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The earliest historical records of a member of the Forstall or Forrestal family of Ireland, verified through primary source material, begin with Sir Geoffrey de Foresthal, a Norman knight who held the position of sheriff of County Kilkenny in 1263 and is most probably the progenitor of the Forstall or Forrestal lineages, who would later hold castles at Kilfera, Ballyfrunk, Castlegarden, Forrestalstown, Mullennahone, and Carrickcloney, in County Kilkenny. Sir Geoffrey is named as “Sir Geoffrey de Foresthal” in a record regarding a knight’s fee in the parish of Ballycallan, County Kilkenny, where his heir held one-tenth of a fee for Damma in 1317. In 1263, Geoffrey witnessed the charter of Walter Stellarti and is named as “Domino Galfrido de Forstall tune vic(ecomite) Kilken,” or “Lord Geoffrey de Forstall, then sheriff of Kilkenny.” This charter was also witnessed by William de Bakepuz, Seneschal of Kilkenny; Richard Palmer, Mayor of Kilkenny; Hugo de Rumesy; and Peter Pellipar, Provost of Kilkenny.
The variations of Sir Geoffrey’s surname, recorded as “de Foresthal” and “de Forstall” in the above records, may signify the location of the manor or lands from which Geoffrey or his family originated in England. His status as a knight, along with his position as sheriff of County Kilkenny, suggests a familial connection to nobility. During Geoffrey’s tenure as sheriff in 1263, Damma, where Geoffrey’s heir held one-tenth of a knight’s fee in 1317, was held by Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester (1243-1295), who married Princess Joan of Acre, daughter of King Edward I and Queen Eleanor of Castile. Gilbert’s paternal grandmother was Isabel Marshal, daughter of William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, and Isabel de Clare, who was the daughter of Richard de Clare, also known as Strongbow, and Princess Aoife, the daughter of King Diarmuid MacMurrough.
Gilbert de Clare’s son and heir, Gilbert de Clare, 8th Earl of Gloucester, died without issue in 1314. As a result, the de Clare estates were inherited by Gilbert’s sisters: Eleanor, Margaret, and Elizabeth. Eleanor married Hugh Despencer (d. 1326), who, by right of his wife, succeeded to the de Clare interests in County Kilkenny, which included Damma and Kilkenny Castle. The aforementioned Princess Joan of Acre, mother to Gilbert de Clare, 8th Earl of Gloucester, and his sisters, was the sister of Princess Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, who married Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford. Elizabeth and Humphrey de Bohun’s daughter, Eleanor de Bohun, married James Butler, who became the 1st Earl of Ormond subsequent to his marriage to Eleanor.
In 1391, James Butler and Eleanor de Bohun’s grandson, James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond, purchased Kilkenny Castle and interests from his third cousin, once removed, Hugh Despencer (d. 1401), great-grandson of the aforementioned Hugh Despencer and Eleanor de Clare. The Butlers would hold the title of Earl of Ormond uninterrupted for nearly three centuries thereafter and became feudal overlords of the Forstalls or Forrestals, who established their chief seat at Kilfera, just 4 km south of Kilkenny Castle, in addition to minor seats in the barony of Ida, where they held castles at Forrestalstown, Mullennahone, and Carrickcloney within 11 km of New Ross. Significantly, until the mid-17th century, the Forstalls of Kilfera held the castle and manor of Ballyfrunk, located just north of Damma, where Sir Geoffrey de Foresthal’s heir held a knight’s fee in 1317, as well as the castle of Castlegarden, located in the parish of Kilfane. Additionally, the Kilfera lineage held 8 acres of Corstown, where Sir Geoffrey had previously witnessed deeds in the 13th century.
A portion of the Barony of Crannagh, depicting Ballyfrunk or ‘Ballifranke’ Castle, which was held by the Kilfera Forstall lineage until the mid-17th century. Just south of Ballyfrunk is Damma, where the heir of Geoffrey de Foresthal held 1/10 of a knight’s fee in 1317. North of Ballyfrunk is Corstown.
The first name Geoffrey was used by the Carrickcloney Forstalls as late as 1572, when ‘Geoffry Forstall of Carrikneclonny’ received a pardon; and in 1691, a Geoffrey Forrestall of County Wexford was outlawed as a Jacobite, along with Garrett Forrestall and Michael Forrestall of Kilfane, most probably the grandson of Robert Forstall of Kilfera, who died in 1645. As shown previously, the Carrickcloney or Mullennahone Forstall lineage and the Forstall lineage of Kilfera shared kinship as late as the 17th century.