Preston, of Gormanston, Co. Meath, a Catholic noble family founded by Roger of Preston who arrived from Lancashire in 1326 to pursue a legal career in Ireland. His son Robert, who purchased Gormanston in 1363, became lord
chancellor. Another Robert was created the first Viscount Gormanston after being appointed deputy lieutenant in 1478. Although a Geraldine backer of the Yorkist pretender Lambert
Simnel, he was again deputy lieutenant in 1493–4. His son William led the
Pale forces at
Knockdoe and was lord justice in the absence of the 8th earl of
Kildare in 1515.
When Kildare hegemony ended and as the
Old English position deteriorated, the Prestons frequently found themselves in opposition to the government. Christopher, 4th viscount and father of Thomas
Preston (d. 1600), opposed
cess; Jenico, 5th viscount (d. 1630), led an Old English delegation to London after the farcical first session of the 1613–15 parliament, and Nicholas, 6th viscount (d. 1643), was an opponent of
Wentworth and a
Confederate Catholic commander. His son Jenico, 7th viscount (d. 1691), was a
Jacobite, but his nephew Anthony, 9th viscount (d. 1716), managed to regain the family estates under the treaty of
Limerick. Jenico, 12th viscount (1775–1820), was an active member of the
Catholic Committee.
In the 19th century the Gormanstons became part of the United Kingdom establishment. Edward, 13th viscount, was sheriff of Meath and Dublin and gained a UK peerage in 1868. His son Jenico, 14th viscount (1837–1907), was a colonial governor in various minor territories terminating with Tasmania (1893–1900).
Hiram Morgan
