Earl Landaff

Earldom of Landaff
Arms of the Earl Landaff
Arms: Or, a Lion rampant Sable. Crest: On a Mount Vert, a Moorcock proper. Supporters: On either side a Unicorn Argent, armed maned tufted hoofed plain collared and chained Or.
Creation date22 November 1797
Created byKing George III
PeeragePeerage of Ireland
First holderFrancis Mathew, 1st Viscount Landaff
Last holderFrancis Mathew, 2nd Earl Landaff
Remainder toThe 1st Earls’s heirs male of the body lawfully begotten
Subsidiary titlesViscount Landaff
Baron Landaff
StatusExtinct
Extinction date12 March 1833
Former seat(s)Thomastown Castle
MottoA FYNNO DUW A FYDD
(What God wills will be)
Arms of Mathew, Earls Landaff, in Landaff Cathederal
Thomastown Castle, County Tipperary, the seat of the Earls Landaff, 1824.
Mural memorial tablet erected 1987 in Llandaff Cathedral: "In memory of Thomas James Mathew son and heir of Francis James Mathew second Earl of Landaff born in London 1798 died in Cape Town 1862". The arms are blasoned: Or, a lion rampant sable. Crest: A heathcock proper. Supporters: Two unicorns rampant silver maned tufted hooved collared and chained or. Motto: A Fynno Duw a Fydd ("What God wills will be")

Earl Landaff, of Thomastown in the County of Tipperary, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1797 for Francis Mathew, 1st Viscount Landaff,[1] who had previously represented County Tipperary in the Irish House of Commons. He had already been created Baron Landaff, of Thomastown in the County of Tipperary, in 1783,[2] and Viscount Landaff, of Thomastown in the County of Tipperary, in 1793,[3] also in the Peerage of Ireland. In 1800 he was elected as one of the 28 original Irish representative peer. He was succeeded by his son, the second Earl. The titles became extinct on his death in 1833.[4] Thomastown Castle was the childhood home of Father Theobald Mathew, "The Apostle of Temperance".[5][6]

The Earls Landaff used the invented courtesy title Viscount Mathew for the heir apparent. Despite their territorial designations and the fact that they were in the Peerage of Ireland, the titles all referred to the place in Glamorgan now spelt Llandaff. The Mathew family was founded by Sir David Mathew (died 1484), Grand Standard Bearer of England. The Earls Landaff were descended from the branch of the family seated at Radyr, Glamorgan, Wales, descended from Thomas Mathew (died 1470), a younger son of Sir David Mathew. In Llandaff Cathedral, nearby Radyr, there exist three 15th-century and 16th-century Mathew family effigies.

The seat of the Mathew family was Thomastown Castle, County Tipperary long abandoned. The extant ruins form a notable landmark.[7] George Mathew sold his estate at Radyr and moved to Thomastown, gaining ownership of the castle through marriage to Elizabeth Poyntz after the death of her first husband, Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles, of the Butler family.[8]

  1. ^ "No. 14064". The London Gazette. 14 November 1797. p. 1081.
  2. ^ "No. 12476". The London Gazette. 20 September 1783. p. 1.
  3. ^ "No. 13609". The London Gazette. 4 January 1794. p. 3.
  4. ^ Burke, Bernard, ed. (1866). "MATHEW—Earl of Llandaff". A genealogical history of the dormant, abeyant, forfeited, and extinct peerages of the British empire (new ed.). London: Harrison. p. 361. OCLC 4102769.
  5. ^ Abandoned Mansions of Ireland photodocumentary book and website by Tarquin Blake. (Accessed 10 June 2012)
  6. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia Theobald Mathews, Apostle of Temperance
  7. ^ 19th century towers stand while the 17th Century neo-gothic ramparts have succumbed to neglect and collapsed under the weight of encroaching ivy
  8. ^ "Mathew of Thurles". Archived from the original on 5 January 2009. Retrieved 28 June 2008.