Adam Loftus
d. 1605
Vitals
Family
About
Adam Loftus came out of Yorkshire and became one of the architects of the Elizabethan establishment in Ireland: Archbishop of Armagh, then Archbishop of Dublin for nearly forty years, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and the first Provost of Trinity College Dublin. He built Rathfarnham Castle. He had sixteen children, and this family descends from one of the daughters, who married Sir Francis Berkeley of Askeaton.
Research notes
✓ DOCUMENTED (Burke's LGI 'Westropp of Attyflin' for the Berkeley relationship; Burke's Peerage ELY article pp.1323-25 for parents, wife and career, added 21 Jul 2026): ADAM LOFTUS (c.1533-1605), son of EDWARD LOFTUS of Swineshead, Yorkshire; Archbishop of Armagh 1562/3, ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN 1567-1605, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal 1573, LORD CHANCELLOR OF IRELAND 1578, "a founder of Trinity College Dublin and its FIRST PROVOST to 1594"; built Rathfarnham Castle; d. 5 Apr 1605 "aged 72". m. JANE PURDON, eldest dau. of Adam Purdon of Lurgan Race, co. Louth - SIXTEEN children, incl. Sir Dudley (heir), Catherine (our line, m. Sir Francis Berkeley of Askeaton - double-sourced: Westropp article + Cokayne III Crofton entry), and Anne, who m. Sir Henry Colley - ANCESTORS OF THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON (collateral). His brother Robert's son Adam = 1st Viscount Loftus of Ely (the Loftus Hall branch, collateral). Direct ancestor. Added 21 Jul 2026; parents/wife documented same day.