The Dalton Family

John Rooney

A Genealogical History of Irish Families

1895

Dalton family crest

(Crest No. 1. Plate 67.)

THE Dalton family is of Norman origin, and came to Ireland in the year 1172. The Daltons obtained large possessions in Westmeath and Annaly. The chief seat of the Daltons was at Mount Dalton, in the barony of Rathconrath, of which they were lords. Some of them were distinguished in the service of foreign states. The Daltons also held possessions in the present Counties of Waterford and Kilkenny. They soon became thoroughly Irish, and we find that in the reign of Henry the Sixth (1447) a statute was passed making it lawful for the mayor and citizens of Waterford to assemble forces “against the Powers, Walshes, Grants, and Daltons.”

John D’Alton, the genealogist and antiquarian, was a descendant of this family. He was born in the County of Westmeath in 1792. He was a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, and was called to the bar in 1813. His life was devoted almost wholly to the study of Irish antiquities, and he published a number of standard works on Irish history and archaeology. Among his most valuable productions are “Annals of Boyle,” “Lives of the Archbishops of Dublin,” “History of the County of Dublin,” and “King James’ Irish Army List.” He died in 1867.

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