Theobald Dillon, 1st Viscount Dillon (died 15 March 1624), was an Irish military commander and adventurer, reputedly descended from the Anglo-Norman Henry le Dillon. He held extensive lands in Connaught

Connacht

Connacht , formerly anglicised as Connaught, is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the west of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for...

 and Westmeath. He was a loyal supporter of Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...

 in her Irish wars. In 1559 he was knighted on the field of battle.

In 1582, Dillon was made Collector-General of the composition money in Connaught

Connacht

Connacht , formerly anglicised as Connaught, is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the west of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for...

 and Thomond

Thomond

Thomond The region of Ireland associated with the name Thomond is County Clare, County Limerick and north County Tipperary; effectively most of north Munster. The name is used by a variety of establishments and organisations located in , or associated with the region...

. During this period of the reconquest in Connacht, Dillon was involved in some sharp practices with the local landholders. In particular he persuaded the various Costello

Costello

Costello is a surname in the English language. The name is an Anglicised form of the Irish Mac Oisdealbhaigh, meaning "son of Oisdealbhach". The Irish Oisdealbhach is derived from two elements: the first, os, means "deer"; the second element, dealbhach, means "in the form of", "resembling"...

 freeholders of east Mayo

Barony of Costello

Costello was one of the baronies of County Mayo. In the pre-Norman times the area was called Sliabh Lugha and was ruled by the Ó Gadhra dynasty. In the 12th century, Milo de Angelo removed the O'Gadhra seat from in Airtech Mór to Costello...

, to save expense and ensure the smooth legal transfer, to allow him to surrender their lands for them in one land-title in the Surrender and regrant

Surrender and regrant

During the Tudor conquest of Ireland , "surrender and regrant" was the legal mechanism by which Irish clans were to be converted from a power structure rooted in clan and kin loyalties, to a late-feudal system under the English legal system...

 process and had it regranted in his name, becoming the legal landowner in the process. He never returned this title to the lands to the native owners, which would lead to rapparee

Rapparee

Rapparees were Irish guerrilla fighters who operated on the Jacobite side during the 1690s Williamite war in Ireland. Subsequently the name was also given to bandits and highwaymen in Ireland - many former guerrillas having turned to crime after the war was over...

 actions by Dudley (or Dubhaltach Caoch) Costello

Dubhaltach Caoch Mac Coisdealbhaigh

Colonel Dubhaltach Caoch Mac Coisdealbhaigh, Irish soldier and Rapparee, died Sunday 3 March 1667.-Life:Mac Coisdealbhaigh was a member of the Costello family of Connacht. His brother was the soldier and poet, Tomás Láidir Mac Coisdealbhaigh....

 against the Dillons in the seventeenth century. In 1621, James I

James I of England

James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

 created him Viscount Dillon of Costello-Gallen, cementing his legal title. According to some sources, he subsequently had the title Lord President of Connaught

Lord President of Connaught

The Lord President of Connaught was a military leader with wide-ranging powers, reaching into the civil sphere, in the English government of Connaught in Ireland, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.*1569-1572 Sir Edward Fitton...

; but this was held by Charles Wilmot

Charles Wilmot, 1st Viscount Wilmot

Charles Wilmot, 1st Viscount Wilmot of Athlone was an English soldier active in Ireland.-Life:He was the son of Edward Wilmot of Culham and Elizabeth Stafford...

 from 1616, ennobled in the same year.

He died "at so advanced an age, that at one time he had the satisfaction of seeing above an hundred of his descendants in his house of Killenfaghny." (Kilfaughny, Athlone)

Family

• Wife Eleanor, daughter of William Tuite
  Risteárd de Tiúit
  Risteárd de Tiúit was a member of Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke's Irish invasion force, and Lord Chief Justice of Ireland...
  
  , Tuitestown County Westmeath.

They had 19 children:

• Sir James Dillon
  James Dillon (officer)
  Sir James Dillon was an officer in the armies of the Irish Confederate Catholic during the Irish Confederate Wars and a Member of the Parliament of Ireland...
  
  , who was the youngest son;
• Anne Dillon; mother of Theobald Taaffe, 1st Earl of Carlingford
  Earl of Carlingford
  The title of Earl of Carlingford was created in the Peerage of Ireland for Theobald Taaffe. The Earl bore the subsidiary titles Viscount Taaffe and Baron of Ballymote .-Taaffe Family History:...
  
  .