he said in his will that he was the eldest (surviving?) son. He married Margaret Devenish, probably about 1570, and they had three sons: Jasper, Melchior and James fitzBalthazar (i.e. James son of Balthazar) and two daughters. One, Mary, married Sir Richard Aylward. The other married James Sherlock, merchant, and they had a son named Balthazar Sherlock, who succeeded in his father’s business but as a catholic was outlawed in the reign of William III on a charge of having aided and abetted the King of France.

There is an interesting reference to Woodlock property in a royal decree of 7th of July 1597 (presumably after Balthazar’s death) when the Queen authorised the leasing of several Irish properties to one Edward FitzGerald of Rathsillagh. One of them was a garden belonging to James Woodlock: “...a garden in the county of the city of Waterford, now or late in the tenure of James Woodlocke”. This was part of the policy of giving possession of lands to protestant supporters of the government, as is evident from the conditions of the lease: “To hold for 31 years...on the condition that he shall not alien to any without licence of the Lord Deputy, except they be of the English nation or birth by father and mother, or born within the English Pale”.

THE SONS OF BALTHAZAR

Jasper the Alderman

Jasper the eldest son, became a Sheriff of Waterford in 1614; we have no record of his enrolment as freeman and think it might have been in 1593, a year for which the records have been lost. If so, it would put Jasper’s year of birth at about 1572. Jasper married Mary, daughter of William Leonard.

In 1601 Jasper was doing business in Portugal, and on his return to Waterford in August he reported, “that an army of 150 sail is ready in Lisbon bound for Ireland”. This would be the Spanish fleet which landed at Kinsale in support of Tyrone’s rebellion and was defeated by Lord Mountjoy.

Jasper was elected Alderman in 1626. He died on 11th of April 1639 and was buried in the French Church. This is recorded in the Funeral Entries maintained by the Ulster King of Arms in Dublin. He had a son William, and a daughter who married John White. William married Catherine Strange, daughter of Solomon Strange; he became a freeman in1633 and Sheriff in 1641, in which capacity he played an important part in Waterford’s resistance to Cromwell.

Jasper apparently had cousins who were priests and afforded them protection during the anti-catholic persecutions. Four priests are mentioned in records between 1590 and 1620; at least two were sons of Balthazar’s brothers (see above) while one may have belonged to the family of Thomas of the Admiralty. Their experiences are related below in the section headed “the churchmen”.

Melchior and James fitzBalthazar

All we know of Jasper’s brother Melchior is that he was married to Ellis Grant who, on her death, was buried in the French Church. James fitzBalthazar, on the other hand, was very prominent in the affairs of the city and the next section of this chapter is devoted to him.

JAMES FITZBALTHAZAR

Report from Spain

James was born between 1575 and 1580, and he became a freeman in 1603. In that year Robert Walsh was mayor, and on 25 March sent a report to Lord Mountjoy, Lord Deputy: “Robert Leonard and James Wodlock, merchants of Waterford, being sworn, say that they left Bilbao on 12 March. Heard that a fleet was preparing at Lisbon. Bertendona was come to Bilbao with nine mules, laden with treasure, to build certain shipping for the King. Saw eight great ships and two small ships on the stocks. There were 200 Irishmen at Corunna attending there to be employed by the King (of Spain) in that service....Conde de Fuentes had 20,000 men on the borders of Italy; they were to be sent to aid the cardinal in the Low Countries2. The same report included a despatch from Lisbon by James Graunt and George Wodlock (below).

Oath of Supremacy

James was appointed Sheriff of Waterford in 1625 but the administration of the city was taken over by commissioners appointed by King James I. In 1617 they listed the officers of the city, including: “James Woodlocke and Solomon Strong (Strange) gent., receivers of the revenue and customs of the town, who have entered into bond to the Lord Deputy of £500 to make a rue account of the same unto him”.

Although there was still a fair degree of religious toleration at the time, leading citizens were liable to be required to take the Oath of Supremacy, recognising the King, not the pope, as head of the church. An inquiry was held by the King’s Commissioners in Waterford on the 5th September 1617 and reported as follows. “There was no person elected Sheriff within two years past before the date of the commission, or who exercised the office save James Lambert and James Woodlock, who were elected and sworn the 29th September and had the Oath of Supremacy, tendered them by L. President the 30th October 1615 and they refused and have exercised no further. For the want of the said officers, all causes, suits and plaints, depending in the courts of the city during the vacancies lay dormant.”

Woodlock Convent, Portlaw

About this period two Waterford merchants, Woodlock and Strange (James and Solomon), held mortgages on Rockett’s Castle, near Portlaw. They foreclosed, ousted the Rockett family and took over the property themselves. Strange took the castle itself and Woodlock took part of the townland of Gortardagh which was soon known as Gortardagh Woodlock and later simply as Woodlock. A mansion was built there in the 19th century and in 1909 it was given to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny and became the present-day Woodlock Convent.

Intelligence Reports

In general the decades before 1641 were relatively peaceful; things returned to normal in Waterford, and in 1626 James was elected Mayor. We hear a lot about him because he had the responsibility of interviewing travellers from abroad and making reports to the government. On 11 October 1626 he interviewed Thomas Blake who had come from Rochelle “In a Great Hollander bound for Dublin but wind-driven here2. At Lisbon Blake had seen a squadron of eight galleons laden with soldiers; at Cadiz there were squadrons from Naples, and at Corunna he had seen eight companies of soldiers.

Other Civic Duties

As mayor, James made other reports, as when the Lord Deputy was considering mercy for a man convicted of murder. Reporting the evidence of a witness, James said: “She was at the door of her father’s house about nine or ten at night, and heard Michael Mathews coming out of Mr Carron’s house and saying he would kill the first man, woman or child he met. He then went into Christchurch yard where the woman was found killed and directly after that witness heard a woman cry ‘Ochone’. Witness went out and saw the dead woman stabbed through the left breast and dead”.

Other reports included the fitting out of ships for the navy and on 29 August 1627 he made a report, which stressed the heavy burden this placed upon the inhabitants. “The two captains and their regiments shipped on the 28th and waited off Duncannon, and between that and Passage. They were off at dawn with a favouring wind. I have taken great trouble to fit them out, and have been supported bravely by the citizens, some of whom have felt the burden so heavy that they have had to leave their homes.”

In 1628 James was holding the ancient Waterford office of Mayor of the Staple while Robert Leonard, his companion on the voyage to Spain in 1603, was Constable of the Staple. In 1639 he acted in a deed of settlement made by Sir Peter Aylward, son of his sister Mary. Sir Peter had “appointed his trusty and well beloved cousin, James Woodlock, to be his attorney”.

James’s Family

James had four children: Clement, Balthazar, Mary and Dorothy. His wife apparently died in middle age, for at some stage after 1630 James made a second marriage to Elizabeth Lee, widow of Robert Walsh of Picardstown. James’s daughters both married sons of Michael Hore of Dungarven, Mary marrying the eldest son, John, and Dorothy a younger son, James. This was recorded by Ulster King of Arms at the time of Michael’s death in 1639, at which date James Woodlock was alderman.

James’s Property

In 1641 the properties held by James included Woodlock’s Park and Corner Park just outside the city, and a two-thirds interest in Fenor, Carrigphilip, Ballycradoche and Smoore. In his wife’s right he held Picardstown and Ballydrishane on lease from John Power of Dunhill. Like his nephew William, he played a memorable part in the defence of Waterford in 1641, and this is described in the next chapter. James died some time before the year 1654.

The Churchmen

The Franciscan Friars

Jaspers cousins were Franciscan friars, an order that the government suspected of being in league with Spanish agents. Father Patrick and Father Jasper Woodlock were listed in the Hyde-Moustre report concerning the activities of “sundrie Priests and Friers” in 1610. The report said that Patrick was staying at the house of Jasper Woodlock merchant.

English persecution of the Catholic Church subsequently forced Patrick and Jasper to flee to France. In 1619 there was published in Bordeux a list of Irish Priests who had sought asylum in France. It begins: “Catalogue de quelques clercs ecclesiastiques Hibernois”. It ends : “...exilez de leur pays pour la foy Catholique, Apostolique et Romaine”. The list includes Father Patrick Woodlock (Patrice Vodlog) a casuist priest, and Father Jasper Woodlock (Gaspar) both of Waterford (Vatterfordien).

An Unseemly Quarrel

The Wadding collection of manuscripts includes a vitriolic correspondence between one Roger Skyddy and Friar Didacus Woodlocke in 1618. Didacus was presumably a pseudonym and we have not identified the friar or his place in the family. In one letter Skyddy says: “...as for wishing me to make satisfaction and to hold my tunge, I bid you to submit yourself and to bridle your viperous tounge, for your name declares that you are but a locke to entangle men; and if your name doth not demonstrate that you are but a seditious companion and a turbulent stranger...” Skyddy seemed to be bent on discrediting the Order of Friars Minor and his letters became even more shrill when Didacus said he would “cast Skyddy’s books to the privye”.

Father Thomas

Thomas probably belonged to the family of Thomas of the Admiralty (see below). We first hear of him in 1590 when he was witness to a conveyance of land at Carricknagriffin. At that period the English government suspected the catholic church of giving support to the rebels like Tyrone, and associating with Spanish agents. The Salisbury collection of 17th century manuscripts includes a report on the activities of “Friar Woodlock, in Waterford and one Bray of clonmel and one Walter Stanihurst, a messenger to Tyrone, 1602”.

The oppression eased for a time when James I came to the throne in 1603; catholic churches were able to repossess their buildings from the protestants, and it is recorded that Father Thomas Woodlock personally reconciled the church to Carrick.

The hopes, which the catholics had of James, I were short-lived, and the catholic hierarchy was forced into exile in Belgium. Thomas was reported on by Hyde and Moustre in 1610, and in 1612 we find him living in the Irish Franciscan College of St. Anthony in Louvain, described as P Thoma Wodlog, former provincial visitor. He was still there in 1615, listed as Father Thomas Wodlocus of Waterford, Ireland.

Thomas of the Admiralty

Thomas was a contemporary of James the Bailiff between 1500 and 1575, and ancestor of the smaller of the two Woodlock families of Waterford. He was an agent for the admiralty, a shipbuilder, city official and merchant.

Admiralty Agent

Thomas’s duties included the arrest of ships and persons suspected of piracy. The following is a record of a meeting of the Privy Council in London on 4 August 1546: “Meeting at Westminster. Present: Chancellor Norfolk, Great Master, Great Chamberlain, Winchester, Chesney, Gage, etc. Business: Letter and council of Ireland for restitution of a ballinger, laden with salt, linen and wine, taken, 8th July, by Thomas Wodlocke of Waterford, and now claimed by Wm combledon, merchant of Brest.”

In 1548 a Portuguese ship had been seized in Waterford on suspicion of piracy. The Portuguese merchants produced a warrant authorising the release of the ship, but Thomas Wodloke arrived with a more up-to-date letter to claim it. There were in fact two letters. One read : “Lord High Admiral Seymour to James Walsh, Mayor of Waterford. To deliver up bark lately belonging to Richard Coles of Mynath to the bearer, his servant, Thomas Wodloke, (dated) July 19th Sudeley Castle.”

The second read: “Lord High Admiral Seymour to James Walsh, Mayor of Waterford. That the portugal ship that was taken by Cole and Bulside, two pirates, may be given up to the bearer, his servant, Thomas Wodloke, and also the persons who were taken in them. July 25th Sudeley Castle.”

In December of that year the corporation advised the Lord Deputy that they had delivered to Thomas two prisoners, John Goodier and John Kirley.

Letters written by Thomas Wodloke to the Lord Deputy in 1549 have been preserved in the State Papers. One reported that he had asked the Mayor of Cork to apprehend a pirate named Strangwytche and 15 others, but as the pirates were in the city and well armed the Mayor was unwilling to do so. Another letter asked the Lord Deputy to direct the Mayor of Ross to release a certain Bartholomew Smalwod.

Shipbuilding

Queen Elizabeth had come to the throne in 1558 and from 1566 onwards faced a succession of rebellions in Ireland as well as the threat of Spanish Invasion. In 1566 a long list was drawn up of debts owed by the government for the maintenance of the army and navy. The relevant extract read: “Moneys due to the Earls, Knights, Captains etc for horsemen, footmen, harquebusiers, archers, divers odd soldiers etc; to sea captains for victualling and rigging of ships, pay of mariners, smiths etc; to the master of the ordnance for gunners, craftsmen etc.” Then a long list of contractors for the various items including Thomas Woodlock, boatmaker, at 2s.

Civic Responsibility

Thomas was at this time Sub-Sheriff of the county of Waterford, and on 21 May 1566 was named with the Sheriffs of Waterford and Tipperary in a commission required to execute martial law. It appears that Thomas himself did not entirely please the authorities for on 7 October they saw fit to issue a pardon naming 12 members of the Power family and Thomas Wodlocke of Waterford, merchant, “provided they appear before a commission at Kilkenny within 6 months, give security to keep the peace, and to answer when called upon”.

Descendants of Thomas of the Admiralty

The other branch of the Woodlock family in Waterford, which we think was descended from Thomas the Admiralty agent, would include Laurence (living 1548).

Laurence

Like Thomas, Laurence seems to have had a closer connection with the English government administration than the family of James the Bailiff. Soon after his enrolment as freeman in 1545 Laurence was delivering provisions to the fort of Leix, and a certain Martin Pellys of Athy exacted money from him. This caused the Waterford Corporation to protest to the Lord Deputy in 1548 that such action was “contrary to the privileges of the City of Waterford”.

We find no further mention of Laurence in Irish records, but the burial of a Laurence Woodlock is recorded in London in 1603. The appearance of the name in London parish records at this time suggests that Laurence came to live in London as a merchant or government official during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. He would have been about 79 in 1603.

A Francis Woodloke who made a report to the English authorities about Irish security matters in 1583 (5 years before the Spanish Armada set out to invade England) may well have been a son of Laurence and gone to England with him. There is no further reference to Francis in Ireland, but in the London records we find that a Maurice Woodlock (who had been a freeman of Waterford) married Agnes Begley on 14 September 1608 at St. Margaret’s, Westminster. He could well have been the son of Francis and grandson of Laurence.

The next appearance of the name in London records was in 1649 when Anthony Woodlock married Ann Edicard at St. Michaels, Paternoster. They lived in Elbow Lane in the city, in property originally built by Geoffre le Botiller, suggesting a link with the Butlers of Ormond, and leading us to think that Anthony may have been the son of Maurice and grandson of Francis.

William

The only reference to William is his enrolment as a freeman of Waterford in 1548, and we assume that he remained in Ireland and continued the line of descent from Thomas. He is the most likely to have been the father of George (freeman in 1571) and James (freeman in 1581).

George (I)

George (I) was independently established as a merchant in 1580 because in that year he was included in the same list as Balthazar as a contributor of taxes to provision the Queen’s army in Ireland. George enters into history as one of the eyewitnesses of the Spanish Armada being dashed to pieces on the stormy west coast of Ireland in 1588. He was travelling in Galway and wrote a letter to the Mayor of Waterford, which was immediately passed on to Sir Francis Walsingham, the Queen’s Principal Secretary, and is preserved among the state papers in London.

It is a long letter and part of it describes the wreck of the “Gran Grin” in Clew Bay near Westport in the following words:

“...The same ship is cast upon the shore and beyond recovery, so as the most part of the men are lost and cast away. There is come ashore of them sixteen persons alive, with their chains of gold, and apprehended in the hands of a tenant of my Lord of Ormond, who dwells upon the same land, they report of certain that the ship was of burthen of 1,000 tons, and had in her fifty pieces of brass, besides four great cannon, so as the ship is past recovery. There is within 5 leagues to the place where the ship was ‘venterd’ seen seven great ships, which are plying off and on upon the coast, and is thought to be of their army. Also there is seen within 10 leagues of Galway two ships, and one at anchor there three days a seaward the island of Arran, and thought to be of the same company. In like manner hard by the entry of Limerick is seen six ships and thought to be of said army...”

George evidently had a son, George (II), who became a freeman in 1599; and he was probably also the father of Thomas who became a priest, and James who became a freeman in 1597. We hear no more of James but Thomas played a prominent part in the struggles of the Catholic Church against English oppression.

George (II)

Like his father, George (II) became a sea-going merchant, and his account of Spanish preparations for war in 1603 was reported by Robert Walsh, Mayor of Waterford, as follows:

“John Graunt and George Wodlock, merchants of Waterford, depose that the fleet at Lisbon consisted of 10,000 foot and 500 horse. There was an impress for mariners along the coast of Biscay, and a ship stayed at Bilbao for their transportation to Lisbon. Bertendona was to build 12 ships by midsummer. Subeo alias Siriago was sent for the court, who went thither, accompanied with 18 captains.”

The Wodlock Coat of Arms

A manuscript book of about 1600 called “Ierish Arms” contains delicately coloured drawings of coats of arms in use in the latter part of the 16th century with the names of the respective families. One of these is “Wodlock” and the date is about 1570. We do not know for certain whether it belonged to the family of James the Bailiff or of Thomas of the Admiralty, but are inclined to think the latter because of Thomas’s official position and knighthood. In that case it would be borne by George (II). The shield has a white (argent) background with a black chevron between three lions’ heads coloured green.

There arms are also to be seen in the Rothe House Museum in Kilkenny carved on a stone, dated 1636, taken from the wall of a house which stood at the corner of Dean Street and Irishtown. The shield is halved with the Archdekin family arms on the left ant the Woodlock arms on the right and the initials “ K W” are carved at the side. It represents a union between a Wodlock bride and an Archdekin groom, and K W most probably stands for Katherine Wodlock. She would have been born about 1610 and could well have been a daughter of George (II).

George (III)

In 1626 another George Woodlock was enrolled as a freeman and he was undoubtedly the son of George (II). We know little about him but we think he served as an officer in the army of Charles I in 1649 and was survived by four daughters: Anstace, Mary, Elen and Katherine (see next chapter).

Waterford families in the mid 17th Century

It was the sixth generation of Waterford Woodlocks who-along with their kinsmen in Tipperary – were most affected by the upheavals and agonies of the wars of Cromwell and William III. In the next chapter we see how the families of Waterford and Tipperary fared in the Civil War and under the Commonwealth, the Restoration of Charles II and the Revolution of 1688.

Woodlocks under Cromwell and William III (1641-1700)

Rebellion

Tipperary

On the night of 22 October 1641, in the reign of Charles I, Ulster rose in rebellion. The immediate cause was the declaration of the English Puritan Parliament that it would "root out property in Ireland". The rebellion spread rapidly south and there was an ugly incident at Golden, co. Tipperary, where protestant families were stripped of goods and clothing and would have been murdered but for the intervention of the catholic priests.Waterford

At Christmas, 1641, a rebel confederate army under Lord Mountgarret was camped outside the gates of Waterford, calling on the citizens to join them and let them into the city for arms and provisions. The corporation was divided. Sheriff William Woodlock and his fellow sheriff favoured the rebels whereas the loyalist mayor, Francis Briver, wanted to keep them out.

The situation was vividly described in a letter, which the mayor's wife sent to the English garrison commander on 14 March 1642. She said that Edmund Butler, son of Mountgarret, had been urging the Recorder and Sheriffs to replace Briver as mayor because he refused to open the gates to the rebels. She gave the names of those who supported the rebellion: Sir Nicholas Walsh, four members of the Power family, Tom Wadding and Sheriff Woodlock.

A Council of War

Mrs. Briver went to say : "A council stood in James Woodlocks house, questioning the Maier for to let out the troops... and the Maier sent a strait charge and command to the kaptain of the fort, James Woodlock, to have all their companies in the fort, which was three score men full; I went myself in person to the fort and told James Woodlocks son, Clement, that his life, lands and goods should be answerable for the fort, and James Woodlock was well able to go to Linchs house to drink three pints of wine. In their drinking their conclusion was that I should live to my fathers house, because I should presume to James Woodlock for the fort. When James Lea saw that James Woodlock was able to go to drink wine taverns, he left the fort, trusting to Mr Woodlock, because he was appointed Kaptain of the fort by the Lord President of Munster (Ormond) when he was in Waterford city last."In the event the corporation overruled the mayor, and the confederates entered the city and held it from 1642 until 1650.

Civil War

Clement Woodlock, who became a freeman in 1640, and his brother, Balthazar, joined the confederate army. Sir Philip O'Neill, who led the rebellion in Ulster, claimed that he had a commission from King Charles I to resist the puritan parliament; and catholic and protestant royalists alike gave him their support. But, while the civil war raged in England over the next few years, Ireland was split into many rival factions. It was only after the shock of the Kings execution in 1649 that Ormond and Inchiquin achieved and Irish national front to support Charles II against the Parliament and Oliver Cromwell.

Cromwell

After executing the King, Cromwell turned his attention to Ireland. He landed on 15 August 1649, sacked Drogheda in September and besieged Wexford in October. Waterford held out until 1650. In Tipperary he carried out his "castle cropping operations against Cahir, Cashel, Fethard and Clonmel, but there was little fighting and the towns obtained reasonable terms.

The Cromwellian Confiscations

Aftermath of War

The war, which began in Ulster in October 1641, ended in 1652. In these 11 years, war, pestilence and famine had reduced the population from 1,400,000 to 600,000. Cromwell was in debt to the English Adventurers who had advanced the money to finance the war, and he had to settle his soldier’s arrears of pay. To do this, the Parliament passed the Act of Settlement of 1652. Under the Act, nearly all good land in Leinster, Munster and Ulster was to be confiscated and given to Adventurers and Soldiers. Any landowner, catholic or protestant, who had resisted the parliamentary forces, was to forfeit his land.

Those who had borne arms were to be transplanted to Connaught and receive but one third of the value of their former estates. Those who had not borne arms but could not prove that they had actively supported the parliament were also to be transplanted, but would get two-thirds of the value of their former lands. Catholic priests were to be exiled to Spain, Belgium or the West Indies. Catholic merchants were barred from trading in Waterford.

Lists were drawn up of persons who were to be given "transplanter certificates" granting them land in Connaught in part compensation for their confiscated estates. The Waterford list of 1653 included Clement Woodlock of Corballymore and Jasper Woodlocke of Ruisses.

Clement

Corballymore lies on the coast due south of Waterford city. It is not, so far as we know, one of the properties, which Clement inherited from his father, James, who died shortly before 1654. The inherited properties were Gortardagh South, near Portlaw (site of the present day Wooldock Convent) and a half-interest in Ballynabanogy. Corballymore might therefore have been a property acquired through Clement's marriage to Mary Walsh. Nor does it seem that Clement ever occupied any lands in Connaught. He made a will in 1669 (after the Restoration) bequeathing his inherited properties to his sons James and Balthasar. The will was not proved until 1690, possibly some years after Clement's death.

Balthasar

Clement's brother Balthasar does not appear in the lists of transplanters. In the 1640s he had purchased Baronsland, and his father had made him trustee of Smoore. Balthazar made his will in 1650 and this also was proved in 1690.

Jasper

We cannot identify Ruisses, which Jasper held when he was listed for transplantation in 1653. He was the son of Sheriff William Woodlock who supported the confederates in 1641 and was prosecuted for his actions. We do not know the outcome of the prosecution but William died before 1654 and it seems that it was Jasper who suffered the confiscation. Jasper apparently left Waterford for a time as he married in Cork in 1661, and he may have sold any claim he had to land in Connaught.

The Heiresses

Other Woodlocks who suffered transplantation were four sisters who appear to have been the joint heiresses of an officer of the royalist army. The papers of the Marquis of Ormond include "An Accompt of lands set out to the Transplanted Irish in Connaught" and this contains the following entry.

Person's Names Date of decree Date of final settlement No. of Acres

Anstace Woodlocke & Mary Elen & Katherine Woodlocke of (Blank) 30-May-1656 9-Sep-1656 459

It is a pity that we are not given details of the former estates or the name of the girls’ father.

The name Anstace appears again later in a list of officers who had been in the Kings service in 1649 - see below -. It included Clement and Balthazar Woodlock and Anstace Woodlocke. Anstace a girl’s name, and it must be assumed that she was included as the heiress of an officer who had died since 1649. We do not know who the officer was but think it might have been George, the freeman of 1626. He would have been a man of property and of an age to have served in 1649; and we have no later record of him or any other descendants.

Confiscation in Tipperary

There is no record of any of the Woodlocks of Tipperary actually bearing arms against Cromwell or being transplanted to Connaught. Their absence from the records may reflect the fact that by this time they had no property worth confiscating.

Restoration of the Monarchy

When Charles II was restored to the throne in 1662 his government was encumbered with two conflicting obligations: to compensate those who had suffered in the royalist cause, and to pay off the creditors of the former Commonwealth government. The commonwealth had borrowed money from the Adventurers on the security of lands confiscated from the Irish, and had similarly promised land to its soldiers in lieu of arrears of pay. It was politically impossible for the Kings government abrogate these debts and, moreover, thousands of Adventurers and soldiers were in physical possession of confiscated land. The government therefore tried to achieve comprise solutions by four main measures, which dragged on for about 20 years:

"Adjudications" for settling the arrears of pay of royalist officers. The list names the officers, or their heirs, and includes Balthazar and Clement Woodlock and Anstace Woodlocke.

"Inrolments of the Decrees of Innocents": a list of persons cleared of illegal or criminal acts against the King. This included William Woodlock and James Woodlock, and we presume them to be the William and James who supported the King against the parliamentary forces in 1641. Both were deceased by this time but their heirs now had some hope of eventual justice."Inrolments of the Certificates for Adventurers, Soldiers and Others" which were entitlements to compensatory land. The list of names included James Woodlock and the list of places included Woodlock's Parke, and as both bore the same reference number we can assume that the adjudication connected James with the Park." Inrolments of Connaught Certificates": a task carried out by commissioners who considered the claims of people who had been promised lands in Connaught. Among the claiments were Anstace and her sisters, but we have no means of knowing if they ever got their due rights because the rulings of the commissioners were challenged by the protestant interest and many were overturned.

The census of 1659

In 1659 the Commonwealth Government had carried out a census, which gave a good indication of the distribution of Woodlocks in Ireland at that time. Only a few of the actual returns survive but a summary of the census was made and this has been published recently by the Irish Stationery Office.For each Barony (division of a county) it listed every name, which occurred 5 times or more. The name Woodlock appears only in one Barony in the whole of Ireland: the Barony of Middlethird, Co. Tipperary, which lies around Cashel; and in that Barony there were 16 Woodlock households. As to any other Barony containing less than 5 Woodlock households, the only evidence we have is the actual census return for the Barony of Iffa and Offa, which was among those, which survived. Iffa and Offa is in the south of Tipperary adjoining Co. Waterford. This shows James Wodloke living at Cahirclough in the Parish of Lisronagh, and David Woodlock living in Carrick. There were, no doubt, some living in Co. Waterford, but probably only one or two.

The Hearth Money Rolls

Surviving Records

More detailed information is provided by the records of the hearth tax imposed after the Restoration. The only complete surviving records are those for counties Dublin and Tipperary. These Rolls are lists of all householders recorded for the payment of the tax of two schillings on every "fire, hearth, or other place used for fireing, and stoves within such their respective houses". The lists were compiled over the three years 1665, 1666 and 1667; some householders may have moved during those years and some names seem to have been repeated in the second and third years. The Woodlock households in Co. Tipperary appear as in the accompanying table; and the 1659 census return for Iffa and Offa Barony is appended to fill out the picture.

Tipperary

In Tipperary the Woodlock households were to be found in 1665-7 between Cashel and Cahir- the area they had occupied for 400 years - but two had settled further north near Loughmore. And, according t– the 1659 census, there were two further east at Lisronagh and Carrick-on-suir. The only personal records we have are the marriage of Catherine Woodlocke of Knockgraffon to Theobald Stapleton of the same parish on 27 July 1655; the marriage of Margerye Wolocke (sic) to Robert Whetstone in 1657; and the death of Philip Woodlock in Fethard in 1662.

Dublin and Waterford

No Woodlock names appear in the Hearth Money Roll for Co. Dublin. The Roll for Co. Waterford has not been perserved, and this is a pity as it might have shown one or two Woodlock households because, although the catholic merchants were expelled by Cromwell, they began to return when Charles II was restored to the throne in 1662. The dispossessed Irish petitioned for restitution of their properties, and the exiled Waterford merchants prayed to be allowed to " return with their stocks and to exercise in their native city the skills they had acquired during 11 years trading abroad". Although the King was disposed to right the wrongs of the past, the Adventurers and Soldiers were in actual possession of the estates, and the protestant interests proved too strong for him.

The Treaty of Limerick

King James II

Irish hopes rose again when James II succeeded to the throne in 1685. It would appear that Clement, Balthazar and Jasper were then back in Waterford. Jasper's son, William, was enrolled as a freeman in 1688, and Laurence Woodlock (of whom we have no other information) had a son, John, born there in 1688. The Irish hopes were short-lived, however, for James II was deposed and was succeeded by the protestant William III.Battle of the BoyneThe Irish supported the deposed James II. An Irish army was raised under Lord Sarsfield but was defeated in the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. In the Treaty of Limerick King William promised to protect Irish interests, but again the protestant faction was too strong and the parliaments passed anti-catholic measures, which excluded catholic Irish from politics, administration, the professions (except medicine) and ownership of land.The Deaths of Clement and BalthazarBalthazar and Clement both died in or before 1690. We are uncertain as to the actual dates of death because it seems that the proving of many wills was held back until 1690 for administrative reasons connected with the anti-catholic measures. Balthazar's will, made in 1650, was proved on 2 April 1690 but we have no knowledge of its contents or of his leaving any heirs.

Clement was buried in the French Church, Waterford, and his tomb was inscribed: "here lies Clement Woodlock, gentleman and benefactor of the city of Waterford, and Maria Walsh, his wife". His will of 1669 was proved on 30 May 1690. He had four children: James, Balthasar, Francis and Anstace. Under the terms of the will James was to inherit Smoore (previously held by his uncle Balthazar), Ballycredoge, Fenor and Ballygarvan. Balthasar was to inherit Corner Park, which had been purchased from Stephen Leonard. We do not know whether they actually got possession of these properties or were dispossessed as a result of the new anti-catholic laws. The Woodlock Parks had evidently come into the hands of the Waterford Corporation by 1693 because the Council Book records that in that year the Corporation leased them to various tenants.Francis died before his father's will was proved and his own will was also proved in 1690.

The family in 1700

Tipperary

We have little information after 1665-7. It is evident that all the Tipperary families were living in comparatively humble circumstances since none of them occupied a house containing more than one fireplace. We do not know the ages of the householders listed in Hearth Money Rolls, so we cannot relate them to persons mentioned at the end of Chapter III.Nevertheless, we can discern in the Rolls the outlines of present-day families: the Knockgraffon family descending from Walter of Wodineston, the Dangandargan family descending from James of Wodineston, and the Loughmore families descending from David and Nicholas of Carrick and Killabeg.Anstace in Cashel might have been the eldest of the four heiresses transplanted in 1653 but this can only be speculation as it was a popular name at the time.

Waterford

After 1700 the Woodlocks ceased to possess wealth and influence in Waterford and most, if not all of them, appear to have left the city altogether. What happened to them is the subject of continuing research.Clement's sister Mary, who was married to Captain Oldfield, died in 1701 and evidently still had some property as her will was proved on 12 June of that year. His sons James and Balthasar may have been living in 1700 but we do not know what children they may have had. They may have settled in the Azores where we believe Clement had business interests.

Jasper died, presumably in Cork, before 1690, the year his will was proved. His son William was born in Cork in 1662 and was a freeman of Waterford in 1686. In the reign of King William III the catholic were again forced out of business in Waterford and it seems that William withdrew to Cork.

We believe that William of Cork was the father of John who married Jane Swetnam in Cork in 1704, and of William who was recorded in Broseley, England, in 1718, and whom we regard as the ancestor of the Dublin/Roscrea family. It was John and William who, at the start of the 18th century, kept alive the merchant venturer tradition of the Waterford Woodlocks.

Jasper may also have been the father of Laurence Woodlock who married Elizabeth Lundy. Laurence and Elizabeth had a son John (Juan) who was born in Waterford in 1668 and later settled in Cadiz. Laurence himself may also have gone to Spain.

References

• The Woodlock Families of Ireland by Jack Terence Woodlock 1985