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From: Denis Lawless <>
Subject: Re Origin of LAWLESS name
Date: Wed, 08 Mar 2000 02:35:15 GMT

DESCENDANTS OF SIR HUGH de LAIGHLEIS

Though the surname Lawless is formed from the old English word Laghles
meaning an
outlaw, it may , as far as Ireland is concerned, be regarded as falling
in the Anglo-Norman
category. Following the invasion in 1172, the name Laghles, Laules,
Lawles appears
frequently in medieval records up to the end of the 16th. century
throughout Leinster and
Munster, particularly in Co. Kilkenny, and in due course they became one
of the "Ten
Tribes of Kilkenny" In the 13th. century several of the names were
prominent at New Ross
and other places in Co. Wexford. The family was linked with Ballycorus
as early as the
13th century.

In the twelfth century Dermot Mac Murrough, King of Leinster, was about
to be crushed
by Roderick O'Connor the mightiest of Ireland's Kings. Panic stricken
Dermot went to the
feet of King Henry the second swearing temporary allegiance. (He invited
the
Anglo-Norman invasion in 1169) Henry, yearning to possess himself of
Ireland, assured
him of assistance to recover the Kingly position he had lost. An
armament, for the express
purpose of invading Ireland, and rendering her subjects to English
domination, was
prepared at Milford Haven and awaited the signal to sail for Waterford.
Mac Murrough
saw not through the cajolery of King Henry.

On the 18th October, 1172 some hundred ships weighed anchor from Milford
Haven (a
seaport town on the west coast of Wales), and after a short voyage,
glided into the harbour
at Waterford. The army of King Henry, on this occasion, consisted of
four hundred
Knights and several thousand men-at-arms. Amongst the Knights was Sir
Hugh de
Laighleis of Hoddesdon, County Herford. The ancestor of Sir Hugh was
David, Duke of
Normandy. An English footing was now established in Ireland, by cajolery
rather than by
force of arms.

Henry worked on the Irish Synod, then sitting in conclave at Cashel. His
intimacy with
Pope Adrian, who was a brother Saxon, stood him in good stead. As a
result of certain
Bulls from Pope Adrian, an almost bloodless conquest of Ireland
resulted. Through the
influence of the Synod, the entire nation was induced to submit to
Henry. No sooner had
the Norman Knights set their feet upon the Island, than they at once
desired to possess a
share of the golden valleys and fertile pasture lands. Henry was
desirous of rewarding his
faithful Knights, and as he had no land to spare in England, he gladly
distributed amongst
them the Irish manors which he only knew by name.

One there was situated in the vicinity of Dublin, that made the Norman
mouth of Sir Hugh
de Laighleis water. It went by the name of the Manor of Shanganagh and
was a most
ethereal spot. Slumbering beneath the mountain parish of Killiney, and
sheltered by the
umbrageous foliage of Old Connaught, the vale of Shanganagh, with
outstretched arms,
while embracing a creek of the dark blue ocean, grasped into a focus all
the naturally
picturesque beauty of that eminently rich district.


Sir Hugh de Laighleis heard of the exquisite scenery of Shanganagh and
made a personal
pilgrimage to the spot. He asked King Henry to make it his for evermore.
His Majesty
heard the request, complied with it, and from that moment Shanganagh
became the
property, or as the attorney said, who drew up the deed of
settlement-the "fee simple" of
Sir Hugh.

The old age of Sir Hugh de Laighleis did find a home in the vale of
Shanganagh. He
married, erected a castle near the water's edge, and lived, and died,
after "a long life of
labour," within it. The dichotomised ruins of this old castle were still
visible and could be
observed from a great distance in the later part of the 19th century

By a very old family escutcheon, which remained in the possession of the
Lawless family
of Shankhill, we find that Sir Hugh had a son named Richard. Beneath
this heraldic devise
was an unfurled scroll, bearing the following inscription:- "Sir Hugh
Lawles, Knight, sent a
deede sealed with his arms, dated ye first yeare of King Edward ye 3rd,
unto his son
Richard Lawles, of all his lands of ye manor of Shanganagh."

As King Edward III was in his first year as king in 1327 we must
conclude that the above
was not the original Hugh who came to Ireland in 1172. It would be
impossible, with any
degree of accuracy, to trace the genealogical descent from Sir Hugh de
Laighles, however
some names, dates and family connections are available in historical
reference books.

In a short time the family had built manors, not only near Bray in the
vale of Shanganagh,
but also in Kilruddery, Corkagh and Old Connacht, all in the Bray area.
The castles and
fortifications which they built were to defend their lands from the
Irish tribesmen in the
mountains.

As early as the year 1285, Thomas Laghles appears on Irish record as
constable at
Connaught. That same year Sir William Laghles obtained from the Barrets
a considerable
tract of country in and near the parish of Killala (Co. Mayo). In 1312
Richard Laghles was
Provost of Dublin. He is alleged to have averted a famine in the city by
his stern and cruel
treatment of the bakers. They were found using false weights in dealing
with the public.
Upon hearing of this injustice, Richard sentenced them to be drawn
through the streets,
tied to horse's tails.

In 1318 Hugh Laghles, Knight, and father of Richard, was commissioned to
parley with
the Irishry of the south-eastern parts of "The Pale". He was constable
at Bray and resigned
his Post in 1319 due to the devastating Irish raids. In 1346, Robert
Laghles, son of Provost
Richard Laghles, was appointed Public Guardian of the Peace, in county
Dublin, with the
power to access and array therein.

"Franciscan Ireland" by Patrick Conlon states that Gerald Laghles was a
Franciscan
Minister Provincial up to 1353, at a time when Norman influence began to
predominate in
ecclesiastical affairs.

Stephen Laghles, Chancellor of the Cathedral of Limerick, succeeded
Bishop Rochford on
the 13th day of May 1354. He died on Innocent's Day 1359. In 1431
another Stephen
Laghles was a mitred Abbot of the religious House of the Blessed Virgin
at Dublin.

Maurice & James Lawles are successively mentioned as farmers under the
Crown of Bray
Manor. In 1368 Hugh Lawles was tried for unjustly ejecting William
Lawles (son of
Thomas Lawles) from the lands of Old Connaught. In 1386 King Richard, at
the instance
of William Lawles, Nicholas Lawles and Simon Lawles merchant, all of
Dublin County,
committed to James Lawles, the custody of the lands in le Bree (Bray),
which William
Archbold had then lately held of the Crown.

In 1408 Thomas Lawles undertook to build a castle at Shanganagh. He held
the seigniory
of Shanganagh (in the Parish of Rathmichael) from the Vicar Choral of
St. Patrick's
Cathedral. In 1409 King Henry granted to John Eytelay the lands in Old
Connaght,
Kilrothery, Corkragh and Shanganagh, which had been the estate of
Richard Lawles, to
hold same during the minority of Aveline, his daughter and heiress.
These lands were later
owned by Hugh Lawles.

In 1473 the Vicars of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, petitioned
Parliament, stating that
they and their predecessors were seised of the seigniory of Shanganagh
from time
immemorial, had leased it to Thomas Lawless, and had also leased 80
acres within said
seigniory to Edmund Wash, who disavowed their authority, and would pay
no rent. From
the Lawless family these townlands passed over to the Walshes, who as
"Irish rebels and
Papists" are frequently alluded to in the old chronicles of Dublin.

Shanganagh, about this time passed out of the hands of the family but
the Lawlesses were
too much attached to the old property not to re-establish themselves as
soon as possible in
its immediate vicinity. They did this by erecting a castle at Shankhill
and a dwelling-house
at Cherrywood-townlands situated within a stone's throw of Shanganagh.
In the 15th
century the Lawlesses were in possession of considerable landed property
in Kilkenny.

Another branch of the Lawles family was seated at the castle of Roebuck,
near Dublin, for
almost a century or at least until 1690. The property was lost in the
Williamite Wars.
History books contain pictures of the Towers of Lusk, Co. Dublin, which
were the home
of many Lawless families.

Rush...Co. Dublin, Barony of Balrothery East, Parish of Lusk, in the
District of
Balrothery. Abstract from Irish Memorials: (Tombstones) Vol. 7, P.42
(Lusk Graveyard)
"This stone & burial place belongs to James Lawless of Belingstown,
farmer. Here lyeth
the body of Bridget wife of Sd. James who died Sept13th, 1747 age 63.
Also 4 of their
children. Here also lyeth the body of Sd. James Lawless who died May 5th
1755 age 44.

There were numerous Lawless families in the Baronies of Co. Dublin. The
Parish of Lusk,
in Northern Ireland, once had numerous castles built by members of the
Lawless families.

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