Rossiter's were participated in the invasion of Ireland in 1169 by Strongbow under the auspices of King Henry the Second of England. Lambert's great grandsons, Ralf and Wakelin (John) Rossiter were among the 2000 mercenaries recruited from around the southern part of Wales. For his services, Wakelin [John] was knighted Sir John Rossiter and was granted the Baronies of Forth and Bargy. The Barony of Forth had an area of 2000 acres of arable land and contained the sea port of Wexford.
The Rossiter (Rosseter) families then proceeded to build a series of castles to protect their land. Rathmacknee was the mother castle while other strongholds were Bargy, Slevoy, Tacumshane, Ballygarvan and Newcastle, (Kilmannon). However they were deprived of their estates by Oliver Cromwell in 1650.
One of the most prominent Rosseters in Irish history would have to be Colonel Thomas Rosseter who fought against Cromwell at Wexford. By a coincidence, Colonel Sir Edward Rosseter of Lincolnshire fought alongside Cromwell at the Battle of Naseby in 1645
Bargy Castle, Tomhaggard in the Barony of Bargy, County Wexford, Ireland
Bargy Castle is a Norman fortress near the village of Tomhaggard in the Barony of Bargy, County Wexford, Ireland, some 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south-west of Wexford town. The name Bargy derives from Ui Bhairrche, the name of a local tribe.
The building is a square keep to which two wings have been added at right angles during the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. The keep itself is in good condition, having been renovated several times.
From the 15th century, the castle was occupied by the Rossiter family until 1667, when it was confiscated by Cromwell in response to Rossiter's part in the defence of Wexford. It was then granted to William Ivory, who sold it to the Harvey family. It came down to Beauchamp Bagenal Harvey, the commander of the Wexford insurgents in the Wexford Rebellion of 1798. After the suppression of the uprising, and Harvey's execution on Wexford bridge, the castle was again confiscated and used as a barracks until 1808, after which it was handed back to James Harvey, Bagenal's brother. He, however, lived in London and allowed the castle to deteriorate, but after his death it passed to Councillor John Harvey, who restored it. He died in 1880 and is entombed in a mausoleum in front of the hall door. The castle was afterwards let to a Mr. Leared, who re-roofed and improved it.[1] The last Harvey family member to own this castle was James Harvey, and his wife Henrietta. Their daughter, Antoinette Harvey, was born in the castle in 1945.
Rathmacknee Castle, Rathmacknee Great, Rosslare Strand, County Wexford, Ireland
Rathmacknee Castle is believed to have been built by John Rosseter (Rossiter, Rositer, Rosceter) who was made seneschal of the Liberty of Wexford c. 1415. Other accounts associate its construction with his grandson Thomas Rossiter, seneschal in 1493. The Rossiters remained Catholic after the Reformation but stayed loyal to the monarchy and continued to hold their lands. Col. Thomas Rosseter fought against Oliver Cromwell at Wexford in the Irish Confederate Wars and the castle and lands were confiscated in 1654. The castle remained occupied until the 1760s. In the 19th century it was restored by its owner, Hamilton Knox Grogan Morgan.
Slevoy Castle, Co. Wexford.
The ancient castle of Slevoy was built by the Rossiter family. John Rossiter had been part of Stongbow's force of 2000 mercenaries who invaded Ireland in 1179. For his services, Rossiter was knighted and granted the Baronies of Forth and Bargy in County Wexford, he soon set about building a series of castles to protect his land.
Thomas Rossiter, born in 1612 became a prominent member of the Wexford Confederates. He took part in the siege of Duncan Fort in 1643 and when this evidence was used against him by the Cromwell’s Commissioners, he forfeited all his Wexford estates and found himself transplanted to Connaught. Thomas Rossiter later drowned whilst on a voyage to France. His two sons John and Walter were reinstalled at Rathmacknee Castle, Co. Wexford after the 1662 Act of Settlement.
In March 1766 John Pigott obtained a perpetual lease of the lands of Slevoy from Charles Tottenham of Tottenham Green. The Pigott's built a large mansion house around the old Slevoy Castle tower. The Slevoy estate was inherited by John's first son Thomas, a vicar of St James's in Dublin. Thomas sold the estate to his brother William in 1746. William Piggot was High Sherriff in 1771. He married Hannah, daughter of Jacob Goff of Horetown, Wexford but they had no children. When William died in 1788 the estate was inherited by his grand-nephew William Pemberton and as a condition of the inheritance, William Pemberton assumed the additional name Pigott, becoming William Pemberton-Pigott. William Pemberton-Pigott was High Sherriff in 1794, a Justice of the Peace, Colonel of the Wexford Militia and also the master of the Wexford Hunt Club.
Tacumshane Castle, County Wexford, Ireland
Tacumshane (Irish: Teach Coimseáin) is a small village in the southeast of County Wexford, Ireland. It is located 15 km south of Wexford town.
About two miles away is the townsland of Churchtown which was once called Tacumshane. It is where Tacumshane castle stood until it was demolished in 1984 by a local farmer. The Fence is the townsland located in the village of Tacumshane today.
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