Thomas Dillon, 4th Viscount Dillon

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{{Tree chart|Txt|Txt=Thomas Dillon with wife, parents, and other selected relatives.{{Efn|This family tree is partly derived from the Dillon family tree pictured in La Tour du Pin.{{Sfn|La Tour du Pin|1913|pp=[https://archive.org/details/journaldunefemme01lato/page/14/ 14–15]|ps=. "Note généalogique sur la Maison des Lords Dillon"}} Also see the lists of siblings and children in the text.}}|boxstyle_Txt=border: 0 solid white; padding-bottom 1em; text-align: left;}}

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{{Tree chart| | | | | | |ThbD1|y|Elnor|boxstyle=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em;

|ThbD1=Theobald
1st
Viscount
d. 1624|boxstyle_ThbD1=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: lavender;

|Elnor=Eleanor
Tuite
d. 1638}}

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{{Tree chart| | | |ChrDl|y|Janet| | |LcsDl| |JmsDl|boxstyle=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em;

|ChrDl=Christopher
Dillon
of Ballylaghan
d. 1624
d.v.p.*

|Janet=Janet
Dillon
m. 1604

|LcsDl=Lucas
Dillon
1579–1656
of Loughglynn

|JmsDl=James
Dillon
c. 1600 –
aft. 1669}}

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{{Tree chart|LcsD2| |Sbjct|y|Frncs| |ThbDl| |RbtDl|boxstyle=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em;

|LcsD2=Lucas
2nd
Viscount
1610–1629|boxstyle_LcsD2=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: lavender;

|Sbjct=Thomas
4th
Viscount
1615–1673|boxstyle_Sbjct=border: 2px solid red; border-radius: 0.5em; background: lavender;

|Frncs=Frances
White
d. 1664

|ThbDl=Theobald
Dillon

|RbtDl=Robert
Dillon of
Loughglynn}}

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{{Tree chart|ThbD3| | | |ThsD5| | |LcsD6| | |ThbD7|boxstyle=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em;

|ThbD3=Theobald
3rd
Viscount
1629–1630|boxstyle_ThbD3=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: lavender;

|ThsD5=Thomas
5th
Viscount
d. 1674|boxstyle_ThsD5=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: lavender;

|LcsD6=Lucas
6th
Viscount
d. 1682|boxstyle_LcsD6=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: lavender;

|ThbD7=Theobald
7th
Viscount
d. 1691
Jacobite|boxstyle_ThbD7=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: lavender;}}

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{{Tree chart| | | |HryD8|y| Frn | |Arthr|y|CathS|boxstyle=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em;

|HryD8=Henry
8th
Viscount
d. 1714|boxstyle_HryD8=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: lavender;

|Frn=Frances
Hamilton
d. 1751

|Arthr=Arthur
1670–1733
French
General

|CathS=Christina
Sheldon
1684–1757}}

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{{Tree chart| | | | |RchD9| |ChD10| |HrD11|y|Chltt|boxstyle=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em;

|RchD9=Richard
9th
Viscount
1688–1737|boxstyle_RchD9=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: lavender;

|ChD10=Charles
10th
Viscount
1701–1741|boxstyle_ChD10=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: lavender;

|HrD11=Henry
11th
Viscount
1705–1787|boxstyle_HrD11=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: lavender;

|Chltt=Charlotte
Lee
d. 1794}}

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|SbjBx=XXX|boxstyle_SbjBx=border: 2px solid red; border-radius: 0.5em; color: white;

|SbjTx=Thomas
Dillon|boxstyle_SbjTx=border: 0 solid white; text-align: left;

|Bk1Bx=XXX|boxstyle_Bk1Bx=background: lavender; border-radius: 0.5em; border-width: 1px; color: lavender;

|Bk1Tx=Viscounts
Dillon|boxstyle_Bk1Tx=border: 0 solid white; text-align: left;}}

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{{Tree chart|Txt|Txt=*d.v.p. = predeceased his father (decessit vita patris)|boxstyle_Txt=border: 0 solid white; text-align: left;}}

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Thomas was born in March 1615{{Efn|Thomas is said to have been born in 'March 1615'{{Sfn|Burke|1949|p=[https://archive.org/details/burkesgenealogic1949unse/page/603/ 603]|ps=. "... [the 4th Viscount] b. March 1615" ..."}} but also 'in 1614'.{{Sfn|Webb|1878b|p=[https://archive.org/details/acompendiumiris00webbgoog/page/n156/ 149, line 42]|ps=. "... was born about 1614 ..."}} Both are probably right as Ireland (like England) at the time used the Julian Calendar with a start of year on 25 March. Dates between 1 January and 25 March can be either adjusted to a start of the year on 1 January, as most modern historians do, or be reported in strict OS. That interpretation also agrees with Cokayne, who states that the 4th Viscount succeeded his father at the age of 15.{{Sfn|Cokayne|1916|p=[https://archive.org/details/completepeerageo04coka/page/358/ 358, line 9]|ps=. "1630 4.Thomas ... uncle and h. [heir], being next br. [brother] to the 2nd Viscount and then aged 15."}}}} in Ireland. He was the second son of Christopher Dillon and his wife Jane Dillon. His father was the eldest son and heir apparent of Theobald Dillon, 1st Viscount Dillon. Christopher predeceased his father and therefore never succeeded as viscount. He was a member of the landed gentry and known as Christopher Dillon of Ballylaghan in County Mayo.

Thomas's mother was the eldest daughter of James Dillon, 1st Earl of Roscommon. His father's and his mother's family were branches of the same widespread Old English family, established in Ireland in 1185 when Sir Henry Dillon accompanied Prince John to Ireland.{{Sfn|Webb|1878a|p=[https://archive.org/details/acompendiumiris00webbgoog/page/n157/ 149, line 7]|ps=. "... [Sir Henry Dillon] came to Ireland in 1185 as secretary to Prince John ..."}} His parents married in 1604 and had seven sons and five daughters.{{Sfn|Burke|Burke|1915|p=[https://archive.org/details/b3136410x/page/645/ 645, right column, line 79]|ps=. "Christopher (Sir), of Bealalahin, Mayo, m. [married] Nov. 1604, Lady Jane Dillon, eldest daughter of James, 1st Earl of Roscommon; and d.v.p. 28 Feb. 1624, leaving issue: [7 sons and 5 daughters listed]."}}

His father died on 28 February 1624 when Thomas was eight years old.{{Sfn|Cokayne|1916|p=[https://archive.org/details/completepeerageo04coka/page/357/ 357, line 33]|ps=. "Christopher was s. [son] and h. ap. [heir apparent] of the last Viscount but d. v.p. [predeceased his father], 28 Feb 1623/4."}} His grandfather, the 1st Viscount, followed him into the grave two weeks later on 15 March 1624.{{Sfn|Debrett|1828|p=[https://archive.org/details/debrettspeerage01debrgoog/page/n326/ 748, line 9]|ps=. "... and [the 1st Viscount] d. 15 March 1624 ..."}} His elder brother Lucas succeeded his grandfather as the 2nd Viscount Dillon. This Lucas stayed viscount for about five years and died in 1629,{{Sfn|Cokayne|1916|p=[https://archive.org/details/completepeerageo04coka/page/358/ 358, line 2]|ps=. "He [the 2nd Viscount] d. [died] at Killenfagny, co. Westmeath, 13 Apr. and was bur. [buried] 14 Sept. 1629 in the Friary of Athlone."}} leaving a three months old child, Theobald,{{Sfn|Lodge|1789b|p=[https://archive.org/details/peerageofireland04lodg/page/185/ 185, line 30]|ps=. "Theobald, the third Viscount, at the death of his father ..."}} who became the 3rd Viscount and a ward of the King but lasted only about a year dying on 13 May 1630 in his infancy.{{Sfn|Cokayne|1916|p=[https://archive.org/details/completepeerageo04coka/page/358/ 358, line 8]|ps=. "He [the 3rd Viscount] d. [died] an infant, 13 May 1630."}} Thomas, being his uncle, succeeded as the 4th Viscount Dillon of Costello-Gallen. As he was 15 at the time, he became a ward and the estate was seized by the King, who sold the wardship to Thomas's uncle Lucas Dillon of Loughglynn.{{Sfn|Lodge|1789b|p=[https://archive.org/details/peerageofireland04lodg/page/185/ 185, line 33]|ps=. "Thomas, the 4th Viscount, who being within age, viz. 15 years old at the accession to the honour; K. Charles I by indenture, bearing date of 8 December same year [1630] demised and to farm set, the estates then very considerable ... to Lucas Dillon of Lough-Glyn "}} (see Family tree) and to Charles Wilmot, 1st Viscount Wilmot.{{Sfn|Murphy|2009|loc=paragraph 1|ps=. "The ward of his estate was granted to his uncle Sir Lucas Dillon and Lord Wilmot ..."}} Lord Dillon, as he was now, in that same year converted to Protestantism and was received into the Church of Ireland.{{Sfn|Henderson|1888|p=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofnati15stepuoft/page/86/ 86, right column]|ps=. "... he [the 4th Viscount] declared himself a protestant."}}

In 1635 Lord Dillon, aged about 20, married Frances White, daughter of Nicholas White, esquire, of Leixlip, a Protestant,{{Sfn|Cokayne|1916|p=[https://archive.org/details/completepeerageo04coka/page/358/ 358, line 21]|ps=. "He m. [married], before 1636, Frances da. [daughter] of Sir Nicholas White of Leixlip, by Ursula, 1st da. of Garrett (Moore) 1st Viscount Moore of Drogheda.}}{{Sfn|Burke1949|p=[https://archive.org/details/burkesgenealogic1949unse/page/603/ 603, left column, line 42]|ps=. "... m. 1635, Frances, dau. of Nicholas White of Leixlip ..."}} and granddaughter of Garret Moore, 1st Viscount Moore by her mother Ursula Moore.{{Sfn|Lodge|1789a|p=[https://archive.org/details/peerageofireland02lodg/page/100/ 100, line 10]|ps=. "Daughter Ursula was married to Sir Nicholas White of Leixlip, in the county of Kildare ..."}} She brought him a dowry of £3000 (about £{{Inflation|UK|3000|1635|r=-5|fmt=c}} in {{Inflation/year|UK}}{{Inflation/fn|UK}}). Her sister Mary married Theobald Taaffe, the 2nd Viscount Taaffe (later 1st Earl of Carlingford), who thus became his brother-in-law.{{Sfn|Cokayne|1913|p=[https://archive.org/details/completepeerageo03coka/page/28/ 28, line 19]|ps=. "He [Taaffe] m. [married], 1stly, Mary, 1st da. [daughter] of Sir Nicholas White of Leixlip, co. Kildare, by Ursula, 1st da. of Garrett, 1st Viscount Moore of Drogheda."}}

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Lucas and Frances had six sons and several daughters, who seem not to be known by name. The sons were:

1. Charles (born 1636), became a general in French and Spanish service;{{Sfn|Burke|1949|p=[https://archive.org/details/burkesgenealogic1949unse/page/603/ 603, left column, line 44]|ps=. "Charles, Gen in the French and Spanish services, Gov. of Tournay, b. [born] 1636, d.s.p. [died without issue], before his father."}}
2. Christopher (died 1663), never married;{{Sfn|Lodge|1789b|p=[https://archive.org/details/peerageofireland04lodg/page/189/ 189, line 26]|ps=. "Christopher who died in Winetavern-Street unmarried and was buried by his mother 20 June 1663."}}
3. Rupert, died while being a page to Charles II, during his exile;{{Sfn|Burke|1949|p=[https://archive.org/details/burkesgenealogic1949unse/page/603/ 603, left column, line 46]|ps=. "Rupert, page to Charles II, k. on service."}}
4. Thomas (died 1674), became the 5th Viscount;{{Sfn|Lodge|1789b|p=[https://archive.org/details/peerageofireland04lodg/page/189/ 189, line 36]|ps=. "Thomas, the 5th Viscount Dillon married Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Sir John Bourke of Derymaclagtny in the county of Galway ... and his Lordship deceasing 1674, the honour devolved on Lucas Dillon, eldest son of Theobald, third son of Sir Christopher Dillon, eldest son of Theobald, the first Viscount."}}{{Sfn|Burke|1949|p=[https://archive.org/details/burkesgenealogic1949unse/page/603/ 603, left column, line 47]|ps=. "Thomas, 5th Viscount. His only surviving son."}}
5. Ormond, died young;{{Sfn|Lodge|1789b|p=[https://archive.org/details/peerageofireland04lodg/page/189/ 189, line 34]|ps=. "Ormond, and Nicholas, died young."}}
6. Nicholas, died young.

Thomas Wentworth, Viscount Wentworth, later the 1st Earl of Strafford, was appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland by Charles I on 12 April 1632.{{Sfn|Asch|2004|p=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_019861408x/page/146/ 146, right column, line 23]|ps=. "Wentworth was appointed lord deputy on 12 January 1632 ..."}} About 1636 Wentworth's sister Elizabeth married James Dillon, 3rd Earl of Roscommon, a first cousin on his mother's side.{{Sfn|Lodge|1789b|p=[https://archive.org/details/peerageofireland04lodg/page/164/ 164]|ps=. "He [the 3rd Earl Roscommon] married Elizabeth, third and youngest daughter of Sir William Wentworth, of Wentworth-Woodhouse, in the county of York, Bart. sister to Thomas Earl of Strafford ..."}} In January 1640 Wentworth was raised to Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.{{Sfn|Asch|2004|p=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_019861408x/page/152/ 152, left column, line 46]|ps=. "In January 1640 Wentworth was elevated to the position of lord lieutenant of Ireland, which allowed him to govern the country during his absence through a deputy."}} On 12 January 1640 Wentworth was created 1st Earl of Strafford.{{Sfn|Asch|2004|p=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_019861408x/page/152/ 152, left column, line 49]|ps=. "... on 12 January 1640 he [Wentworth] was created an earl, taking the title of Strafford."}}

Lord Strafford, as he now was, summoned an Irish Parliament in 1640. This was the second Irish parliament of King Charles I. On 16 March of that year, Lord Dillon took his seat in the House of Lords,{{Sfn|Cokayne|1916|p=[https://archive.org/details/completepeerageo04coka/page/358/ 358, line 12]|ps=. "... having declared himself a Protestant, took his seat in the House of Lords [I.] 16 March 1639/40."}} which comprised all Irish peers and had a Catholic majority. The purpose of the parliament was to raise subsidies for an Irish army of 9000{{Sfn|Wedgwood|1961|p=[https://archive.org/details/thomaswentworthf0000wedg/page/277/ 277, line 8]|ps=. "The Irish Parliament had agreed on the provision of a force of eight thousand foot and a thousand horse."}} for Charles I to fight the Scots in the Bishops' Wars. The Parliament unanimously voted four subsidies of £45,000.{{Sfn|Wedgwood|1961|p=[https://archive.org/details/thomaswentworthf0000wedg/page/276/ 276, line 4]|ps=. "... they voted four subsidies of £45,000 each without a single negative ..."}} On 31 March 1640 parliament was prorogued until the first week of June.{{Sfn|Asch|2004|p=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_019861408x/page/152/ 152, right column, line 43]|ps=. "The Irish parliament was prorogued on 31 March [1640] ..."}}{{Sfn|Wedgwood|1961|p=[https://archive.org/details/thomaswentworthf0000wedg/page/277/ 277, line 4]|ps=. "... he [Wentworth] prorogued Parliament until the first week in June ..."}}

On 3 April 1640 Strafford left Ireland,{{Sfn|Wedgwood|1961|p=[https://archive.org/details/thomaswentworthf0000wedg/page/278/ 278]|ps=. "On the evening of Good Friday, April 3rd, he [Wentworth] took leave of his wife and his friend, Wandesford, not knowing ..."}} called elsewhere by the King, having appointed Christopher Wandesford as Lord Deputy.{{Efn|Strafford had been elevated from Lord Deputy to Lord Lieutenant{{Sfn|Cokayne|1896|p=[https://archive.org/details/completepeerage07cokahrish/page/n264/ 263, line 6]|ps=. "Viceroy of Ireland, as L. Deputy and (1640) L. Lieut., 1632/33–1641."}} and therefore could now appoint a deputy under him.}} Wandesford opened the second parliamentary session on 1 June 1640.{{Sfn|Gardiner|1904|p=[https://archive.org/details/historyenglandf49gardgoog/page/n175/ 155, line 3]|ps=. "The Parliament of Ireland met for its second session on June 1."}}{{Sfn|Wedgwood|1961|p=[https://archive.org/details/thomaswentworthf0000wedg/page/291/ 291, line 12]|ps=. "... Christopher Wandesford, now Lord Deputy, opened the second session of Parliament in June."}} News from England was that the Short Parliament had refused subsidies to the King.{{Sfn|Gardiner|1904|p=[https://archive.org/details/historyenglandf49gardgoog/page/n140/ 120]|ps=. "... the refusal of the House of Commons to support him."}} The Irish MPs regretted having voted for subsidies and wanted to change how they would be evaluated and collected.{{Sfn|Wedgwood|1961|p=[https://archive.org/details/thomaswentworthf0000wedg/page/291/ 291]|ps=. "... protests about the subsidies — so vociferously voted three months before. The Commons were resolved first to reorganize the basis of assessment and undo the work ..."}} After two weeks of inconclusive discussions, Wandesford prorogued parliament on 17 June.{{Sfn|Wedgwood|1961|p=[https://archive.org/details/thomaswentworthf0000wedg/page/291/ 291, penultimate line]|ps=. "After an unprofitable fortnight, Wandesford prorogued Parliament until October."}}

When Parliament met again on 1 October, its mood had turned entirely against Strafford. The Commons sent a committee to England with a remonstrance that listed Strafford's excesses. Dillon together with Gormanston, Kilmallock and Muskerry were sent to London by the House of Lords to report grievances.{{Sfn|Bagwell|1909a|p=[https://archive.org/details/irelandunderstua01bagw/page/303/ 303]|ps=. "... deputed Gormanston, Dillon, and Kilmallock ... Muskerry ..."}} Sometime in 1640 before the 23 October Lord Dillon was appointed a member of the Irish Privy council.{{Sfn|Lodge|1789b|p=[https://archive.org/details/peerageofireland04lodg/page/183/ 183, last line]|ps=. "... and 23 October 1640 we find him a Lord of the Privy Council ..."}} Wandesford died on 3 December 1640 and was succeeded by Lord Leicester with the title of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Lord Leicester, however, never set foot on Irish soil.{{Sfn|McNeill|1911|p=392|ps=. "... in 1643 he [Leicester] was compelled to resign the office without having set foot in Ireland."}}

In October 1641 the Irish Rebellion broke out. In February 1642, the Irish Parliament sent Lord Dillon and his brother-in-law Lord Taaffe to England to submit grievances to Charles I. However, they were intercepted at Ware by order of the English House of Commons.{{Sfn|Warner|1768a|p=[https://archive.org/details/historyrebellio00warngoog/page/n150/ 130]|ps=. "What the private instructions were that Lord Dillon was entrusted with are not particularly known; because ... when he and Lord Taafe who accompanied him were got to Ware, their persons and papers were seized by order of the English House of Commons;"}} They escaped a few months later and met the King at York.{{Sfn|Webb|1878b|p=[https://archive.org/details/acompendiumiris00webbgoog/page/n156/ 149, line 48]|ps=. "Being on a mission to King Charles in February 1641-'2, he was, with Lord Taaffe, seized at Ware by order of the House of Commons. After some months' imprisonment, they escaped and joined the King at York."}} Upon Lord Dillon's return to Ireland, he was promoted Lieutenant-General.{{Sfn|Webb|1878b|p=[https://archive.org/details/acompendiumiris00webbgoog/page/n157/ 49, right column, line 53]|ps=. "Upon Dillon's return to Ireland, he was made Lieutenant-General ..."}}

On 15 September 1643 the Cessation, a ceasefire for one year was signed between the royalists and the Confederation.{{Sfn|Bagwell|1909b|p=[https://archive.org/details/irelandunderstua02bagw/page/50/ 50]|ps=. "... the terms of the cessation were agreed to on September 15 [1643] ..."}} This cessation was renewed in September 1644.

In 1644 Lord Dillon was appointed joint President of Connaught together with Henry Wilmot, 2nd Viscount Wilmot,{{Sfn|Warner|1768b|p=[https://archive.org/details/historyrebellio01warngoog/page/n55/ 46]|ps=. "Lord Wilmot and Lord Dillon made pretensions to this post, though neither of them had a twentieth part of the merit of Lord Clanricarde, and in order to satisfy them both, they were made joint Presidents of Connaught]."}} who had inherited his half of the presidency from his father, Charles Wilmot, 1st Viscount Wilmot in April 1644.{{Sfn|Firth|1900|p=[https://archive.org/details/dictionarynatio13stepgoog/page/n74/ 62, right column, line 12]|ps=. "He also lost [8 Aug 1644] his joint presidency of Connaught to which he had been appointed in April 1644 succeeding his father in that office ..."}} Dillon replaced Roger Jones, 1st Viscount Ranelagh, who had died in 1643.{{Sfn|Cokayne|1895|p=[https://archive.org/details/completepeerage06cokahrish/page/n325/ 324, line 18]|ps=. "He [Roger Jones] d. [died] while attending the king at Oxford, his burial being recorded 1 July 1643 ..."}}

With the arrival of the papal nuncio, Giovanni Battista Rinuccini, in Ireland on 21 October 1645{{Sfn|Coffey|1914|p=[https://archive.org/details/oneillormondchap00coffuoft/page/152/ 152, line 16]|ps=. "... landed at Kenmare October, 21st [1645]."}} Lord Dillon's Protestant religion caused him problems. He decided to convert back to Catholicism and on 6 December 1646 Lord Dillon was received back into the Roman Catholic Church by the Nuncio at St Mary's Church,{{Efn|This is the old parish church in the centre of the town, not St Mary's Cathedral, built in the 19th century.}} Kilkenny.{{Sfn|Lodge|1789b|p=[https://archive.org/details/peerageofireland04lodg/page/187/ 187, line 12]|ps=. "... where 6 December 1646, he was reconciled by the nuncio to the Church of Rome, according to the Roman Pontifical in St. Mary's Church before a vast concourse of people;"}} He had left Athlone under the command of Captain MacGawly, who betrayed him and handed the town over to Owen Roe O'Neill. After his conversion, the Confederate Council ordered O'Neill to give the town back to Lord Dillon, but O'Neill refused.{{Sfn|Coffey|1914|p=[https://archive.org/details/oneillormondchap00coffuoft/page/191/ 191]|ps=. "O'Neill still held Athlone, though ordered to give it back to Lord Costello by the Council"}}

In August 1647, the Confederate Leinster army under Thomas Preston was severely beaten in the Battle of Dungan's Hill by Parliamentarian troops under Michael Jones. On this occasion Lord Dillon commanded the Confederate cavalry, which fled in the early stages of the battle.{{Sfn|Lenihan|2004|p=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_0198613660/page/226/ 226, left column, line 10]|ps=. "Dillon joined the Leinster confederate Catholic army and led the cavalry contingent at the catastrophic defeat at Dungan's Hill in August 1647."}}{{Sfn|Meehan|1882|p=[https://archive.org/details/confederationki01meehgoog/page/n329/ 311]|ps=. "... wheronto is to be added the Lord Costologh's party of about 300 horse ..."}}

Lord Dillon is mentioned several times in the Peace Treaty of 17 January 1649 between the Irish Confederates and Ormond, acting for Charles I, as "Thomas lord viscount Dillon of Costologh" (i.e. Costello-Gallen)". John Milton called him an "archrebel".{{Sfn|Milton|1649|p=[https://archive.org/details/proseworksofjohn00milt/page/263/ 263]|ps=. "... a standing army of papists at the beck and command of Dillon, Muskerry, and other archrebels ..."}} He was one of the 12 commissioners of trust.{{Sfn|Bagwell|1909b|p=[https://archive.org/details/irelandunderstua02bagw/page/175/ 175, note]|ps=. "The Commissioners of Trust were Viscounts Dillon and Muskerry, Lord Athenry, Alexander MacDonnell, Sirs Lucas Dillon, Nicholas Plunket, and Richard Barnewall, Geoffrey Browne, Donough O'Callaghan, Turlagh O'Neill, Miles O'Reilly, and Gerald Fennell Esquires."}}{{Sfn|Godwin|1827|p=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.37706/page/n156/ 138]|ps=. "... it recognized a body of twelve commissioners with the Lords Dillon of Costello and Muskerry at their head ..."}}

In 1649 Lord Dillon took part in Ormond's unsuccessful Siege of Dublin. He blockaded the Northside of the town with 2500 men{{Sfn|Hayes-McCoy|1990|p=[https://archive.org/details/irishbattlesmili0000haye/page/206/ 206, line 30]|ps=. "He left 2,500 men under Lord Dillon on the north side of the river Liffey ..."}} and did not intervene, when General Michael Jones sallied in the south-east side of the town and defeated Ormond in the Battle of Rathmines on 2 August 1649.{{Sfn|Lenihan|2004|p=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_0198613660/page/226/ 226, left column, line 26]|ps=. "On 2 August a surprise attack overran Ormond's camp; at some point in the battle Ormond sent a message ordering Dillon to march south and attack the rear of the parliamentary army. Dillon refused, probably because it seemed to him to be too late to prevent a rout."}} After the battle Ormond and Dillon retreated northwards to Trim.{{Sfn|D'Alton|1910|p=[https://archive.org/details/ireland04daltuoft/page/n72/ 303, line 24]|ps=. "Lord Taaffe escaped across the Liffey and begged Lord Dillon to attack the enemy while disordered by their victory, but his men refused and were with difficulty persuaded to go, half to Trim and half to Drogheda to strengthen these garrisons. Ormond himself with the broken remains of his army made his way to Trim.}} Some of his troops went to reinforce the garrison of Drogheda and were caught in the ensuing Siege of Drogheda by Cromwell, 3–11 September 1649.{{Sfn|Hayes-McCoy|1990|p=[https://archive.org/details/irishbattlesmili0000haye/page/212/ 212, line 1]|ps=. "Lord Dillon, the royalist leader on the north bank, fell back, on hearing the news of Ormond's defeat, into Trim and Drogheda and many of his men perished at Cromwell's hands in the latter place in the following month."}}

In 1650 Lord Dillon successfully defended Athlone against a Parliamentarian army under Henry Ireton, skilfully holding him off by protracted parleys until Ireton decided to leave and rather reinforce Hardress Waller at the siege of Limerick. However, too much time had been lost and the parliamentarians took neither of these towns in the campaign of 1650.{{Sfn|Warner|1768b|p=[https://archive.org/details/historyrebellio01warngoog/page/n233/ 228, line 8]|ps=. "... Ireton, joining his army to Sr C. Coote's, advanced to Athlone in order to take in that garrison, but finding the bridge broken and the town on that side burned, Coote was left to block it up and Ireton ... joined his army before Limerick."}} On 18 June 1651 Lord Dillon surrendered Athlone to Coote.{{Sfn|Henderson|1888|p=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofnati15stepuoft/page/87/ 87, left column, line 30]|ps=. "He maintained Athlone till 18 June 1651, when articles of agreement were arranged between him and Sir Charles Coote."}}

Lord Dillon's estates were confiscated by the Cromwellian Settlement of 1652, and he and his family lived in exile on the continent until the Restoration.{{Sfn|Webb|1878b|p=[https://archive.org/details/acompendiumiris00webbgoog/page/n158/ 150, left column, line 2]|ps=. "... he and his family lived in exile on the continent until the Restoration."}}

In 1662 he resigned the presidency of Connaught to Charles II for a payment of money.{{Sfn|Henderson|1888|p=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofnati15stepuoft/page/87/ 87, left column]|ps=. "In consideration of a sum of money he resigned in 1662 the presidency of Connaught to Charles II ..."}} In 1663 most of his extensive lands were restored by the Act of Settlement 1662, and several high offices in the state were conferred upon him, including that of Custos Rotulorum of Westmeath. However, Dubhaltach Caoch Mac Coisdealbhaigh, who was descended from a family of the Gaelic nobility of Ireland that had been cheated out of their land by the 1st Viscount, resisted by organising rapparee actions. He was eventually shot in a skirmish in eastern County Mayo in 1667.{{Sfn|Carte|1851|p=[https://archive.org/details/lifeofjamesdukeo04cart/page/256/ 256]|ps=. "Costellogh ventured in the night to attack one of them, commanded by Captain Theobald Dillon, supposing them to be raw men, and easily frighted; but met with so warm a reception, that he was shot dead on the spot ..."}}

After 1669 Lord Dillon inherited an estate of {{Convert|2500|acre|km2}} in County Mayo and County Roscommon from his uncle, Sir James Dillon, youngest son of the 1st Viscount.{{Sfn|Murtagh|2004|p=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_0198613660/page/211/ 211, left column]|ps=. "Much of his [James Dillon's] estate seems eventually to have reverted to his nephew Thomas, fourth Viscount Dillon, who was presumably his heir."}}

Lord Dillon died in 1673{{Sfn|Cokayne|1916|p=[https://archive.org/details/completepeerageo04coka/page/358/ 358, line 25]|ps=. "He d. in 1673 or 1674.}}{{Sfn|Burke1949|p=[https://archive.org/details/burkesgenealogic1949unse/page/603/ 603, left column, line 43]|ps=. "... and d. [died] 1672-3 ..."}}{{Sfn|Webb|1878b|p=[https://archive.org/details/acompendiumiris00webbgoog/page/n158/ 150, line 7]|ps=. "He died about 1672 ..."}} and was succeeded by Thomas, his only surviving son, as the 5th Viscount. When the 5th Viscount died childless, the title passed to his first cousin Lucas, the 6th Viscount, and thereafter to the Loughglynn branch of the family, which descended from the 1st Viscount through his second son, Lucas Dillon of Loughglynn.{{Sfn|Debrett|1828|p=[https://archive.org/details/debrettspeerage01debrgoog/page/n326/ 748, line 11]|ps=. "He [1st Viscount] had issue 8 sons and 11 das.; of the sons, Christopher, the eldest, who d. in his father's lifetime, was ancestor of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th viscounts and Lucas, the 2nd was ancestor of the present viscount."}}

Most likely, Frances, his wife, outlived him and died in 1674, being buried in St. Mary's Chapel in Christ Church Cathedral.{{Sfn|Cokayne|1916|p=[https://archive.org/details/completepeerageo04coka/page/358/ 358, line 23]|ps=. "She [Frances], who brought him £3000 fortune, d. 20 and was bur. 23 Dec 1674, in St. Mary's Chapel in Christchurch.}} However, John Lodge thought that Frances was the Lady Dillon who has been recorded as dying in 1664 in Dillon's house in Winetavern Street, Dublin, and was buried at St James's.{{Sfn|Lodge|1789b|p=[https://archive.org/details/peerageofireland04lodg/page/189/ 189, line 16]|ps=. "... who died in Winetavern-street and was buried in St. James's, 9 January 1664."}}

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}

• {{Cite encyclopedia|last=Asch |first=Ronald G. |editor1-last=Matthew |editor1-first=Colin |editor1-link=Colin Matthew |editor2-last=Harrison |editor2-first=Brian |editor2-link=Brian Harrison (historian) |date=2004 |title=Wentworth, Thomas, first earl of Strafford (1593–1641) |encyclopedia=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |volume=56 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |pages=142–157 |isbn=0-19-861408-X |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_019861408x/page/142/ |url-access=registration}}
• {{Cite book|last=Bagwell |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Bagwell |date=1909a |title=Ireland under the Stuarts and under the Interregnum |volume=I |publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co. |location=London |oclc=458582656 |url=https://archive.org/details/irelandunderstua01bagw/}} – 1603 to 1642
• {{Cite book|last=Bagwell |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Bagwell |date=1909b |title=Ireland under the Stuarts and under the Interregnum |volume=II |publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co. |location=London |oclc=458582656 |url=https://archive.org/details/irelandunderstua02bagw/}} – 1642 to 1660 (for Scarrisholis and Charlemont)
• {{Cite book|last=Burke |first=Bernard |author-link=Bernard Burke |date=1883 |title=A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire |edition=New |publisher=Harrison |location=London |oclc=499232768 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015088438141}} (for Strafford)
• {{Cite book|last1=Burke |first1=Bernard |author1-link=Bernard Burke |last2=Burke |first2=Ashworth Peter |date=1915 |title=A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Baronetage, the Privy Council, Knightage and Companionage |edition=77th |publisher=Harrison |location=London |oclc=1155471554 |url=https://archive.org/details/b3136410x/}}
• {{Cite book|last=Burke |first=Bernard |author-link=Bernard Burke |date=1949 |title=A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire |edition=99th |publisher=Burke's Peerage Ltd. |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/burkesgenealogic1949unse/}} (for Dillon)
• {{Cite book|last=Carte |first=Thomas |author-link=Thomas Carte |date=1851 |orig-date=1st pub. 1736 |title=The Life of James Duke of Ormond |edition=New |volume=IV |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |oclc=1086656347 |url=https://archive.org/details/lifeofjamesdukeo04cart/}} – 1660 to 1688 (for Dudley Costellogh)
• {{Cite book|last=Coffey |first=Diarmid |date=1914 |title=O'Neill and Ormond – A Chapter of Irish History |publisher=Maunsel & Company |location=Dublin |oclc=906164979 |url=https://archive.org/details/oneillormondchap00coffuoft/}}
• {{Cite book|last=Cokayne |first=George Edward |author-link=George Edward Cokayne |date=1896 |title=Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant |edition=1st |volume=VII |publisher=George Bell and Sons |location=London |oclc=1180891114 |url=https://archive.org/details/completepeerage07cokahrish/}} – S to T
• {{Cite book|last=Cokayne |first=George Edward |author-link=George Edward Cokayne |editor-last=Gibbs |editor-first=Vicary |editor-link=Vicary Gibbs (St Albans MP) |date=1913 |title=The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant |edition=2nd |volume=III |publisher=St Catherine Press |location=London |oclc=228661424 |url=https://archive.org/details/completepeerageo03coka/}} – Canonteign to Cutts (for Carlingford)
• {{Cite book|last=Cokayne |first=George Edward |author-link=George Edward Cokayne |editor-last=Gibbs |editor-first=Vicary |editor-link=Vicary Gibbs (St Albans MP) |date=1916 |title=The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant |edition=2nd |volume=IV |publisher=St Catherine Press |location=London |oclc=228661424 |url=https://archive.org/details/completepeerageo04coka/}} – Dacre to Dysart (for Dillon)
• {{Cite book|last=Cokayne |first=George Edward |author-link=George Edward Cokayne |date=1895 |title=Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant |edition=1st |volume=VI |publisher=George Bell and Sons |location=London |oclc=1180818801 |url=https://archive.org/details/completepeerage06cokahrish/}} – N to R (for Ranelagh)
• {{Cite book|last=D'Alton |first=Rev. Edward Alfred |date=1910 |title=History of Ireland from the Earliest Times to the Present Day |volume=Half-volume IV |publisher=The Gresham Publishing Company |location=London |oclc=749686820 |url=https://archive.org/details/ireland04daltuoft/}} – 1649 to 1782
• {{Cite book|last=Debrett |first=John |author-link=John Debrett |date=1828 |title=Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |edition=17th |volume=II |publisher=F. C. and J. Rivington |location=London |oclc=54499602 |url=https://archive.org/details/debrettspeerage01debrgoog/}} – Scotland and Ireland
• {{Cite encyclopedia|last=Firth |first=Charles Harding |author-link=Charles Firth (historian) |editor-last=Lee |editor-first=Sidney |editor-link=Sidney Lee |date=1900 |title=Wilmot, Henry, first Earl of Rochester (1612?–1658) |encyclopedia=Dictionary of National Biography |volume=LXII Williamson–Worden |publisher=The Macmillan Company |location=New York |pages=61–63 |oclc=8544105 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionarynatio13stepgoog/page/n73/}}
• {{Cite book|editor-last=Fryde |editor-first=Edmund Boleslaw |editor-link=Edmund Fryde |editor2-last=Greenway |editor2-first=D. E. |editor3-last=Porter |editor3-first=S. |editor4-last=Roy |editor4-first=I. |date=1986 |title=Handbook of British Chronology |publisher=Offices of the Royal Historical Society |edition=3rd |series=Royal Historical Society Guides and Handbooks, No. 2 |location=London |isbn=0-86193-106-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofbritis0000unse/ |url-access=registration}} – (for timeline)
• {{Cite book|last=Gardiner |first=Samuel Rawson |author-link=Samuel Rawson Gardiner |date=1904 |title=History of England from the Accession of James I to the Outbreak of the Civil War |volume=IX |publisher=Longmans, Green & Co. |location=London |oclc=559091724 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyenglandf49gardgoog/}} – 1639 to 1641
• {{Cite book|last=Godwin |first=William |author-link=William Godwin |date=1827 |title=History of the Commonwealth of England |volume=The Third |publisher=Henry Colburn |location=London |oclc=310477851 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.37706/}} – 1649 to 1653
• {{Cite book|last=Hayes-McCoy |first=Gerard Anthony |author-link=Gerard Anthony Hayes-McCoy |date=1990 |orig-date=1st pub. 1969 |title=Irish Battles: A Military History of Ireland |publisher=The Appletree Press |location=Belfast |isbn=0-86281-250-X |url=https://archive.org/details/irishbattlesmili0000haye/ |url-access=registration}} (for the Battle of Rathmines)
• {{Cite encyclopedia|last=Henderson |first=Thomas Finlayson |author-link=Thomas Finlayson Henderson |editor-last=Lee |editor-first=Sidney |editor-link=Sidney Lee |date=1888 |title=Dillon, Thomas, fourth Viscount (1615?–1672?) |encyclopedia=Dictionary of National Biography |volume=XV |publisher=MacMillan and Co. |location=New York |pages=86–87 |oclc=8544105 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofnati15stepuoft/page/86/}}
• {{Cite book|last=La Tour du Pin |first=Henriette-Lucy, Marquise de |author-link=Henriette-Lucy, Marquise de La Tour du Pin Gouvernet |date=1913 |title=Journal d'une femme de cinquante ans |trans-title=Diary of a Woman in her Fifties |edition=7th |volume=I |publisher=Librairie Chapelot |location=Paris |language=fr |oclc=1047408815 |url=https://archive.org/details/journaldunefemme01lato/}}
• {{Cite encyclopedia|last=Lenihan |first=Pádraig |editor1-last=Matthew |editor1-first=Colin |editor1-link=Colin Matthew |editor2-last=Harrison |editor2-first=Brian |editor2-link=Brian Harrison (historian) |date=2004 |title=Dillon, Thomas, fourth Viscount Dillon |encyclopedia=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |volume=16 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |pages=225–226 |isbn=0-19-861366-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_0198613660/page/225/ |url-access=registration}}
• {{Cite book|last=Lodge |first=John |author-link=John Lodge (archivist) |editor-last=Archdall |editor-first=Mervyn |editor-link=Mervyn Archdall (Irish antiquary) |date=1789a |title=The Peerage of Ireland or, A Genealogical History of the Present Nobility of that Kingdom |volume=II |publisher=James Moore |location=Dublin |oclc=264906028 |url=https://archive.org/details/peerageofireland02lodg/}} – Earls (for Drogheda)
• {{Cite book|last=Lodge |first=John |author-link=John Lodge (archivist) |editor-last=Archdall |editor-first=Mervyn |editor-link=Mervyn Archdall (Irish antiquary) |date=1789b |title=The Peerage of Ireland or, A Genealogical History of the Present Nobility of that Kingdom |volume=IV |publisher=James Moore |location=Dublin |oclc=264906028 |url=https://archive.org/details/peerageofireland04lodg/}} – Viscounts (for Dillon)
• {{Cite EB1911|last=McNeill |first=Ronald John |author-link=Ronald John McNeill |wstitle=Leicester, Robert Sidney, Earl of |volume=16 |page=392}}
• {{Cite book|last=Meehan |first=Rev. Charles Patrick |author-link=Charles Patrick Meehan |date=1882 |title=The Confederation of Kilkenny |edition=New revised and enlarged |publisher=James Duffy |location=Dublin |oclc=224157081 |url=https://archive.org/details/confederationki01meehgoog/}}
• {{Cite book|last=Milton |first=John |author-link=John Milton |editor-last=Fletcher |editor-first=Robert |date=1834 |orig-year=1649 |title=The Prose Works of John Milton |chapter=Observations on the Articles of Peace, between James Earl of Ormond for King Charles the First on the one Hand, and the Irish Rebels and Papists on the other Hand |publisher=Westley and Davis, Stationers' Court |pages=247–270 |location=London |oclc=1051736587 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/proseworksofjohn00milt/page/247/ |ref=CITEREFMilton1649}}
• {{Cite web|last=Murphy |first=Elaine |editor1-last=McGuire |editor1-first=James |editor2-last=Quinn |editor2-first=James |date=October 2009 |title=Dillon, Thomas |website=Dictionary of Irish Biography |url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/dillon-thomas-a2619 |access-date=9 February 2023}}
• {{Cite encyclopedia|last=Murtagh |first=Harman |editor1-last=Matthew |editor1-first=Colin |editor1-link=Colin Matthew |editor2-last=Harrison |editor2-first=Brian |editor2-link=Brian Harrison (historian) |date=2004 |title=Dillon, Sir James |encyclopedia=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |volume=16 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |pages=210–211 |isbn=0-19-861366-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_0198613660/page/210/ |url-access=registration}}
• {{Cite book|last=Warner |first=Ferdinand |date=1768a |title=History of the Rebellion and Civil-War in Ireland |volume=I |publisher=James William |location=Dublin |oclc=82770539 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyrebellio00warngoog/}} – 1641 to 1643
• {{Cite book|last=Warner |first=Ferdinand |date=1768b |title=History of the Rebellion and Civil-War in Ireland |volume=II |publisher=James William |location=Dublin |oclc=82770539 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyrebellio01warngoog/}} – 1643 to 1660 and index
• {{Cite encyclopedia|last=Webb |first=Alfred |author-link=Alfred Webb |date=1878a |title=Dillon, Theobald, Viscount |encyclopedia=Compendium of Irish Biography |publisher=M. H. Gill & Son |location=Dublin |page=149 |oclc=122693688 |url=https://archive.org/details/acompendiumiris00webbgoog/page/n157/}}
• {{Cite encyclopedia|last=Webb |first=Alfred |author-link=Alfred Webb |date=1878b |title=Dillon, Thomas, 4th Viscount |encyclopedia=Compendium of Irish Biography |publisher=M. H. Gill & Son |location=Dublin |pages=149–150 |oclc=122693688 |url=https://archive.org/details/acompendiumiris00webbgoog/page/n157/}}
• {{Cite book|last=Wedgwood |first=Cicely Veronica |date=1961 |title=Thomas Wentworth, First Earl of Strafford 1593–1641. A Revaluation |publisher=Jonathan Cape |location=London |oclc=1068569885 |url=https://archive.org/details/thomaswentworthf0000wedg/ |url-access=registration}}

{{Refend}}

{{S-start}}

{{S-reg|ie}}

{{S-bef|before=Theobald Dillon}}

{{S-ttl|title=Viscount Dillon |years=1630–1673}}

{{S-aft|after=Thomas Dillon}}

{{S-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dillon, Thomas Dillon, 4th Viscount Dillon}}

Category:1615 births

Category:1673 deaths

Category:17th-century Irish nobility

Category:Irish expatriates

Category:Irish soldiers in the Irish Confederate Wars

Category:Members of the Privy Council of Ireland

Category:Nobility from County Mayo

Thomas 04