Family Origins
(A short (ish)
history lesson)
The origins of the Keppel family,
which settled in Ireland around 1700, are shrouded in mystery. The earliest
firm recorded date of the presence of anybody of the name is on a headstone in
Fenagh graveyard in Co. Carlow. This records the year of birth of a James
Keppel as being 1712. (Actually, it gives his date of death as the 24th
September 1789, and his age as 77 years)
The
decades preceding the early 1700s were a very turbulent time in Irish history.
(Although this could be said about almost any period in our country’s past!)
In 1685 a Catholic, James II,
succeeded as king of England. In Ireland Catholic hopes for the restoration of
their lands rose. They were encouraged in their hopes when James began a
process of putting Catholics into important positions in government. In
February 1687, for example, Richard Talbot, the earl of Tyrconnell was
appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland, the first Catholic to hold the position since
the Reformation.
In June 1688 a son was
born to James II. This caused alarm among English Protestants who feared a
succession of Catholic kings of England. Leading English politicians invited
the Dutch prince William of Orange to become king of England. By December 1688
James II had been compelled to abandon his throne and flee to France. These
events in England caused great commotion in Ireland. Naturally the Protestants
of the country declared their support for William of Orange, while the
Catholics on the other hand, fearing they would lose whatever limited rights
they had won, declared for King James.
In March 1688 James II landed at
Kinsale. He hoped that with the help of the Irish Catholics he could win back
the throne of England. A special Parliament was held in Dublin. At this
Parliament it was decided that those who were in possession of land before 1641
could now reclaim it. Since most Protestants had come into possession of their
lands after 1641, it meant that they would now lose them. However not all
Ireland supported King James; the Protestants of Ulster supported William of
Orange. It was clear war would have to be fought to decide who would eventually
own the land and thus the wealth of Ireland.
At
the battle of the Boyne, July 1690, the supporters of King James suffered a
major defeat. James immediately fled the country leaving his Irish army to fend
for themselves. Under the command of Patrick Sarsfield, they fought bravely but
were finally crushed at the Battle of Aughrim in Co. Galway. Sarsfield and the remainder of his men retreated
into the city of Limerick. This time there was no escape for them as the city
was surrounded on all sides. As there now seemed to be no hope of success and
to avoid further useless bloodshed, Sarsfield and his men decided to surrender
and thus brought the war to a close.
King William was now firmly in control of
Ireland, and the time had come to reap the spoils of war. The fate of Jacobite
landowners was fairly predictable. Any landowner who had supported James II was
attained for high treason and lost his estates. These were shared out among the
soldiers and supporters of the victorious William. Among the people who
accompanied William and Mary from Holland in 1688, was a nineteen-year-old page
of honour called Arnold Joost van Keppel.
Arnold seems to have been something of a
favourite of the King, as he was awarded the confiscated lands of Lord Clare of
Co. Clare. These amounted to some 80,000 acres, which he quickly sold for
£10,000. After the accession of William and Mary, Arnold was made groom of the
bedchamber and master of the robes. By letters patent of 10 Feb. 1696 he was
created Baron Ashford of Ashford in the county of Kent, Viscount Bury of Bury
in the country palatinate of Lancaster, and Earl of Albemarle, the latter being
a town and territory in the dukedom of Normandy. He was William’s constant
companion and on William’s deathbed, he handed to Arnold, the keys to his
cabinet and private drawers. ' You know what to do with them,' he said,
Arnold married in 1701, Geertruid Johanna
Quirina van der Duyn, daughter of Adama van der Duyn and had one son, William
Anne, born in 1702 (so-called because Queen Anne was his godmother) and a
daughter. Research into this family has shown that William was the only son of
Arnold. As the James Keppel mentioned previously, was born in 1712, he could
not have been a son of William.
Arnold had a brother, Jan Rebo van
Keppel, born about 1674, who married Cornelia Mechteld van Lijenden. Other than
this fact, I can find nothing about their descendants (if any).
The only other influx of immigrants
into Ireland around this time came from the Palatine region on the
French-German border. In the year 1709,
the French, under Louis XIV, drove seven thousand Protestant Lutherans from
their homes in the Palatinate. On hearing this news, Queen Anne sent ships for
them, and conveyed them to England. Grants were given by the Crown to permit
their settling in England and Ireland; but about half of the number proceeded
to North America.
Probably a few families stayed in England; and the
rest came to Ireland, and were chiefly located on the Southwell property, near
Rathkeale, county Limerick. Each man, woman, and child was allowed eight acres
of land, for which was to be paid five shillings an acre, yearly, forever. The
Government agreed to pay their rent for twenty years, in order to encourage the
Protestant interest in Ireland, and make them all freeholders. They supplied
every man with a good musket (called a Queen Anne piece) to protect himself and
his family.
Some of the Palatines
settled in Co. Carlow, some in Counties Laois, Tipperary, Wexford, Kerry, but
mostly in Co. Limerick.
In Carlow there is a village named
"Palatine"; so called, no doubt, from a settlement of those refugees
in that neighbourhood, Palatine is about ten miles from the village of Fenagh
which seems to have been the burial place of most of the early Keppels.
In a list containing
the names of Huguenot families naturalized in Great Britain and Ireland;
commencing 1681, in the reign of King Charles II, and ending in 1712, in the
reign of Queen Anne is found the name of “Cappel” In view of the many
discrepancies in the early spelling of the name, this fact is very interesting.
Other
Possibilities
It seems that more research must be
done to ascertain exactly where the Irish Keppels are from. As we are all
descended from one man, (James Keppel) only one possibility must be correct.
Either possibility will have its followers, and at the moment, no one can say
for certain, who is right or who is wrong.
This
has been a very long-winded explanation of the two main possibilities of the
origin of the Irish Keppels. My congratulations to you for reaching this point
without falling asleep!
Now we get to the main part of this
website.
The names and dates of all known Keppels and their
descendants.
Each
family member is given his/her own page and other pages can be reached by
clicking on the names themselves.
All
place names refer to areas in Co. Carlow, Ireland, unless clearly stated otherwise.
If you wish to re-publish any part of this site, please have the manners to ask first,
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