 Sir Valentine Browne and his son, also Valentine Browne, were the first members of the family to settle in Ireland being appointed Surveyor General of Ireland in 1559.Sir Valentine Browne made an agreement with MacCarty Mór for a lease on the lands of Coshmang and Ross in 1588, the year of the Armada.Unlike most of the English settlers since the Reformation, 
the Brownes soon reverted to the old religion and the family continued to be given the royal title "Viscounts Kenmare" by King James II of England in 1689.