Loftus’ loyalty to both these men, plus his future high office, ensured the continued survival of the O’Byrnes and O’Tooles. At the same time he and Phelim Mac Fiach O’Byrne, in whose territory he also held land(1), exchanged children through fosterage, thus cementing a family bond. Since much of his church territory was in the lands of Barnaby O’Toole, he quickly ingratiated himself with the Gaelic lord. In Irish society the best course of action against a potential enemy was to make him or her a family member in a country of many wars and factions Loftus’ position was one of the few constants.Īs early as 1594 his uncle had him made Archdeacon of Glendalough, a position he held until his forced retirement under Cromwell’s Commonwealth. In so doing he was not as underhand an operator as today’s political morals may indicate. During his administrative career he succeeded in marrying his children and cousins into the most powerful families in Ireland, both Irish and English. He had achieved his position of power through the patronage of his namesake uncle and thus, early in his life, he was to learn the importance of family. Loftus was the most influential administrator in the land for the first four decades of the seventeenth century – he was also a very shrewd and able tactician.
Adam Loftus – A Shrewd and able tactician To understand how this happened one has to look no further than the Lord Chancellor of Ireland and Anglican Archbishop of Dublin, Adam Loftus. In the years between the shiring of Wicklow and the 1640s, although under the rule of the Crown the county was to remain largely in the control of the O’Tooles to the north and the O’Byrnes to the south.
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