Codd Arrival in Ireland

SOURCE

The following narratives are provided verbatim from several sections of the above source.

Codd (Code) - 1170 to 1798

The Codds (or Codes) came to County Wexford in 1170. They were from Devon and Cornwall in the southeast of England. The original Codd to settle in County Wexford was Osbert, born in Devonshire; however, his father was said to be from Cornwall. (Families of Wexford County)

According to our family stories, Martin Codd, my great-great-grandfather, left County Wexford in 1798. He had participated in the 1798 Rebellion and had to flee to the mountains in County Wicklow when the rebellion failed. Interestingly, the British general who suppressed that uprising was Cornwallis, who was defeated by Washington in America's Revolutionary War.

The 1st Codds Came to Ireland in 1169 or 1170

"The Normans landed in Wexford in 1169. They came from around Carmarthenshire in Wales under the leadership of Strongbow at the invitation of the then King of Leinster Dermot McMurrough. They introduced the feudal system to Ireland and made grants of lands to the mercenary leadership. The names of Rochford, Sinnott, Walsh, Codd, Stafford etc. were introduced into Ireland at this time."

From BBC History: "In 1166, the King of Leinster, Diarmait MacMurchada was forced to flee from Dublin and from his kingdom by an alliance of Irish enemies, including the new High King, Ruaidri Ua Conchobair. 'Awful the deed done in Ireland today', wrote the chronicler of Leinster, 'the expulsion overseas by the men of Ireland of Diarmait...'.

And awful were its consequences. For Diarmait landed in Bristol and asked for help from King Henry II to get his throne back. Now what happens when you ask the Godfather for a favour? He expects something, someday, in return. And, as the Song of Dermot made clear, from the beginning that something was:

To you I come to make my plaint, good sire In the presence of the barons of your empire. Your liegeman I shall become henceforth all the days of my life, On condition you be my helper so that I do not lose at all You I shall acknowledge as sire and lord...

Then the King promised him, the powerful king of England That willingly would he help him as soon as he should be able.

But these were the years of Henry's great crises: the feud with Becket and the church - and the coming wars with his son, the future Richard I. In 1155, the Pope had asked Henry to invade Ireland to clean up what was reported to be a corrupt and lax Christianity.

But then, as now, Henry had more urgent things to do than get directly involved in an obscure island west of England's shores. On the other hand, Diarmait's appeal had presented him with a windfall too good to turn down. So he gave Diarmait permission to recruit help from among his barons.

This is when the trouble became big trouble. For Diarmait promptly went shopping for mercenaries among the nastiest and greediest possible bunch of knights. These were the Anglo-Normans who, around the 1160s, seemed to be on the losing end of the war against the Welsh princes of Gwynedd.

They had lost castles, land and peasants. They were in an ugly mood and they were looking for somewhere to recoup their losses. Enter Diarmait.

Spread the word, the likes of Robert fitzStephen and Richard fitzGilbert de Clare (known to his friends, and especially to his many enemies, as 'Strongbow') must have said: 'Forget about Wales; forget about those unpleasantnesses in the mountains and valleys. Come west young knights. Ireland will be a piece of cake. It's said that the natives are primitive. But the pastures are green. So what are you waiting for?'."

THE NEW SETTLERS IN HY-KINSELAGH

HY-KINSELAGH = part of the area that became Wexford County.

"THE New Settlers who joined Strongbow in Ireland, and got large grants of lands, were:

In Wexford--Maurice Fitzgerald, ancestor of the earls of Kildare and Desmond; Harvey de Monte Morisco, and Robert Fitzstephen. The other families who settled in Wexford were those of Carew, Talbot, Deveroux Stafford, Sinnott, Sutton, Keating, Power, Walshe, Fitzharris, Fitzhenry, Derenzy, Masterson, Butler, Brown, Rositer, Redmond, Esmond, Hore, Harvey, Hay, Hughes, Codd*, Comerford, Colclough, Lambert, Boyce, Morgan, Tottenham, Ram, Furlong, etc.

In the first volume of the Desiderata Curiosa Hibernica, an account is given of various patentees and undertakers who, in the reigns of Elizabeth and King James the First, got extensive grants of forfeited lands which were confiscated in the county of Wexford. The following persons obtained lots of those lands: Sir Richard Cooke, Sir Laurence Esmond, Sir Edward Fisher, Francis Blundell, Nicholas Kenny, William Parsons, Sir Roger Jones, Sir James Carroll, Sir Richard Wingfield, Marshal of the Army; Sir Adam Loftus, Sir Robert Jacob, Captain Trevellian, Captain Fortescue; and Conway Brady, Queen Elizabeth's footman. Several families of the Old proprietors in Wexford are enumerated, with the lands they possessed, and the re-grants of part of those lands which they obtained; as those of Masterson, MacMurrough, MacBrien, MacDowling, MacDermott, Malone, Cavanagh, Moore, O'Bulger, O'Doran, Sinnot, Walsh, Codd, etc."

Land and Castles in Wexford

Clougheast Castle

The old stone coach houses in the courtyard of the castle have been renovated, and the castle, with its own enclosed formal gardens, stands in open farmland, close to the beach and only 20 minutes from Wexford town.

This is situated about two miles from Our Lady's Island, off the road towards the wind farm. It was built by a Norman family - Codd - in the 15th century. Cromwell seized the land and bestowed it on Edmund Waddy.

In 1798 Dr. Richard Waddy lived there. He was responsible for the capture of Bagenal Harvey and John Colcough, leaders of the Wexford army in that year. They had gone into hiding on the Saltee Island, intending to go abroad. They were subsequently executed. Also during this time a priest was murdered at the castle.

Dr. Waddy was related to Oscar Wilde who frequently visited Clougheast.