17TH CENTURY IRISH SCHOOL - PORTRAIT OF MATTHEW PENNEFATHER (1618-1688), BRANDISHING A PISTOL.

A historically significant portrait of Cornet Matthew Pennefather (1618-1688) depicted half length wearing a brown jacket and blue sash, brandishing a pistol.

Cornet Matthew Pennefather (1618-1688); per Burke's LGI 'Pennefather of Rathsallagh' (read in print, July 2026): 'the first of this family who settled in Ireland... a Cornet in the Army, SON OF ABRAHAM PENNEFATHER, and younger brother of Abraham Pennefather, of Hanbury-on-the-Hill, co. Stafford. He acquired by patent, 1666, the estates of Clonegoose, Ballylanigan, &c., co. Tipperary' (Landed Estates gives the grant as 1667 - patent/grant dating, both recorded). To Ireland c.1648 with Cromwell's army; Quartermaster, Earl of Mountrath's regiment 1662; lived at Gort McEllis Castle nr Cashel; buried at the Rock of Cashel.

Having arrived from the family’s ancestral seat in Staffordshire, the Pennefather family settled in County Tipperary, Ireland, circa 1648. He is recorded by 1662 as holding the rank of Quartermaster in the regiment of the Earl of Mountrath, with postings at Birr (1664). In 1666 he acquired by patent, the estates of Clonegoose, Ballylanigan, &c., co. Tipperary.  Oliver Cromwell’s ‘settlement’ of Ireland, whereby most of the land was confiscated from Catholics and redistributed to English Protestants. After postings in Athy (c.1668) he had retired from military service by 1685.

Following his marriage to Levina Kingsmill, the couple resided at Gort McEllis Castle, near Cashel, before succeeding to the Ballyowen estate upon the death of Levina’s father, subsequently renamed New Park. Both Matthew Pennefather and his wife are interred at the Rock of Cashel. For several generations the Pennefathers represented Cashel as Members of Parliament.

The surname Pennefather (historically spelled with variants like Pennyfather or Pennyfeather) stems from the Old English nickname for a miser or an incredibly frugal person ("penny-father").

This work is in a fine state of preservation and is housed in its original hand carved and gilded ‘Lely’ style frame which is itself a work of art.

Provenance: Pennefather family, New Park, Co Tipperary, thence by descent.

Canvas: 70cm x 65cm. Framed: 86cm x 74cm.

Price: £8800