View source for Francis Cosby

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'''Francis Cosby''' (1510–1580) was an English soldier and settler in Ireland. He has been implicated in the [[Massacre of Mullaghmast]].
==Life==
He was the second son of John Cosby of [[Great Leake]], [[Nottingham]].<ref name=HistoryIreland>[http://www.historyireland.com/volumes/volume14/issue5/features/?id=333 ''Francis Cosby (1510–80), Stradbally, Queen's County and the Tudor conquest of Leinster'']</ref> He settled in Ireland in the reign of [[Henry VIII]]. He was active in fighting on the edge of the [[English Pale]], and was commended by the Lord Deputies [[Edward Bellingham]] and [[Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex]].
In 1558 Cosby was appointed general of the [[Rapparee|Kerne]], and in 1562 was granted the suppressed [[abbey of Stradbally]] in [[County Laois|Queen's County]].<ref name=HistoryIreland/> In 1565 he became governor of [[Portlaoise]], and seneschal of [[County Laois|Queen's County]].{{sfn|Lee|1887}}
He helped to massacre, although the degree of his responsibility is not clear, many of the O'Mores at [[Mullaghmast]], near [[Athy]], who had been summoned to the fortress on avowedly peaceful business. The date 1577 in the ''[[Annals of the Four Masters]]'' is contradicted in the ''Annals of Lough Cé'' which says 1567.
Cosby was not successful in repression in Queen's County. [[Rory Oge O'More]] was continually threatening him, and took his eldest son prisoner in 1577. The murder of Rory in the following year relieved Cosby; but the outbreak of the [[Desmond rebellion]] in 1580 saw him killed by the rebels at the [[battle of Glenmalure]], 25 August 1580.{{sfn|Lee|1887}}
==Family==
He was married to Lady Mary Seymour, daughter of [[Lord Protector Somerset]].,<ref name=HistoryIreland/> by whom he had three sons, Alexander, Henry, and Arnold.{{sfn|Lee|1887}}
He married Elizabeth Palmer, by whom he had one daughter. Alexander succeeded to the estates, received additional grants in Queen's County, and was, with his son Francis, killed at the [[battle of Stradbally Bridge]] on 18 May 1596.<ref>[http://www.dunnes.net/Pages/harry/pages/stradballybridge.html The History of the Battle of Stradbally Bridge -- 17/18th of May 1596.] dunnes.net. Accessed 6 Sep 2024.</ref> The estates subsequently passed to Richard, another son of Alexander, whose descendants still possess them. Arnold, Francis Cosby's second son, served under [[Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester]] in the [[Low Countries]]. {{sfn|Lee|1887}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
;Attribution
{{DNB|wstitle=Cosby, Francis |volume=12|page=262}}
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[[Category:1510 births]]
[[Category:1580 deaths]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Nottingham]]
[[Category:16th-century English soldiers]]
[[Category:16th-century Anglo-Irish people]]