Richard Talbot duke and earl of Tyrconnel

Richard Talbot Tyrconnel, duke and earl of , 1630-91, Irish Jacobite. He escaped from Ireland after Oliver Cromwell's punitive campaign there (1649) and was party to various intrigues to restore the monarchy. After the Restoration (1660) he joined the household of the duke of York (later James II) and used his influence at court to promote his own interests. He was arrested and exiled for supposed complicity in the Popish Plot (see Oates, Titus ), but after the accession (1685) of James II, he was created earl (1685) and sent as commander in chief of the forces in Ireland. In this capacity and as lord deputy (1687-88) he placed Catholics in many key positions. After the Glorious Revolution of 1688, James crossed to Ireland and created Tyrconnel a duke—a title recognized only by the Jacobites. After defeat in the battle of the Boyne (1690) Tyrconnel went to France for aid. He returned in 1691, but died suddenly just before the fall of Limerick.

Tyrconnel, Richard Talbot, 1st Earl (I) (1630–91). Talbot, a younger son from Co. Kildare, fought for the king in the 1640s and escaped from the destruction of Drogheda in 1649. In the 1650s he was appointed a groom of the bedchamber to the duke of York in exile and for the rest of his life his fortunes followed his patron's. He fought alongside the duke at the naval battles off Lowestoft in 1665 and at Sole Bay (Southwold) in 1672 and, though a catholic, was made colonel of a regiment of horse. As soon as the duke became James II, Talbot was created earl and in 1686 appointed lieutenant-general of the army in Ireland. In 1687 he succeeded Clarendon as lord-lieutenant and began consolidating the catholic position. Tyrconnel was the ‘new deputy’ whom ‘brother Teague’ welcomed in ‘Lillibullero’. After the Glorious Revolution he was made a jacobite duke, fought at the Boyne, carried on the rearguard action, and died in Limerick just before it was forced to capitulate. A brave and well-built soldier, running to corpulence in age, Tyrconnel was regarded by most as hot-headed and lacking in judgement. Macaulay dismissed him as a drunken swaggerer.

J. A. Cannon

Tyrconnel, Richard Talbot, 1st Earl (I) (1630–91). Talbot, a younger son from Co. Kildare, fought for the king in the 1640s and escaped from the destruction of Drogheda in 1649. In the 1650s he was appointed a groom of the bedchamber to the duke of York in exile and for the rest of his life his fortunes followed his patron's. As soon as the duke became James II, Talbot was created earl and in 1686 appointed lieutenant‐general of the army in Ireland. In 1687 he succeeded Clarendon as lord‐lieutenant and began consolidating the catholic position. Tyrconnel was the ‘new deputy’ whom ‘brother Teague’ welcomed in ‘Lillibullero’. After the Glorious Revolution he was made a Jacobite duke, fought at the Boyne, and died in Limerick just before it was forced to capitulate.