User:Kaliforniyka/House of Boyle

The Boyle family, also known as the House of Boyle, is a noble British family. Boyle is a common Irish and Scottish surname, but the noble House of Boyle all descended from an ancient landed family in Herefordshire, England. Its titles include the Earldoms of Cork, Orrery and Shannon, all in the Peerage of Ireland, and Glasgow in the Peerage of Scotland.

Anthroponymy
Boyle is a common surname of Norman  or Gaelic origin. The Norman origin of Boyle is traced to a settlement called Biéville, once spelled Boiavilla, near Caen, or possibly Old French from Bovelles in the Somme. (See also the surname Bowles.) Normans who came to England during the conquest are believed to be the origin of the Boyles who were ennobled.

Centuries after the conquest, these Boyles of England went to Ireland and were given titles mostly in the Peerage of Ireland, which, because of the popularity of the Boyle name in Ireland, leads some to believe the English nobles were Irish. The native Boyles of Ireland take their name from Ó Baoighill (spelling variations include Ó Baoigheall, Ó Bhaeighill, Uí Baoighill, etc.). Ó Baoighill means "descendant of Baoighill" and became anglicised as Boyle, O'Boyle, Boghill, Boyall, Boal and Boyles. There are multiple suggestions for the meaning of the name Baoighill, including the Irish word for pledge, geall, or peril, baoghal. The Boyle surname is particularly common in northwest Ireland as the first Ó Baoigheall is believed to be descended from legendary King Érimón in Tyrconnell (today's County Donegal), and the O'Boyles were among the principal branches of the Cenél Conaill.

Ancestry
The lineage of the Boyles of Herefordshire has been traced as far back as Hunfrid de Buiuile who was born around 1046 in Normandy. His earliest identified descendant in England, Ludovic (or Louis/Lewis) Boyle, lived in Herefordshire during the time of Henry III. Ludovic's 4x great-grandson, also named Ludovic Boyle (and who has also been called Louis) of Bidney founded a friary in Hereford in the reign of Henry VI. This second Ludovic Boyle married Elizabeth Russell, daughter of William Russell of Hereford, and had two sons, John and Roger.

Roger Boyle married Jane, daughter of Thomas Patishall of Hereford, with whom he had a daughter, Elizabeth, and at least three sons, John, Roger and Michael. (Burke's Peerage does not name a fourth son, but other publications have listed a fourth named Hugh.) All of the sons were born in London, but Richard and Michael moved to Ireland.


 * 1) John, the eldest son, inherited the family estate in Herefordshire while his younger brothers Roger and Michael moved to Ireland. John married Alice Haworth, daughter of Alexander Haworth of Burhope Hall in Hereforshire, and had two sons, Thomas and James; James' descendant by the same name was James Boyle, Sheriff of Herefordshire, in 1587.
 * 2) Roger, the second son, moved to Canterbury and was the patriarch of the Boyle family that went on to greatness in Britain. In 1564, he married Joan Naylor, and had two sons who both went to Ireland:
 * 3) Rt Reverend John Boyle, Bishop of Cork and Bishop of Cloyne
 * 4) Richard Boyle, who left Kent for Ireland in 1588, was the first of the family to become ennobled when he was made Lord Boyle, Baron of Youghal in 1616, followed by  Earl of Cork all in the Irish Peerage in 1620.
 * 5) Michael Boyle (died 2 February 1597), the third son, went to London and became a merchant. He married Jane, daughter and coheir to William Peacock of London, and had 11 sons and two daughters, including:
 * 6) Michael, the third son, was Bishop of Waterford and Lismore. He had a son by the same name,
 * 7) Michael Boyle, who was the Archbishop of Armagh. He married firstly Margaret, daughter of Rev. George Synge, Bishop of Cloyne and after her death, married secondly Mary O'Brien, daughter of Baron Inchiquin, with whom he had:
 * 8) Murrough Boyle, who in 1673 was created Viscount Blesington and Baron Boyle, both in the Peerage of Ireland and both with special remainder to the heirs male of his father. He married firstly, Mary Parker, daughter of John Parker, Archbishop of Dublin; married secondly Lady Anne Coote, daughter of Charles Coote, 2nd Earl of Mountrath, with whom he had one son:
 * 9) Charles Boyle, 2nd Viscount Blesington, married firstly Rose Coote, daughter of Col. Richard Coote, and married secondly 1709, Martha Matthews, daughter of Samuel Matthews of Bonnettstown. They had only one son, Murrough, who was baptised in July 1710 and died five months later. The two titles became extinct upon the death of the second viscount in 1732.
 * 10) Martha, who married Sir William Davys,
 * 11) Honora, who, twice widowed, married Thomas Cromwell, 3rd Earl of Ardglass, Francis Cuffe, and Sir Thomas Burdett, 1st Baronet, of Dunmore.
 * 12) Richard Boyle, Archbishop of Tuam
 * 13) Sir George Boyle, who died unmarried.

Earl of Cork
In 1602, Richard Boyle purchased all 12,000 acres of Sir Walter Raleigh's estates in Counties Cork, Tipperary and Waterford. Raleigh, who fell out of royal favour after impregnating one of Queen Elizabeth's ladies-in-waiting and married her without permission, was forced to sell his land, which Boyle bought for only £1,500, equivalent to £103,000 in the early 2000s.

Richard Boyle sat in the Irish House of Commons as an MP for Lismore from 1613-15. On 6 May 1616, he was created Lord Boyle, Baron of Youghal in the Peerage of Ireland. He was further created Earl of the County of Corke (sic) and Viscount of Dungarvan, on 26 October 1620, also in the Peerage of Ireland. He was made Lord Justice of Ireland in 1629 and Lord High Treasurer of Ireland from 1631–43.

By 1618, two decades after he left England, Boyle was the richest man in Ireland. By 1630, he was believed to be the richest man in all of Britain.

Boyle married twice, firstly to Joan Apsley in 1595. She was the daughter and co-heir of William Apsley of Limerick, an inherited an estate that brought them £500 a year. They had no surviving children before she died in 1599. In 1603, he married secondly, Catherine Fenton, daughter of Sir Geoffrey Fenton, the Principal Secretary of State for Ireland. They had 13 children before her death in 1629/30:
 * 1) Roger Boyle (1606–1615)
 * Lady Alice Boyle (1607–1667) married David Barry, 1st Earl of Barrymore
 * Lady Sarah Boyle (1609–1633), married firstly Sir Thomas Moore, secondly Robert Digby, 1st Baron Digby
 * 1) Lady Lettice Boyle (1610–1657), married Colonel George Goring, Lord Goring
 * 2) Lady Joan Boyle (1611–1657), married George FitzGerald, 16th Earl of Kildare ("the Fairy Earl")
 * 3) Richard Boyle, 2nd Earl of Cork (1612– 1698), who was created Baron Clifford of Lanesborough in 1644 and Earl of Burlington in 1664. He was attainted in 1689 by King James II but restored the next year. he married Lady Elizabeth Clifford, daughter of the Earl of Cumberland, from whom she inherited the Barony of Clifford.
 * 4) Lewis Boyle, who was created Viscount Boyle of Kinalmeaky and Baron of Bandon Bridge (both 1628 in the Irish peerage).
 * 5) Roger Boyle, created Lord Boyle, Baron of Borghill (1628) and Earl of Orrery (1660).


 * Richard Boyle, 2nd Earl of Cork and 1st Earl of Burlington (1612–1698), Lord High Treasurer of Ireland (1660–1695).
 * Lady Katherine Boyle (1615–1691), married Arthur Jones, 2nd Viscount Ranelagh
 * Hon. Geoffrey Boyle
 * Lady Dorothy Boyle, married Sir Arthur Loftus of Rathfarnham and was the mother of Adam Loftus, 1st Viscount Lisburne
 * Lewis Boyle, 1st Viscount Boyle of Kinalmeaky (1619–1642), succeeded under special remainder by his older brother Richard
 * Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery (1621–1679)
 * Francis Boyle, 1st Viscount Shannon
 * Lady Mary Boyle, married Charles Rich, 4th Earl of Warwick
 * Hon. Robert Boyle (1627–1691), author of The Sceptical Chymist; considered to be the father of modern chemistry
 * Lady Margaret Boyle
 * Hon. Robert Boyle (1627–1691), author of The Sceptical Chymist; considered to be the father of modern chemistry
 * Lady Margaret Boyle