BARON XIII Sir James Fleming (1440) a knight, the 13th Baron of Slane, and a Peer of Parliament during the reign of King Edward IV, married Elizabeth Wells. By an act of parliament he was also made sheriff of Meath county for one year. He died 1491. During his term, the Irish were busy trying to make their Home Rule work and the British were content to let them alone. Life in the castle of Slane was like living in a prison until the neighbors became acquainted with the Baron and his family. His son inherited the Barony. BARON XIV Sir Christopher Fleming (1473) 14th Baron of Slane married Lady Elizabeth FitzGerald, the daughter of the Earl of Kildare. He was 18 years old at his father's death. An inquisition brought out the incident that Christopher founded a cell for Frairs to pray for the souls of himself and family. the cell was a chapel in the cemetery of the Hill of Slane. It was necessary for Christopher to get along with the Catholics of Ireland. A picture of the cell is included herewith. A plaque on the building reads as follows: "Founded by Franciscans on the site of early Celtic monastery in 1512. Dissolved in 1540 and granted to James Fleming (XV) whose desendants (Patrick) in 1631 attempted to reinstall a community of Capuchin Friars here but was expelled by Cromwell." Christopher was appointed by King Henry VIII in 1512 as Lord High Treasurer of Ireland. He was first summoned to parliament in 1506 by King Henry VII. He died 18 Sep 1520 leaving his only son James as heir. BARON XV James Fleming (1511) became the 15th Baron of Slane. He was age 9 years at this fathers death in 1519. By patent, dated 30 Sep 1540, King Henry VIII made him Lord Justice of Ireland. He sat in the famous Parliament held the following year in which King Henry VIII was made KING OF IRELAND. This Lord James Fleming was twice married. first to Lady Alice FitzGerald, daughter of Gerald, Earl of Kildate and second to Elizabeth the daughter of Christopher Plunkett, Lord Kileen. He died 1577 when the peerage created by the summons of his grandfather Sir James Fleming, became in abeyance between his two sisters, Catherine and Elinor, among those heirs it still remains (1829). The estate was settled in 1568. The Barony went to his heirs as indicated on the chart. James apparently disinherited his own son and his heirs in favor of his cousin. The peerage report does not mention anyone not officially considered an heir. It reported James death in 1577, but it did not say "without issue". In a biography of Patrick Fleming, a Fransiscan Friar, it claims Patrick's father, Gerald, was a great grandson of Christopher, the 14th Baron of Slane. Since he was a friar of the Catholics, and since there was much terrible bitterness between Catholics and Protestants, James disinherited his son, Patrick. James' nephew, Thomas inherited the barony. "Patrick 1599-1631, a Franciscan Friar, born 17 April 1599, at Bel-Atha-Lagain, county of Louth, Ireland. His father, Gerald was a great granson of Christopher the 14th Baron of Slane, and treasurer of Ireland. His mother was Elizabeth Cusck of Cushingtown. At age, he was sent by is parents to Flanders and placed under the care of his uncle Christopher Cussack. He was a noted Catholic lecturer and was killed by peasants in Bohemia, 17 Nov 1641 near Beneschau. He was buried at the Monastery near there." This was copied from the Oxford Encyclopedia. BARON XVI Thomas Fleming (1540) the 16th Baron of Slane. He was summoned to the Parliament of Queen Elizabeth in 1585. Lord Thomas Fleming died 9 Nov 1597. He died without issue, thus four creations by whit, successively, became in abeyance among co-heirs. His third cousin, William was decreed the inheritor. BARON XVII William Fleming (1570) the 17th Baron of Slane of Derpatrick succeeded his cousin in the manor or Barony of Slane of which he had livery 1605. He never sat in Parliament. He married Elinor Fleming the daughter of Thomas Fleming the 15th Baron of Slane, by whom he had three sons, first Christopher his heir, second George Fleming of Stephenstown, and third James Fleming of Staholrnock and Derpatrick. He died 1612 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Christopher. Again, a son was apparently disinherited and disowned because he was a Catholic. As recorded in the oxford Encyclopedia: Thomas 1593-1666 Archbishop of Dublin, third son of William, 17th Baron of Slane, by his cousin, Elinor, younger daughter of Thomas 16th Baron of Slane, was born 1592. He became a friar and was professor of theology at Louvain. He was a leader in most political and religious controversies in Ireland during the years 1623-1666. There is a discrepancy between the oxford biography and the peerage office on the number of Barons of Slane. The Oxford biography says Thomas was the 15th Baron and William was the 16th Baron. The peerge report says Thomas was the 16th Baron and William was the 17th Baron. That discripancy was probably caused by the Catholics disagreeing with who was a Baron. BARON XVIII Christopher Fleming (1595) became the 18th Baron of Slane. He was the eldest son of William. He had livery of his estate 24 Nov 1613. He was summoned to parliament by King James I. he therby acquited a peerage descendible to his heris general. Lord Christopher married Elinor daughter of sir Patrick Barnwall of Turvey by whom he had six sons. Thomas his heir, William, John, Patirck, James and Lawrence. The last four died without issue. His 2nd son William, inherited the Barony. Thomas Fleming Sir Thomas Fleming (1617) heir to the Barony of Slane at the death of his father Christopher 29 June 1625, renounced the title. Being a friar in the Order of St. Francis, Thomas renounced his rights to his next brother William, AND, being excluded from the estates by his father's settlement, he petitioned the King in 1629 that his brother William might enjoy the dignity of Baron of Slane, so the estate went to William and his heirs male of his body. Thomas Fleming resided in his convent in the Nertherlands until the year 1642, when he returned to Ireland at the Pope's request, during the Irish-Catholic revolt against the Protestant-English government. He proceeded to Kilkenny, where "he attended to the public good, resorting from time to time to the house of his brother-in-law, the Viscount of Clanmorris; but at last finding that things did not prosper at Kilkenny, he went to county Louth, and made up six or severn well-armed men and by witty and find stratagems, took twelve garrisons in that country. He spared no labor night or day in that province. Either in their sleep, march or otherwise, where or when the enemy least expected, this religious warrior did come upon them, to their mighty prejudice, either taking by assault, or demolishing by fire, their garrisons, at the loss of their proper lives. There were many other Friars doing the same thing by order of the Pope and it is estimated there were 10,000 Protestans killed between 1642-1649. BARON XIX William Fleming (1619) 19th Baron of Slane, married Lady Anne MacDonnell the daughter of Randall, Earl of Antrum, the widow of Lord Delvin by whom she had four sons: Charles, Randall, Michael and Thomas. His elder son, Charles inherited the Barony when he was about one year old. Baron Willliam died in battle in oct 1641, when the Old English Asistocrats joined the Catholics in a siege of Drogheda to drive out King Charles I from Ireland. His own brother, Thomas did much of the killing. The following years, 1642. King Charles II, had to go into exile for two years because they were Protestants. Baron William was killed in the battle of Julianstown Bridge, near Drogheda, Ireland. BARON XX Charles Fleming (1645) 20th Baron of Slane, did not marry. He was expected from pardon for life and estate by Cromwell's Act for the settlement of Ireland in 1652. He with his step-brother, Lord Westmeath, maintained the royal cause to the last moment in Ireland; and, subsequently, with 10,000 troops, entered the service of Louis IV of France, in which he lost his life in Italy in 1661. He died un-married and was succeeded by his next brother, Randall. BARON XXI Randall Fleming (1636) 21st Baron of Slane, succeeded his brother after the Restoration of King Charles II. The Roll of Innocent Papists recite "that Charles Lord Slane, brother of Randall, now of Slane, was dead and that Randall had been disposed of the estates of their father, William, Lord Slane, by the usurping powers declares them innocent and orders Randall to be restorted to his estate. The "Usurping Powers" were the Catholic Friars and Gaelic Irish killing the Protestant English rulers of the country. While Randall was Baron of Slane, in 1649, King Charles II sent Cromwell to Ireland with 20,000 disciplined and armed troops. They landed in Dublin and marched north into Slane where they killed 3,500 men and women, the leaders of the Catholic rebellion. Randall was murdered 22 Oct 1676. He did all he could to avoid the trouble between the Catholics and English rulers. The tension was great, it isn't known by me which side murdered him. His eldest son, Christopher (by his 2nd wife) inherited the Barony. BARON XXII (The last Fleming Baron) Christopher Fleming 91669) 22nd Baron of Slane, was 7 years old when his father, Randall was murdered. He as born 1669. He married in 1684 to Elenor Trant, daughter of Sir Patrick Trant Paris by whom he had only one daughter Ellen. Ellen died un-married in Paris in 1748. The House of Lords gave him the title of "Lord of Slane". He sat in the "Pretended Parliament" of James II, in 1689, and took an active part in support of that monarch. Christopher was the last Baron of Slane. He lost the Barony for the family as a result of the following events. KING JAMES II King James II fell heir to the Throne in 1685, and he also fell heir to the Catholic-Protestant War. His greatest weakness was that he tried to please everybody and consiquently pleased nobody. He was described as a cheerful, pleasant, nice looking young Catholic. He established a Parliament in Ireland called "Patriotic Parliament" but the same parliament is called "Pretended Parliament" by the English peerage office. James wanted to include Catholics in the Parliament but the Lords of Scotland and England voted against it. James then began releasing all Protestant officers from the rmy and appointing Catholics to take their place. This resulted in creating a tension between Protestants and Catholics. A century before, thousands of Protestants were massacred in France and the Irish Protestants knew it would also happen to them. When the tension was at its height, an anonymous letter was found on the street in Derry, warning all Protestants that all men, women and children would be murdered by the Catholics, 9 Dec 1688, just one week away. That letter scared everybody. At this same time King James landed an army near Derry. It was a routine relief army to relieve certain garrisons. The people of Derry thought it was the Catholic army coming to massacre them. While the officers were visiting the Governor to get permission to pass through the town, thirteen men suddenly decided to stop the massacre before it started and they blocked the gate with swords and raised the drawbridge when the King's army was only sixty feet from the bridge. That was quiet a shock to the King's troops as they stood there wondering what to do next. One young protestant, looking over the city wall said in a loud voice, "put that great gun right here". The King's army immediately scatterd and retreated back up the road. No amount of explaining could get those men to open the gates. That was the begining of the seven-month siege of Derry. During that seige King James II age 56 was deposed and King William age 38 was elected by Parliament in 1689. Since King James had no friends except those in Ireland, he landed in Kinsale, 12 March 1689, and visited all the Barons in Ireland to raise an army to defeat King Williams' army. The Barrons were caught between the Gaelic Catholics and the English army. The Catholics backed James because they thought he would give them land. King William sent reinforcements to Derry which was under the command of Governor lundy, a trusted "friend" of the king. Governor Lundy turned out to be a traitor and it was not until the people of Derry discovered it that the siege was finally broken. King James then began a retreat which ended at the battle of Boyne." There is more, but not about our Flemings...it is about the battle of Boyne..etc Hope this has helped some of you out..and the ones that asked for it find it here. Wilma Fleming Haynes [email protected]