Constantia Piers
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About
Constantia Piers married the Reverend Vere Hunt of Curragh in 1712 and brought two considerable inheritances into this family with her. She was the eldest daughter of Sir William Piers, second baronet of Tristernagh Abbey in Westmeath, and through her mother she was a granddaughter of a Lord Kerry, which carries the line back into the Geraldines and the medieval barons of Kerry and Lixnaw. Her own forename is a small piece of evidence in itself: her grandmother was a Constance, and daughters were named backwards in these families as reliably as sons were.
Research notes
UPGRADED 21 Jul 2026 (Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, DE VERE article p.296, photographed by Aynsley): "Constantia, eldest dau. of SIR WILLIAM PIERS, BART., of Tristernagh, co. Westmeath, and granddau. (maternally) of WILLIAM FITZMAURICE, LORD KERRY"; m. Rev. Vere Hunt of Curragh 1712 (also Limerick Archives P22); four sons - Vere (our line), Henry (ancestor of the Cappagh, co. Tipperary branch and "the Hunts of Georgia"), John, William. Direct ancestress. Grade: marriage ✓; parentage per Burke's printed lineage. CROSS-CHECK PASSED 21 Jul 2026 (Burke's Peerage PIERS article): her father = SIR WILLIAM PIERS, 2ND BT (d. 1693), whose wife the Piers pedigree confirms as "HONORA, eldest dau. of WILLIAM, 20TH LORD KERRY" - the Kerry-granddaughter detail matches from both directions; the noble splice (Piers Bts + Fitzmaurice Lords Kerry) is now ✓, with the one caveat that Constantia's own name appears only in the De Vere lineage (the Piers article compresses the 2nd Bt's children to "with other issue"). ONOMASTIC CORROBORATION (Cokayne III, 21 Jul 2026): her maternal grandmother was CONSTANCE LONG - "Constantia" repeats the grandmother's name, exactly as expected in this family. Possible clincher available someday: her mother Honora's will, pr. [I.] 1710, may name her (Betham abstract hunt). Added 21 Jul 2026; upgraded same day.