Colonel Thomas Prior; wife unidentified

Colonel Thomas Prior, the elder son of Thomas and Elizabeth Prior, inherited his father’s Irish estates. He raised a militia corps, commanding them as Colonel. Such a militia was needed as there was fierce resistance by the dispossessed Irish led by guerrillas known as Raparees. Colonel Prior was among those who, on at least one occasion, resisted demands to arrest prominent local Catholics. Yet he was also implicated in the (quite legal) offer of a 5 pounds reward for anyone who brought in a head of any Catholic priest who continued to celebrated mass in Ireland. It is only probable that it took place before Colonel Prior's death but it appears the head of the unfortunate priest was bought to the Prior home, Garrison House. Given such provocation and the widespread misery of the dispossessed Irish, it is no wonder that Colonel Prior was fatally wounded by rebels in 1700.¹⁾.

Thomas Prior had four sons and four daughters, including Richard, Thomas and Mary. It appears that his other children, notably Robert and William Prior, were from a second marriage.²⁾. Thomas' wives are as yet unidentified - will it be discovered by you?

Sources: John & John B. Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland: M to Z,London: Henry Colburn Publisher, 1846, p.1075; Family Bible, Burkes Landed? Gentry, Clarke; Teddy Fennelly, Thomas Prior. His Life, Times and Legacy, Ireland: Arderin Publishing, 2001, pp.3-4.