The Kenefeck Family Website

This is an agreement made between the venerable father Alan, by God's grace Bishop of Cloyne, on the one hand, and Maurice fitz Gerald²⁷¹ on the other, on the 6th of April in the year from the Incarnation of Our Lord 1244, regarding certain lands in Oglassyn,²⁷² both in temporalities and about the rights of patronage to the same and other lands, concerning which there was litigation between them, which was finally settled under this subscribed formula of peace, to wit, That the aforesaid Bishop, on behalf of himself and his successors, with the unanimous agreement and will of his Chapter of Cloyne, completely renounced and quitclaimed for all time to the same Maurice and to his heirs and to their men all right and claim which he and his successors may have or shall be able to have as well in temporalities as in advowsons and rights of patronage to the underwritten lands, namely Clonpris,²⁷³ Balycheran,²⁷⁴ and Inchiquin, and to Killeagh, and to Kylgligne,²⁷⁵ and [to] Kyllan,²⁷⁶ and to the temporalities of Kylcridan,⁶⁷ and to all other lands and tenements of the said Maurice and his men in Oglassyn, saving to the same lord Bishop of Cloyne and his successors the right of patronage to fee church of Kylcridan saving however the possession of that church to Master Thomas de Cavilla for as long as he should live, rendering yearly therefrom to the church of Cloyne 1 lb. of wax, by way of pension; the aforesaid Maurice indeed, on behalf of himself and his heirs granted to the said Bishop and his successors and the church of Cloyne, one ploughland in Kylgrellan⁴⁶ and another piece of land which is called Bretne,³⁷ with their right of patronage, and the same Maurice also granted to the same Bishop and his successors, on behalf of himself and his heirs, all the rights of advowson and the rights of patronage to the underwritten lands, namely, to Ballykinealy, and to the land of Ponce fitz Ponce,²⁷⁷ and to the land of Robert fitz John,²⁷⁸ and to Drumokenache,²⁷⁹ and to Balyglassyn,²⁸⁰ and to Balymacketh,²⁸¹ and to Balynylan,²⁸² and to the land of John de Kenfeyk,²⁸³ and to all the land of Philip fitz Walter²⁸⁴ which he has in Oglassyn, saving however to Master Thomas de Cavilla and Master Denis of Cloyne the ecclesiastical benefices which they held in the aforesaid lands before the making of this agreement, until both or either of them dies civilly or naturally. So, however, that the same Maurice and his heirs should hold of the said Bishop and his successors by homage and service, his said lands of Bretne for one mark [yearly], and the said land of Ballykinealy for 2 lbs. of wax to the current Bishop of Cloyne, rendered each year at the customary terms.²⁶⁴ Furthermore, the aforesaid Maurice, on behalf of himself and his heirs, renounced and quitclaimed to the said Bishop and his succesors and the church of Cloyne, all right which he had or could have in Bernibrogwan,⁴³ and in Othied²⁸⁵ and in Balycoyg,²⁸⁶ and in all lands which are, or ought to be, of the holdings of the Bishop of Cloyne and the church of Cloyne. Saving however to the same Maurice and his heirs, and to his men and their heirs, the aforesaid lands set out above by the lord Bishop of Cloyne. And the aforesaid Bishop and his successors are obliged to warrant to the said Maurice and his heirs all of these reciprocal above mentioned grants, both in temporalities and spiritualities, and the rights of patronage interchanged, forever; and the same Maurice and his heirs on their part will in the future warrant to the said Bishop and his successors and to the church of Cloyne in the same manner. And for the fuler observing of all [this] the seals of both parties have been appended to the document; these being witnesses, etc.

 

 

 

271 Maurice fitz Gerald, baron of Offaly, was lord of the manor of Oglassyn alias Inchiquin (n. 36) which he had inherited from his father Gerald fitz Maurice, in addition to other lands in Limerick, Kildare and elsewhere. He was the ancestor of the later Fitzgerald earls of Kildare.

The lands which in this agreement between Maurice and Bishop Alan had their rights of patronage and advowson surrendered by the former to the latter appear to comprise the area of the later prebendal parish of Kilmacdonogh; thus in this agreement we appear to be witnessing the birth of a parish.

36 The four coparcenars of the manor of Inchiquin, the lands of which lay mostly in the eastern part of the cantred of McKill and the port of which was Youghal. See A. F. O'Brien, "The Settlement of Imokilly etc.", JCHAS 1982; McCotter, "Sub-infeudation" ii, (forthcoming).

272 Oglassyn, the original name for the manor of Inchiquin (n. 36) which lay in the hinterland of the town of Youghal, and which was substantially based on the native territory of Uí Glaisín, the eponyms of which were one of the regnal families of Uí MacCaille and ancestors to the many Gleeson families found in the district today (Ò Buachalla, JCHAS 1939, 30).

273 The tls. (townlands) and par. (parish) of Clonpriest.

274 Unidentified.

275 Unidentified

276 Kyllan is perhaps Killelan held in 1288 by Walter Clement (1 1/2 carucates) which seems to be the 1 1/2 carucates at Balytarsyn held by another Walter Clement in 1349 and by a Denys Clement two years later, and which is now probably Kyle in Clonpriest Parish, the seventeenth century Kyle Ballyclement (CBY xxxv; CIPM ix, 131; PRO C 147-9-28; BSD).

67 Kilcredan is a tl. (townsland) and parish. Coulachan occurs as Coullachath in 1288 (CBY xxxiv), Coulagh in the "1301List" and Conlathan in R-1.

46 Kilgrellane and Kilva in Clayne par. (parish). As noted above the former is the second dedication to Grealláin to be found near Cloyne, this saint being mentioned in the Beatha Bharra. Kilgrellane was earlier grnated to the church by Maurice Fitz Gerald. Kilva comes from Cill Mhéadhbha, the sister of St. Colman, the ruins of whose church are still visited. Rath is the church site of the parish of Garranekinnefeake (n. 38).

38 ... Le Rath is the name given, c. 1302, to the parish now called Garranekinnefeake, and Courcy's lands here are to be identified with the modern tl. (townland) of Rathcourcy. The full name for this church (vide infra) was Rathcartne, a form first recorded in a grant of the 1180's, when Payn Mansell gave this parish to St. Thomas' Abbey; Jeffries (JCHAS 1986, 40) is mistaken in regard to the identification of this church. The lands of this fee appear to have been divided latitudinally (between two Mansell heiresses?) in the early thirteenth century, the northern moiety descending to the des Autres/Courcy line while the southern half came into the possession of the Barry lords of Olethan, a quo Rathbarry, by which name the entire parish was known in a later time (St. Thomas' CCXLV; Rawl. B 499, f. 116).....

37 Breeda, par. (parish) Ardagh.

277 The land of Pons fitz Pons mentioned in the Roll are probably those later held by Sir Maurice le Archdeken, since the latter is certainly the same man who held Blackhall in Rathmore Parish, adjoining Punchestown and apparently within the boundaries of the lands of Pons fitz Pons. Indeed Pons fitz Pons the younger was probably dead by 1260, when William le Archdeken was involved in litigation concerning Ballykinealy, bordering Ballymacoda. Did this William marry Pons' daughter and heiress? William was probably the father of Sir Maurice noted above, who was returned as free-tenant of 8 carucates at Tulaghkirduff in 1288. This is the later Ballymacoda, which occurs as an alias for Tulaghkirduff in 1307; and shows these Archdeacons to be of the same stock as the Co. Kilkenny family who also bore tha patronym Mac Oda (later Cody), after Odo le Archdeken who is first found holding Galmoy circa 1204. Sir Maurice was a litigious and fractious individual who on one occasion attacked his Kenefeg neighbour with an axe at a funeral. In 1307 his lands in Counties Cork and Kildare were distrained to meet a debt. Maurice's regular appearances in the pleadings cease after 1313 and in 1321 his son Andrew is returned as holding Rulaghkirduff.

278 Robert fitz John also occurs as testator to a deed of c. 1237 concerning Maurice fitz Gerald and is probably father to the John fitz Robert who held two carucates at Silidurduf (/) of the manor of Inchiquin, in 1288; this fee cannot be traced in subsequent inquisitions. (RBEK no. 8 (for the dating of this deed cf. ibid., no. 50); CBY xxxv).

279 Drumokenache is probably to be identified with Balikenachis/Balykinach/Balykenagh as recorded in the inquisitions of 1288, 1321 and 1351 respectively but which cannot now be identified. For the likely eponym family, the Uí Cineadha, see Ó Buachalla in JCHAS 1939, 31, and in JCHAS 1945, 25-6.

280 Ballyglashen, Par. (Parish) Killeagh.

281 Ballymakeagh, Par. (Parish) Kilmacdonagh.

284 Philip fitz Walter occurs as a witness to various charters, largely of the barons of Naas and in association with Pons fitz Pons (n. 277), between 1205 and 1244 (Reg. St. John Baptist, nos. 376, 377; Cal. Gormanston Reg., 146, 147, 154, 164; RBEK no. 8).

264 The origin of this peace offering is to be found in the 1244 agreement between Maurice fitz Gerald and Bishop Alan, the rental of c. 1364 shows this being paid directly by Nicholas de Courcy to the Bishop.

43 Barnabrow.

285 Probably Tead More and Beg in Cloyne Parish.

286 Unidentified.

283

Kenfeyk, the modern Kennefick. The Kennefick family took their name from Kenfig (Cynffig), a now vanished borough in mid-Glamorgan. This John may have been the father of the Raymond fitz John de Kenefeg who occurs as a freetenant of the manor of Inchiquin at Rathmohugnan and Balisoldone in 1288. Rathmohugnan is probably to be identified with ‘the vill of Raymond Kenefeg’ of the, 1301 List’, which lay on the coast south of Cloyne, between Ballylanders and Ballycroneen, and was either in Ballyrobin South or Ballywilliam (probably the latter), both of which were Kennefick possessions in the sixteenth century. Balisoldone is the Balysoulduffe of the ‘1301 List’, now Ring in Kilmacdonagh Par., the sixteenth century Rinkenyfeak. In 1296 Raymond was at law with his tenant James de Balycorner (i.e. James of Churchtown South, a rare example of an Anglo-Norman toponym of local origin) for a messuage and one carucate at Tullum (? Tullagh) and Kylmor (which occurs in the ‘ 1301 List’ and appears to be Ballyrobin South). He and a Robert Kenefeg occur as landholders in the (Offaly) Geraldine manor of Sligo in 1289, (it is not coincidental that the only other significant contemporary Kenefeg family to be found in Ireland held lands in the manor of Rathmore in Co. Kildare, also a property of the barons of Offaly).

(The Council Book of Youghal (Guildford, 1878), Richard Caulfield (ed.) xxxv; 7-3, 343, 348, 358; Red Book of the Earls of Kildare (Dublin, 1964), G Mac Niocaill (ed.) no. 129).

Raymond was alive in 1305 after which he was succeeded by a Walter Kenefeg, who may have been his son, although there is no direct evidence of this. In 1301 this Walter had been impleaded on a writ of dower by the widow of William de Balycorner in two carucates in Tullom. Walter was dead in turn by 1311 when his widow Juliane impleaded Richard de Clare (lord of Inchiquin) for custody of Walter’s heir and her dower in a messuage and 27 acres in Clogheryntessyn (the Cloghcourhyn of the ‘1301 List’, now Kilcraheen). This custody seems to have passed in turn to a relative, John Kenefeg, who first occurs in 1301, when a jury found him to have been disseised of a messuage and 140 acres in Ardath (the Par. of Ardagh, whose church site lies in tl. Ballyneague) by Raymond de Caunteton. In 1315 John had his grange and haggard at Rathmelignan [sic] burned by the Caunteton followers of a harper and minstrel, Moriartach O Coygran, having refused the musician the traditional hospitality.

(Calender of Justiciary Rolls Ireland (3 volumes, Dublin 1905 - 55) ii, 101; National Archives Dublin, Unpublished calenders of justiaciary rolls (12 volumes with material dating from 1313 - 1318) 2-7, 39; 7-8, 301, 365; 8-23, 811).

John Kenefeg was dead by 1323 when his widow Eva, who had remarried with Robert de Cogan, was claiming dower in his late estate from his son John fitz John Kenefeg. The lands listed are: Balysoledon, Rathmolymon, Balynylan [in the vicinity of Ballyfleming, Par. Kilmacdonagh - the Kenefeg lands here are probably represented by the sixteenth century Kennefick holding at Knockanekinfeak, apparently the hill in western Kilcraheen], Perotston [Ballypherode], Balyart, Rath [this holding must have been a subfee of the Barry fee in the parish of Rath, the modern name of which is taken from the tl. of Garranekinnefeake, hence its origin], Stradbaly, Balykeneleth [Ballykinealy] and Ardagh. In 1321 ‘the heir of Walter Kenefeg’ was still a minor, this must be the Walter fitz Walter Kenefeg who, in 1333, sued a writ of novel disseisin against David Cod for lands in Tullum More and Tullum Beg. Walter was still alive in 1349 but, by 1351, had been succeeded by his son and heir John de Kenfeg at Balysouldolff etc., who was appointed a keeper of the peace for the cantred of McKill in 1360.

(Council Book of Corporation of Youghal xxxvi, 571; Rotulorum Patentium et Clausorum Cancellariae Hiberniae Calendarium (Dublin 1828) H Tresham (ed.), 72; 8-14, 552;8-18, 99. Genealogical Office Dublin 190, 249.;, , College of Arms, London, Cal. Mem. Rolls (Lynch) 49 Ed. III, f. 225).

The Kennefick lands in Imokilly in the mid-sixteenth century appear substantially unchanged from those of two centuries earlier, consisting principally of the Knockadoon peninsula and coastal lands at Ballywilliam etc., south of Cloyne, with a few denominations inland of Ring. The chief at this time was Richard Kynefeck of Ballykenefeck alias Kynfeckstown alias Rynkenyfeake (Ring), who was pardoned several times between 1571 and 1585, although the following year he was attainted as a follower of his overlord, the rebel Earl of Desmond. While the Crown did not confiscate Richard’s lands at this time, these passed to Sir John fitz Edmond of Cloyne no later than 1597, by means clearly immoral, as evidenced by the will of Sir John’ s grandson Sir John Oge, made in 1640, which bequeathed all of the former Kennefeck estate ‘to the right heir of Richard Kinfeack, late of Rinkinfeak’ (this will was never executed). John Kynefeck (described as a yeoman, Richard had earlier been described in his pardons as a gentleman) of Rynkenefick was pardoned in 1601 , but no further record of the mainline is evident. The name remains of importance in Imokilly to the present day, with a particularly strong presence, until recent times at least, in the area between Cloyne town and the sea.

(Council Book of Corporation of Youghal 575; Fiants Elizabeth (from The Irish Fiants of the Tudor Sovereigns 4 volumes, Dublin 1994) 1816, 2473, 4676, 6477. Ordinance Survey Inquistions of Co Cork (7 volumes), Royal Irish Academy Library, Dublin i, 16; .7RSAI v (1879-1882), 269).