Our Margaret (DRAKE) is known to have hailed from Balrath near Kells in County Meath. Her father was Patrick who was a farmer. This data is contained in the Marriage Cert dated 1868.
According to the census data Margaret bore 12 children, 10 of whom survived beyond infacy. There are various accounts as to the origin of the DRAKE family. It is possible they started out as DRACC in Normandy in France. Travelled to the south of England and became DRAKE. It is believed they arrived in Ireland in the 12th century and accumulated enough wealth to build themselves a castle near Kells. |
Battle of the BoyneA castle at Drakerath (158) in Staholmog parish and Kells barony is depicted on the Down Survey (1656-8) barony and parish maps (http://downsurvey.tcd.ie/). According to the Civil Survey (1654-6) John Drake of Drakerath owned 360 acres there in 1640 and ‘an old castle’ was on the property (Simington 1940, 310). The castle is depicted as one structure in a farm complex on the 1836 ed. of the OS 6-inch map and as a fragment of wall on the 1908 ed. It is on a slight rise in a fairly level landscape but is not visible at ground level in pasture.
The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of revision: 8 June 2016 Description Source: National Monuments Service, Department of Arts, Heritage Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. The DRAKES lost their wealth after the Battle of the Boyne having sided with King James 11. A father and five sons from the Castle were killed. The mother and the daughters were saved and one son, There's an account in Burke's Peerage. It tells the story of how the infant son and his sisters were saved. The Williamite soldiers led by a local rival family came to dispossess the family. A servant, much like Moses on the Nile, saved the infant son and his sisters by sending them floating across the Boyne in a wicker basket. http://www.writingsinrhyme.com/index.php/basket-across-the-boyne/ |