Col. Hon. Robert Stewart, 4th Baronet of Castle Stuart

Col. Hon. Robert Stewart, 4th Baronet of Castle Stuart is my/our first cousin 12 times removed.
Janet Milburn 4/28/22
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Robert Stewart of Irry (1598–1662) was a colonel in the army, he was a prominent figure in the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and afterwards defended against the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland as Governor of the Castles of Antrim and Toome. His home outside Stewartstown, Co. Tyrone - Irry, sometimes also spelt Eary - was later renamed Stuart Hall by his grandson, the 7th Baron Castle Stewart. He died at Roughan Castle. His first marriage to Catherine O'Neill, granddaughter of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, directly allied him to the Catholic leaders of the Irish Rebellion of 1641. Stewart was duly appointed an officer in the rebel forces by his wife's cousin, the leader of the rebellion, Sir Felim O'Neill of Kinard. It appears that he switched alliances during the Rebellion. he relieved the Fort of Dungannon, and that of Mountjoy Castle, when at point of surrender to the rebels. Attacking the besiegers with a very inferior force, he dispersed them and drove them back into the mountains of Altadesert and Slieugallen. His early activities against the victorious English miraculously managed to escape their notice until twelve years later, by which time he had become a loyal servant of Parliament. He was exonerated from having played any part in support of the Rebellion, and therefore retained both his land and his life. Following the Rebellion, Colonel Stewart was appointed Governor of the Castles of Antrim and Toome. He defended both forts until the final settlement of Ireland under Oliver Cromwell in 1649, when he was forced to capitulate on honourable terms to General Robert Venables. He died at Roughan Castle, which he had inherited from his elder brothers. He had four children. The eldest Andrew became eligible to claim the family title of Baron of Castle Stewart but he declined it. It had been taken away by the daughter (who conveyed the estates to her husband, Henry Howard, 5th Earl of Suffolk) of Andrew's cousin, the 3rd Baron Castlestewart, Andrew did not think it fit to claim the title. The title remained dormant until Andrew's grandson, Andrew Thomas Stewart (1725–1809), successfully petitioned George III and restored the family title in 1774, becoming the 9th Baron Castle Stewart. Though the 9th Baron was unsuccessful in his attempt to establish his claim to the Barony of Ochiltree (created for his ancestor in 1543), in 1793 he was created 1st Viscount Castle Stuart, and then in 1800, the Earl Castle Stewart of Co. Tyrone.

       Wikipedia Sources: Lives of illustrious and distinguished Irishmen: Volume 3, Part 1 by James Wills, 1840  Ireland from Independence to Occupation, 1641-1660, by Jane H. Ohlmeyer, 2002  The peerage of Ireland: or, A genealogical history by Mervyn Archdall, 1789 [The detailed paragraph above is an interesting romantic view of Col. Robert Stewart written by Jane Ohlmeyer in her 2002 book. The romance is how he married a daughter of the O'Neill family and cousin of the leader of the 1641 Irish rebellion. Imagine a governing Stewart marrying an Irish O'Neill! Distant cousin Sir Robert Stewart of Culmore was always fighting O'Neill during the Civil War to defend Robert's governorship of Castle Culmore and sometimes governor of Londonderry. No children came from the Stewart marriage to an O'Neill so it is not so interesting to genealogy. At present we have a slightly different version of this Robert Stewart line which led to their resuming the title of Baron of Castle Stewart. We now have Robert the son of Col. Robert who became the 6th Baron of Castle Stewart. Then his son Andrew b1672 was the 7th Baron. The eldest of Andrew also an Andrew left Ireland for the Paxtang Community of Lancaster Co.(then), Pennsylvania, America. The younger sons David and John plus sister Rebecca McClung all left for Augusta Co., Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley. Only the second born, Robert remained in Ireland to take the title of 8th Baron of Castle Stewart. Then it was this Robert's line which succeeded in achieving the Earldom of Castle Stewart. So there are different versions of this important line but they all come out about the same. from Gary Allen Singleton]]

Robert's son named Robert had the descendants which later became the Earls of Castle Stewart of N. Ireland. Much of the rest of the elder Robert's descendants moved to America in the 1700's. Robert's first cousin Thomas Stewart of Glasgow, Scotland b1590 had a family line which emigrated to America to the same township in Pennsylvania where Robert's moved. They all helped establish Presbyterian Churches there.
Stewart family citations regarding the father of Robert, named Andrew Stewart 1st Baron of CastleStewart, N. Ireland say his grandson, George Stewart bc1625 in Scotland died in Termon, County Donegal, far north of Ireland and Ulster. He was called George Stewart of Termon. At least three lines of Andrew's family immigrated to Pennsylvania: FIRST, six brothers to Lancaster County before 1736 & then purchased property in Paxtang/S. Hanover Twp, SECOND, Andrew b1698 to Paxtang Twp., Lancaster Co.in the 1730's, THIRD, Archibald b1695 to Chester Co., PA then moved to Paxtang Twp, Lancaster Co. by 1735 and died in Augusta, VA. Two other siblings of Archibald settled in Augusta Co., Virginia and many lines of this family remained in Virginia for generations. George Stewart of Termon, Donegal, Ireland bc1625, the first of this family line to live in Donegal, far northern part of Ireland/Ulster, was the great uncle of the SECOND & THIRD AND THOSE WHO ENDED UP IN VIRGINIA(one was Rebecca Stewart who married John McClung). Before Andrew Stewart Baron of CastleStewart, they came from the Stewarts of Ochiltree, Scotland. The family line from Ochiltree to Donegal, Ireland/Ulster, from Andrew Stewart to George Stewart is given in citations in the Stewart family trees. Their fourth cousins, also coming from Andrew Stewart, Master of Ochiltree, Scotland, emigrated as well to Paxtang/S. Hanover/Drumore Townships, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, two in 1735 and the other siblings before 1730. They were Samuel and Lazarus Stewart from Dromore, County Down, Ireland/Ulster(Drumore was "named after Dromore (Irish: Droim Mór), County Down, Ireland, with which it has been twinned since 1996." from Wkipedia: Drumore). Samuel was one of the early settlers of Drumore Township, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and later he moved up to Paxtang/S. Hanover, Harrisburg. Lazarus settled in S. Hanover Township, Lancaster, PA very near the present-day Harrisburg, capital of Pennsylvania. Lazarus started the Old Hanover Presbyterian Church and was in the historic Paxtang Presbyterian Church by 1729 when they obtained their first pastor. Right in the middle between Old Hanover, Paxtang churches and Drumore Church was the earliest church and considered the "mother" church located in Donegal Township, Lancaster, PA. That was where George Stewart of the Stewart family settled after he immigrated from Donegal, Ireland/Ulster by 1710.. This George Stewart was a great grandson of Robert Stewart of Culmore, Ireland mentioned above. After the British Civil War Robert's son, George married Elizabeth Blair daughter of Rev. James Blair of Dunskey Castle, Wigtownshire, Scotland. George and Elizabeth lived at the former home of this Stewart branch called Tonderghie, Wigtownshire. Their son Sir Charles of Tonderghie and Barcly was born there in 1666. This Charles was the father of George Stewart of Donegal and Margaret Stewart who married Lazarus Stewart in Drumore, Ulster before 1710. George went to Pennsylvania by 1710 and his sister and Lazarus were in Pennsylvania by circa 1725. They were ardent Presbyterian Covenanters who established Presbyterian churches all over Lancaster County, PA. 4th cousin Andrew Stewart (above) also went to Paxtang, Lancaster and that might mean he was also a Covenanter.