Patrick Comerford
This two-week visit to Kuching means I never even began to consider going to Prague for the launch of a new book that mentions several times for my genealogical research on the Comerford family and that includes several photographs of me.
My Irish-Norman Ancestor is a new book by Josef Ryzec, that has been adapted to English by Sean O’Sullivan from Dublin, edited by Louise Kelleher and published by the Wild Geese Historical Society of Czechia. It is being launched in the Irish Embassy in Prague this evening (25 February 2025) by Alan Gibbons, who has been the Irish ambassador to Prague for the past three years
The Irish embassy in the Wratislaw Palace in Prague is close to Charles Bridge, at the heart of the city’s historic Malá Strana (Lesser Town). This evening’s launch of Josef Ryzec’s book also marks the anniversary of the assassination of Albrecht von Wallenstein on 25 February 1634, a pivotal moment in the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648).
The Thirty Years War, ostensibly beginning as a religious one, engaged nearly every European country in one way or another. The major forces involved were Sweden, supported by France, and the Hapsburg Empire, and the brunt was borne mainly by the German provinces and the Czech lands.
Wallenstein wasthe successful commander of the Austrian army, with several significant military victories. By December 1633, however, he was hoping to link up with the Swedes under Prince Bernhard. Colonel Walter Butler (1600-1634) of Ballinakill Castle, Roscrea, a direct descendant of James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond, was the commander of a regiment of Irish dragoons, remained loyal to the Habsburg Emperor. At the imperial command, Butler and two Scots colonels, Walter Leslie and John Gordon, plotted to get rid of Wallenstein.
Wallenstein’s trusted inner circle were invited to a feast at Eger Castle, where Butler’s kinsman, Captain Walter Devereux (1615) from Co Wexford, killed the traitorous general. The room were Devereux disposed of Wallenstein remains in the castle, now the Cheb Museum.
Butler died the following year and Devereux succeeded him as colonel of the regiment. He was rewarded for his deed with a confiscated estate and remained in the Czech lands. His brother had inherited the Devereux family castle at Balmagyr in Co Wexford and there was nothing to return to in Ireland.
The murder is described in a contemporary account by an Irish priest, FatherThomas Carew, who was a chaplain to both Butler and Devereux in the imperial army. It is also the subject of Schiller’s The Death of Wallenstein, one of a trilogy of plays about the general that holds a place in German culture akin to that of Shakespeare’s history plays.
Many historians of central Europe is regard Walter Devereux as a murderous mercenary, a drunk and a gambler. His son, or grandson, changed his family name to Ryzec, which is the name of a red-coloured Czech mushroom, suggesting that Walter was red-haired. He was reputedly buried in the Irish Franciscan church in Prague, to which he had contributed generously. The church is Malá Strana in Prague, beside the Charles Bridge and close to the Irish Embassy in the Wratislaw Palace.
The Thirty Years’ War had devastated Europe, killing millions through violence, famine or disease. It came to an end with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 which united Europe for the first time in a treaty of peace – perhaps a foretaste of the European Union, as some suggest.
The religious differences, however, remained for much longer, and influenced markedly historians of the period. The end of the war left in the Austrian Empire to dominate the Czechs for hundreds of years, whereas Wallenstein’s reward, had he succeeded in his treachery, would have been to become king of the Czech lands.
The Czech artist Josef Ryzec has endeavoured for decades to prove a 400-year tradition in his family that they are descended from Walter Devereux. In the course of his research, he says, a DNA test proved that his family tradition is correct. The book being launched in Prague this evening tells of his driving obsession to establish his family’s tradition and the many obstacles he faced and overcame.
He is confident he has now traced his ancestry back to the assassin Walter Devereux from Co Wexford. Walter’s parents were Philip Devereux (1583-1635) of Ballymagir Castle, Co Wexford, and Joan Walsh (1587-1660); Joan’s sister, Ellinor Walsh, married the Revd Thomas Comerford (1596-1635), Vicar of The Rower from 1630 until his death. They were daughters of Walter Walsh of The Mountains, Co Kilkenny, and Courthoyle, near Carrigbyrne, Co Wexford, and his wife, Ellinor Butler of New Ross, Co Wexford, daughter of Richard Butler, 1st Viscount Mountgarret.
This connection with the Conerford family led artist Josef Ryzec to contact me, and eventually three photographs of me, and references to my genealogical research are part of his book being launched this evening.
He believes there is no verifiable evidence that Walter Butler was buried in the Irish Franciscan church beside the Charles Bridge in Prague. It has been presumed by many that Walter Devereux died in December 1639, but Josef suggests that at the age of 55 he fathered a son Matej Ryzec who was born in 1670, and that he may have lived on for many more years after.
Sean O’Sullivan, who has been a generous publisher and supporter of this research, is originally from Dublin, and first came to Prague as a Pre-Accession Adviser to the Czech Ministry of Finance in 2002, advising the Czech government on meeting the requirements for EU membership. He loved Prague so much and felt so at home there that he decided to stay on after retirement, and devotes much his time to the Wild Geese Society of Bohemia.
A former Ambassador, Alison Kelly, introduced him to Josef Ryzec and he helped Josef research his family legend that he is descended from Walter Devereux who was only 19 at the time of the assassination.
As for Ballymagyr Castle it is now part of Richfield House and Cottages in Duncormick, near Kilmore Quay, Co Wexford.
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