INGOLDSBY, George (b. aft. 1623, d. aft. 1679), of Ballybricken, Clanwilliam, co. Limerick.

George Ingoldsby was a younger brother of the regicide, Colonel Richard Ingoldsby* and the Cromwellian governor of Limerick, Colonel Henry Ingoldsby*, and (through his mother) was a cousin of Oliver Cromwell*. Little is known of his early life in Buckinghamshire, but it is probable that he first went to Ireland with the Cromwellian army in 1649, and he later served as captain of horse, possibly in the regiment of Sir Theophilus Jones, until the regiment was disbanded in August 1653.14SP28/95, f. 27. By this time he had settled permanently in Limerick, where he married the daughter and heiress of one of its wealthiest inhabitants, James Gould, whose inheritance included an estate of over 1,500 acres across co. Limerick (centred on Ballybricken, in Clanwilliam Barony), as well as property in the city itself.15Civil Survey, iv. 77-85, 89, 106-7, 274, 285, 327, 431-42, 472, 482. George’s standing was no doubt enhanced by his brother’s growing influence in Irish affairs: appointed governor of Limerick in 1652, Henry Ingoldsby went on to marry the daughter of the regional supremo, Sir Hardress Waller*, and he was on very good terms with his cousin, Henry Cromwell*, who became lord deputy of Ireland in November 1657. The premature death of Sir Hardress’s son, Walter Waller*, had left vacant the seat of Limerick and Kilmallock, and in the absence of a more distinguished candidate, George, with his Limerick connections, was the obvious candidate; he was duly elected in early 1659.

George Ingoldsby crossed to England for the parliamentary session in early February 1659, travelling in the company of his brother and other Irish MPs.16Henry Cromwell Corresp. 444; CSP Dom. 1658-9, 522. There is no evidence of his activity in the session, though he may have been one of the ‘Irish Members (named Ingoldsby)’ who had lobbied Secretary John Thurloe* for the appointment of the Dublin lawyer, Robert Booth, as Irish solicitor-general at the beginning of March.17Henry Cromwell Corresp. 471. In the crisis which followed the closure of the Parliament in April, Richard and Henry Ingoldsby were outspoken in their support of the protectorate, and lost their commands as a result. George’s agreement with their political stance can be surmised by his signing of the Irish officers’ declaration against Edmund Ludlowe II* and the army interest in December 1659.18CSP Ire. 1647-60, p. 695. Although he was not elected to the General Convention that met in Dublin in March 1660, he was chosen to serve as poll money commissioner for the city and county of Limerick.19Irish Census, 1659, 624, 643. In 1661 Ingoldsby received a royal pardon, through the intervention of both the earl of Mountrath (Sir Charles Coote*) and the earl of Orrery (Roger Boyle*).20CSP Ire. 1660-2, pp. 188, 318. At the same time he was again given a prestigious military command, as a major in the lord lieutenant’s foot regiment, garrisoned at Limerick and other parts of Munster.21HMC Ormonde, o.s. i. 242; ii. 197, 200, 205; n.s. iii. 413; Bodl. Carte 154, f. 69v. Despite ill-health, he held this regular commission until 1672, when his company was disbanded.22CSP Ire. 1666-9, p. 679. During the 1660s he was also involved in the local civil administration and served as sheriff of Limerick in 1667-8, and he was knighted in Dublin in 1671.23CB; HMC Ormonde, o.s. i. 291; ii. 339, 353; Shaw, Knights of Eng. ii. 246. Orrery, who held extensive estates in co. Limerick, continued to support Ingoldsby’s military ambitions, repeatedly advising the duke of Ormond to include Sir George in any schemes to establish militia units and garrisons in the county.24HMC Ormonde, n.s. iv. 239; v. 144. But such hopes of military preferment came to nothing. In 1679 (shortly after Orrery’s death) Sir George was drawn into the political intrigues of his brother, Sir Henry, whose row with Ormond was allegedly sparked by his being passed over as commander of the Limerick militia.25HMC Ormonde, n.s. v. 168. Thereafter, Sir George seems to have shared his brother’s fall from grace, and faded into provincial obscurity. The date of his death is unknown.