TOBIN (in Gaelic Toibin form of the surname de Saint Aubyn) Tobins, originally called de St. Aubyn, derived their surname from the town of St. Aubyn in Brittany in the northwest of France. Their ancestor, Adam de St. Aubyn, accompanied Richard de Clare (Strongbow) to Ireland at the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion in 1170, acquiring extensive estates in Kilkenny and Tipperary. He established his stronghold in the former county at Ballytobin (now Ballagh Tobin) in the barony of Kells, near the Tipperary border. In later years, his decendants spread into the neighboring counties of Waterford and Cork; and it is in all these regions where they remain most numerous today. During the Middle Ages, the Tobins were so powerful and influential in County Tipperary, the head of the family became a feudal Lord of Cumshiva or Cumsey Killaghmenagh, known as Baron of Cumsey; a distinction he retained for more than five hundred years. By the beginning of the 14th century, the Tobins were thoroughly hibernicized, and formed a sept in the Irish fashion. Clyn in his Annels stated that they were "a turbulent sept more dreaded by the English settlers than the native Irish. In the 17th century, the Tobins were prominent supporters of James II: several were cvaalry officers in his Irish army. Following the defeat of the Stuart King at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, many of the surname are found on the rolls of the Irish Brigades in Spain and France. During this period, a leading branch of the sept returned to their ancient homeland, and like a number of other Irish emmigrants, settled in Nantes. The head of the family, James Tobin, a major in the french Irish Brigade, had represented Fethard, County Tipperary, in the Parliament of 1698. His son, Edmund Marques de Tobin (1692-1747), the most celebrated of this branch, was killed in battle in the War of the Austrian Succession while in the service of Spain.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 14:42:41 +0000
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