Laurence Esmonde, 1st Baron Esmonde

Laurence Esmond, 1st and last Lord Esmond, Baron of Lymbrick was the son of Patrick Esmonde and Katherine Gough.2 He married, firstly, unknown O'Flaherty. He married, secondly, Elizabeth Butler, daughter of Hon. Walter Butler and Anne MacBrien, before December 1628. He died on 26 May 1645.
He was Vice-Constable of Blackwater River in 1594. In 1601/2 he served in Connaught and commanded a troop of 150 foot and horse in Queen Elizabeth's service. He was appointed Knight in 1603. He held the office of Constable of Fort Duncannon, County Wexford from 1604 to 1605. He held the office of Sheriff of County Waterford in 1607. He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for County Wicklow between 1613 and 1615. He gained the rank of Major-General in 1622 in the King James I's forces in Ireland. He was created 1st Lord Esmond, Baron of Lymbrick, co. Wexford [Ireland] on 20 May 1622. He fought in the English Civil War in 1644, with the Parliamentarians, handing over Duncannon but subsequently being besieged there by forces representing the Confederacy of Kilkenny, to whom he surrendered in March 1644/5.
Child of Laurence Esmond, 1st and last Lord Esmond, Baron of Lymbrick and unknown O'Flaherty

1. Sir Thomas Esmonde, 1st Bt.+ d. 1674
   

The Peerage

Early life==

Esmonde was the second son of Walter Esmonde of Johnstown, Wexford, and his wife Margaret, daughter of Michael Furlong of Horetown. He became a convert to Protestantism and served with credit against Spain in the Low Countries. ...
During one of his expeditions into Connaught, he fell in love with the sister of Morrough O'Flaherty, whom he married. They had a son Thomas, whom his father always acknowledged to be his, but the lady was as remarkable for her Roman Catholic faith as for her personal charms, and fearing lest her infant son might be brought up a Protestant, she fled with him to her family in Connaught. Esmonde thereupon repudiated her and married the twice-widowed Ellice, or Elizabeth Butler, daughter of the Hon. Walter Butler, fourth son of James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond.
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Inheritance==

Having no issue by his second wife Elizabeth Butler, he bequeathed his immense property to Thomas Esmonde, the son of his first wife whom he had repudiated. Thomas could not inherit the barony, since his father, while willing to name him as his heir, would not admit his legitimacy, but he had already in 1629 been created the first of the Esmonde Baronets: the title still exists.

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