Rosseter family genealogy

“Mr. Walter Rosseter, father of Ignatius Rosseter, late of Wexford, Ireland, was son of Mr. John Rosseter, of the distinguished and ancient Catholic family of the Rosseters, of Rathmaknee, in the county of Wexford, and of Dame Margaret Rosseter, daughter of Mr. Philip Rosseter, of the noble and ancient house of Slevoie, in the same county of Wexford. Said Philip was paternal uncle of the illustrious Most Reverend Michael Rosseter, Bishop of Ferns, who died in the year 1709. The before-mentioned Mr. John Rosseter was son of Mr. Walter Rosseter, of the same renowned house of Rathmaknee, who left in patrimony to the aforesaid John, his son, several townlands and possessions. The mother of the said John was Dame Margaret Rosseter, which said Margaret was first cousin of Thomas Rosseter, Esq., Knight of the Shire for the county of Wexford—which Thomas was paternal uncle of Patrick and William Sarsfield. Said Patrick Sarsfield was Commander-in-Chief of Leinster, Earl of Lucan, and Generalissimo of the Forces of James the Second, in Ireland, a leader of most undoubted gallantry, in which position the said Patrick obtained most seasonable laws in favour of the Catholic Faith and Religion, and received the thanks of the Irish people; these were the “Conditions of Limerick,” obtained at the time when the Prince of Orange, with numerous forces, was invading the Kingdom of Ireland, with the intention of extirpating the Catholic Faith, root and branch. The before-named William Sarsfield, Knight, had for his wife, Mary Stewart, daughter of Charles the Second, King of England. The before-mentioned Mr. John Rosseter, father of the aforesaid Walter, grandfather of Ignatius aforesaid, late of Wexford, in Ireland (as stated above) was grandson of John Rosseter, Esq., heir and inheritor of the aforesaid distinguished house of Rathmaknee, and owner of several manors and possessions, in whose mansion-house, and with whom John, Archbishop of Fermo, Nuncio Apostolic, was in the habit of sojourning before the arrival of Oliver Cromwell into Ireland. Said John Rosseter had nine sisters all of whom were joined in matrimony with knights and esquires; one of them was Dame Mary Rosseter, wife of Philip Devereux, knight, heir, and head of the renowned house of Ballimager. Another, Dame Margaret Rosseter, wife of Richard Synnott, knight, heir, and head of the famed house of Ballytrinan, and a third sister was Catherine Rosseter, wife of John French, Esq., heir and head of the noble and Catholic family of Ballitory, of whom was born the illustrious Right Reverend Nicholas French, Bishop of Ferns. A fourth was Anastatia, wife of James Wadding. Esq., heir and head of the ancient Catholic house of Ballycogly, of whom was born the illustrious Right Reverend Luke Wadding, Bishop of Ferns, who died in 1687. and was the successor of the before-mentioned Bishop French, and was succeeded by the Right Reverend Michael Rosseter, who died Bishop of Ferns in 1709, as before stated. Thus the three Right Reverend successors in the Episcopacy of Ferns, were grandsons of Mr. Philip Rosseter aforenamed * * * and of Walter, father of Ignatius, named at the beginning.

There were many others of the aforesaid family of Rosseters Clergymen of distinguished sanctity, and Military men of singular daring and courage, who with incredible constancy, against the enemies of the Faith, fought in the front of battle, and bore the Standard of Christ, with firm foot and dauntless heart, against all the threats of tyrants—never flinching their colours from the day they came from England into Ireland, in the year 1170, and reign of Henry the Second. Descended of an illustrious race in Lincolnshire, that city and shire had many renowned families of Rosseters, and at that time were among the chief and leading men of England, and History, both English and Irish, attests that this family of Rosseters stood among the very first in Ireland.”