Grace (No. 2.) family genealogy

Of Courtstown, County Kilkenny—continued

Arms: Same as “Grace,” No. 1.

John Grace, of Courtstown, county Kilkenny, had:

2. Oliver, who had:

3. John, who had:

4. Robert, who had:

5. Oliver, of Courtstown, who d. 6th July, 1637. He m. Joan, dau. and heir of Sir Ciprian Horsfall, of Inisharag, co. Kilkenny, Knt., and had four sons and two daus.:

1. John.
2. Redmond.
3. Cyprian.
4. Robert.[1]

The daughters were:

1. Margaret.
2. Ellen.

6. John Grace: son of Oliver; m. Lettice, dau. of Oliver Grace (died 1708), who is No. 5 on the “Grace” (No. 3) pedigree.

Notes

[1] Robert: Colonel Richard Grace, the younger son of Robert Grace, Baron of Courtstown, was born in the early part of the 17th century. He resided at Moyelly Castle, Queen’s County, and served King Charles I., in England, until the surrender of Oxford, in 1646; he then returned to Ireland, and was for some years engaged in the war of 1641-1652. He is referred to in State Papers as being at the head of 3,000 men, harassing the Parliamentary troops—now in Wicklow, and again beyond the Shannon. In 1652 a reward of £300 was by the English Government set upon his head; yet, at the conclusion of the war, he was permitted to enter the Spanish service with 1,200 of his men. After the Restoration he was appointed Chamberlain to the Duke of York. When James II. came to Ireland, Grace was appointed Governor of Athlone, with a garrison of three regiments of foot, and eleven troops of cavalry. After the battle of the Boyne, Athlone was invested by General Douglas with ten regiments of foot, and five of horse; but Grace, having burnt the English portion of the town, and broken down the bridge, defended the Connaught portion of the town with indomitable spirit. When called on to surrender, he fired a pistol over the messenger’s head, and declared: “These are my terms; these only will I give or receive; and, when my provisions are consumed, I will defend till I eat my old boots.” At the end of a week, Douglas was obliged to draw off, with the loss of 400 men. The town was again invested by De Ginkell in 1691. St. Ruth had meanwhile obliged Grace to exchange three of his veteran regiments for inferior French troops; nevertheless, he made a heroic defence under St. Ruth, and on the 30th June, 1691, after De Ginkell’s passage of the Shannon and the capture of the citadel on the Connaught side, Colonel Grace’s body was found under the ruins.

At the siege of Athlone, Colonel the Hon. Richard Grace, here mentioned, was among the killed; Colonels Art Oge MacMahon, and O’Gara, among the wounded; and Brig.-General Maxwell, among the prisoners. At Aughrim, Colonel O’Donnellan was wounded; and among the slain were O’Kelly of Mullaghmore, Lord Galway, and Stackpole—all fighting for King James II.