ATHLONE COMPLETE PEERAGE 299 Louth [I.], he petitioned (as " John Birmingham, Esq., ") to be sum. «' by the style and title of BARON OF ATHENRY " [I.], as h. male (of the body) of Piers, who sat as such in (1243-44) 28 Hen. III. This was referred to the Law officers [I.] Mar. 1800. He m., istly, Jennet, da. of John Puech, of St. Christopher's. She d'. 1768. He m., 2ndly, Dorothea Mathews, of Demarara. He J. s.p. legit. i8o3.(*) XVH. } 1803. 20. .' John Birmingham, of Dalgan afsd., nephew and h., being s. and h. of Edward B. (by Anne, da. of James Waddell), yst. br. or the above, who d. 1794. He appears, however, never to have assumed or claimed the title. He d. s.p., being slain at the siege of Badajos 1 8 1 1. (*) XVIII.. 181 1. 18.. Edward Birmingham, of Dalgan, afsd., br. and h. In 1827 he petitioned that, as heir male, he should be declared "to be entitled to the honours and dignities of Lord Birming- ham, Baron of Athenry and Premier Baron of Ireland as a prescriptive dignity which had been enjoyed by his ancestors from time immemor- ial. " C") The Attorney Gen. (Denman) reported to the King thereon that in his opinion " the petitioner has proved himself to be the h. male of Richard, Lord Athenry, who sat in Pari, in the reign of Queen Eliz. " The petition was referred to the House, and the minutes of evidence before the Committee of Privileges were ordered to be printed 10 Mar. 1836. (") See tabular pedigree at p. 298. ATHERDEE or ARDEE see ARDEE ATHLONE See " WiLMOT OF Athlone, " Viscountcy [I.] (fVilmot), cr. 1621, extinct viith. the Earldom of Rochester, 1681. (•) See Pedigree p. 298. () On like grounds, 4 Oct. 1721, the Irish House of Lords resolved in favour of Gerald de Courcy, who, being h. male, had claimed the Barony of Kingsale [I.] as a Barony hi Prescription for " that his ancestors have been, time out of mind. Peers of this Realm and sitting members of this House. " The h. gen. (female) was passed over in this resolution of 1721, as was also the case, 38 years later, on the death of this same Lord Kingsale, s.p.m., 1759, when John de Courcy, the then h. male, was declared h. to the Peerage, and took his seat, in 1762, accordingly. C^) At the funeral, in 1884, of John Birmingham of Millbrook, a grandson of John, the claimant of 1799 (who d. s.p. legit in 1803), there was present another John Birmingham, said to be 2nd cousin of the deceased, {ex inform. W.F.Carter).
