Family History

Plunketts aren't legal arrivistes-in Minnesota or Ireland by Dianne Plunkett Latham

When Thomas James Skutt, Jr. graduated from Creighton University Law School in 2003, he became the 22nd member of the Plunkett family in four generations to become an attorney. Judge Warren F. Plunkett, of Plunkett & Associates, graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1948. Warren's father, Hugh V. Plunkett, Sr. graduated from the St. Paul College of Law in 1925. Warren's son, Peter D. Plunkett also a member of Plunkett & Associates, graduated from the William Mitchell College of Law in 1985. The Plunketts have one of the greatest numbers of related Minnesota family members to graduate from law school.

The Minnesota Plunketts emigrated from Tempo, Ireland, to St. Sylvestre, Quebec, by 1830. The Plunketts aren't short of legal tradition in Ireland either. Sir Thomas Plunkett of Louth served as the chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas in 1316.

Other Plunkett lawyers in Ireland included Nicholas Plunkett, who was to defend Saint Oliver Plunkett, Archbishop of Armagh, in his trial at the hands of the English. Nicholas was the most knowledgeable lawyer in Ireland regarding English law, under which Oliver was to be tried. Nicholas died shortly before the trial, and no other Irish lawyer was able to step into the matter on such short notice. In 1681, Oliver was hanged, drawn and quartered by the English on a false charge of treason. He was canonized by the Catholic Church in 1975.

Lord Dunsany, the 19th Baron Randall Plunkett, who resided in Dunsany Castle in Dunsany, Ireland, believed that the Plunketts came to Ireland with the Danes in the second half of the 900s. He disagreed with heraldry books, which claimed that the Plunketts came to Ireland with William the Conqueror.

Lord Dunsany 19th, believed that the Plunketts, already in Ireland for close to a century, supported William the Conqueror in the battle of Hastings in 1066 and, having chosen the winning side, were rewarded with property. The Plunketts have held Dunsany Castle, built around 1200, since 1403.

Diane Plunkett Latham, William Mitchell College of Law '86, is a retired patent attorney. She was 1996-97 president of the Minnesota Intellectual Property Law Association. Genealogy (Plunkett Genealogy) is one of her hobbies. She has about 2,400 relatives in her Family Tree Maker computer database. Warren Plunkett, '48, is her father.

Photo of Dunsany Castle built in about 1200 and located about an hour's drive north of Dublin. It is the home of the 20th Baron Randall Plunkett, and where the Plunketts have lived since 1403.