Origins of the Surname of Hope - Section 7
7. Irish Hopes.
The heraldry on the left is that of the Hope Family of Hopestown, Westmeath. It is a complex blazon and is described as:- Argent, two lion' heads erased Gules, langued Azul; Chief vair; Pile wavy, contre-ermine, Bordure vert. The border is a second son cadency mark and would have been added to the original blazon by Walter Hope second son of Richard Hope - see below. If the origins of this armorial could be established it would help considerably in the research into the origins of the Hope family of Hopestown and perhaps indeed into the origin of the Hope surname generally. To my amateur eyes the armorial could have European origins - the ermine part of it could be a nod to Brittany. Hence it is possible that this family brought the name of Hope with them from Europe when they came to Ireland and possibly also gave Hopestown its name. Hence it is also probable that this line of Hopes has no connection with those of that name in the Scotland and England.
The definition of the topographical feature of a hope as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary and listed on the Hope Origins page may have little application in Ireland judging by the small number of locations in Ireland including the word hope. However the Nordic influence on the coasts, similar to Northern Scotland and its Northern and Western Isles must be significant - however the above heraldry is not Nordic, it is European of some sort - anybody have any ideas on what could possibly be a major advance into the origins of the surname - certainly in Ireland?
The first Hope of Hopestown to be recorded was remarkably early and this was William Hope who in 1214, as recorded in the Close Rolls, was fined for marrying without King's Licence. This King would be King John of England who signed Magna Carta a year later in 1215. John Hope a great grandson of the above William Hope was appointed to the Commission of the Peace, Parish of Mullingar 1381. Richard Hope a son of John was styled of Ussuaght and Hopestown and Ledwithstown County Westmeath, 1548. Received pardon 5th may 1550. Richard had two sons Edmund who received pardon 1510 and Walter who married Janett Hanson. This Walter the second son probably added the border to the family armorial as it would appear that it was he that continued the family line - more about him below.
The son of Edmund a John Hope married Ann Fitzgerald, John died 1637 buried at Mullingar. Ann died 1635 buried at St Dominicks Mullingar. John and Ann had two sons, Richard and John and seven daughters, Ellen, Ann, Mary, Catherine, Margaret, Eleanor and Ellice.
Walter Hope was Constable of Mullingar in 1588 and he died in February 1611. Walter and Ann had two sons Edward and Thomas and a daughter Margaret. This Thomas married Ann Nugent and was also Constable of Mullingar in 1609. Thomas and Ann had two sons Walter and Alexander. This Alexander was resident in Mullingar Castle in1641. The Hopes of Hopestown family line continued to at least the twentieth century.
A descendant line of the family styled themselves as Hope of Gartlandstown and they can be found in Burkes Peerage with a different armorial to the Hope family of Hopestown. The head of this line was Thomas Hope, of Clondalever in Kilpatrick, Westmeath, b about 1700. He married Elizabeth Coffey of Newcastle, Westmeath. They had five sons and three daughters. The youngest son Christopher Hope of Gartlandstown and Clongowney, Westmeath married Mary Murphy and they had a son Edward Hope of Gartlandstown. b 1785 and in 1813 married Mary Lynch of Streamstown House, Castle Pollard, Westmeath. he died 22-06-1863. Edward and Mary had two sons and two daughters, the elder son Michael Hope, of Gartlandsown. b 1818 d 1873 married Mary Hefferman of Moate Town, Westmeath. Michael and Mary had two sons and five daughters. The younger son Christopher b1867 is recorded as being in Buenos Aires, Argentina where he married Isabel Mary Duggan, they had two sons and four daughters - the second son was named Edward William Patrick Argentino Hope, b 1910. The third daughter of Michael Hope and Mary Hefferman was Margaret Hope b c1857 d 1932. Margaret married 16-07-1879 Sir William Nelson 1st Baronet of Acton Park, Denbigh. Their descendants can be found in Burkes Peerage. The fourth and current Nelson baronet has Hope as a middle name.
In 1445 a Shane Hoppe of Kyolistin - is this Colinstown? in Westmeath is recorded. I do not think that he has any connection with the Hope family of Hopestown.
In 1858 the Hope family of Hopestown was listed as one of the Noble Houses of Europe.
The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries saw many lowland Scots including many Borderers ( Ex Reiver families) transported to Ulster either as the result of Plantation policies or a result of the Lowland Clearances. There were also many Covenanting Scots fleeing from persecution followed by others in 1696 who were leaving an impoverished land in the grip of a severe famine. Many of these only stayed for a generation before continuing to America as Ulster Scots - a number of these must have been Hopes. The number of Ulster Scots must have been quite large as six of the first twelve American Presidents were from that group. However quite a few Hopes from Scotland stayed in Ulster where they are to this day.
As mentioned in Section 4 Amsterdam Hopes, Henry Philip Hope 1769-1831 of the Amsterdam Hopes, in 1860, bought and restored a georgian country house in Castleblayney in County Monaghan, Ireland, that he called Hope Castle. This house is now part of the Lough Muckno leisure park. Whether these Hopes established themselves in Monaghan is probably unlikely. The Hope name remains in Castleblaney, apart from Hope Castle there is also the Hope Arms, previously a hotel in the High Street, now up for sale for development.
A James Hope (1764-1847) was one of the leaders of the Society of United Irishmen who fought in the 1798 and 1803 rebellions against British rule in Ireland. James has an entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. He was influenced by the French and American Revolutions. He was born in Templepatrick in Antrim a Presbyterian of Scottish Covenanting stock. His parents were John Hope and Sarah Speirs, he married Rose Mullen and had three children. He died in Templepatrick and is buried there. (Death mask in the Ulster Museum). He also lived in Dublin, Meath and Westmeath. If there are male descendants with the Hope surname it would be great if they could have their genealogical DNA done - a Hope covenanting DNA is a must have! See DNA pages of www.clanhope.org on how do do this.
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