De Preastún

Rev Patrick Woulfe

Irish Names and Surnames

1923

de PREASTÚN—XI—de Preston, Preston; Norman 'de Preston,' i.e., of Preston, a common place-name in England. This surname is of record in Ireland since the middle of the 13th century. In 1361, Robert de Preston was knighted by Lionel, Duke of Clarence, and obtained a grant of the manor of Gormanstown; and his great-grandson, another Sir Robert Preston, was, in the year 1478, elevated to the peerage by the title of Viscount Gormanston. It was on the invitation of Nicholas, the sixth Viscount Gormanston, that the noblemen and gentry of the Pale assembled at the historic meeting on the Hill of Crofty in 1641. The Prestons took a prominent part in the Confederate wars, and Viscount Gormanston was exempted by Cromwell from pardon for life and estate. His son and successor, Jenico Preston, was likewise attainted in 1691. It was only in the year 1800 that these outlawries were removed and the family honours restored.

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