Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 1 Vol 1.djvu/272

 250 BARRY. BARRY (of Olethan, Barrymoro, Buttovunt, Tb.'wne or of Munstor). It is possible that a Peerage Baiiony oi? Barky [I.] may have bean in existence for many generations before the creation of the Viscountcy of Buttevant [[.] or, on the other hand, it may have been it. simultaneously therewith. The proof of the fact of its existence rests on its recognition in the persons of several of the Viscounts Buttevant [I.], and it lias, accordingly, been here assumed that it was first created or recognised in the person of the 1st Viscount, at, or probably before, the creation of the Viseoimtcy itself (see under " Barky, Bahky.mokk or Buttevant "). John Fitz David was doubtless Lord Baity of Olethan, &c, in 139.'!, and then aged 25, but his relationship to the succeeding Lords Barry is unknown, and his dignity does not seem to be of Peerage rank. The 7th Viscount, whose exact relationship to the preceding ones is not known, was " Lord of IbaWBfi" (but certainly not a Peer) before his succession. No mention, however, is made of any Barony of Barry in the claim to the Viscountcy of Buttevant (in 1825), though such Barony, had there been any valid proof that it ever existed, would doubtless have followed the said Viscountcy. BARRY, BARRYMORE, OR BUTTEVANT. (») This Viscountcy is one of the Irish Peerages by prescription, i.e. Peerages which were recognised in 1-189 by Henry VII, but of the mode of whose creation nothing certain is known. See " Preface, pp. ii and iii, and p. 172 note " f." Although its origin is obscure, its position as the premier Viscountcy [I,] is un- doubted and has been acknowledged in almost every Pari, since the 15th century, during its separate existence. Its possessor in 1189 was ranked immediately after the Earls aud next above Viscount Fermoy, both of these (prescriptive) Vis- countries being ranked above the Viscountcy of (tornianstown (cr. by pntint in 1178) and all Barons. The date of its creation cannot therefore be later than the r*ign of Edward IV, and may possibly be as early a* that of Henry VI. The generally received version of the origin of this title, as given in " Lodge " and repeated (apparently) by every subsequent writer, is manifestly inaccurate. Lodge (vol. i, p. 2S8) mentions a certain " David, styled the first Viscount of Butternut, who, in 12G7, was appointed Lord Justice of Ireland," but the actual style of this alleged Viscount appears to have been simply ''David de Barry." Moreover, the various styles of his successors, down to the middle of the 15th century, as given by Lodge himself, are, with one exception, fatal to the contention that they held the rank of Viscounts. The solitary exception is, that, in a deed enrolled 12 Jac. I on the Patent Bolls in the Rolls Office of Chancery [I.], it is recited that "James Barry. Esq., required a certain deed to be enrolled, dat. Epiphany [140(5] 7 Hen. IV, whereby " James Lord Barry Viscount Butlccant granted the lands of island Oullyne, &c." (See claim in 1R25 to the Viscountcy.) This grant is also mentioned in the Carew M.S., vol. vi (but the original authority is not given), while, as against the genuineness of this evidence, there is not only the fact (before alluded to) of the title of Viscount not again appearing as pertaining to this James or his successors for considerably more than half a century later, but (the almost unanswerable argument) that the title of Viscount (introduced from France by Henry VI, who had been crowned King of France) was unknoicn in Englaxd till 1410 and a fortiori (presumably) unknown in Ihbi.and till that or a somewhat later date. The earliest authentic recognition of anything resemblinji a Peerage is the patent 8 Nov. (1401) 1 Ed. IV, referring " Willielino Domino de harry." Next to this is a letter, 20 Sep. 1484, addressed by Itichard III * to the Lord Barry of Moi/nster." In these letters however of Kic. Ill the Irish titles are so irregularly used that this evidence would, of itself, be of little value, but it is confirmed by an important order {"■) The name of Buttevant is said to have been derived from the war cry of "Boutez en avant," used in a victory over the Mac Oarthies near that place, about 12(57 gained by David de Barry (who must at that early period have been, for an Irish Chieftain, a somewhat accomplished gentleman), and ever after adopted US a motto by his descendants,