1137 A.D. 

She was Eleanor of Acquitane, a daughter of the Duke of Acquitane, married to Louis VII, the King of France.  It sounds so beautiful, married to a King, but alas, she bore him no sons, only two daughters.  The marriage was not pleasing to either Louis or Eleanor, so by mutual consent they had their marriage annulled.  Eleanor went home to England.  Perhaps she was destined to be a queen, for in April 1137 she succeeded William X as ruler.  Then in 1151 Eleanor married Henry of Anjou, who in 1154 became Henry II, King of England ( Richard the Lion-Hearted.)  Louis was alarmed over this event, and thus was the beginning of secular strife between England and France, which continued through medieval history. 

The Dukedom of Acquitane was a vital key to France’s strength and Louis had hoped it would descend to one of his daughters.  However, his daughter did not cooperate too well, for she fell in love with a dashing Frenchman named Walter D’Alton.  They were secretly married and Louis lost the Dukedom for France.  Furious, the King pursued the couple, who fled to England.  In 1172 Walter joined his father-in-law Henry II on an invasion of Ireland.  The war was a success for the English and Walter was given considerable land grants in the western part of Meath and West Meath, known  as the Teffia District.   

Walter D’Alton, finding himself in a new country, changed his name to Dalton and produced a son Phillip.   Phillip married and bore three sons: Nicholas, John, and Phillip.  (Many of these descendents chose to use the name Dalton and some kept the French spelling of D’Alton.)  The Daltons were Catholic and when in the 15th century the Tudors came into power, their lands were confiscated and given to those who were of the Protestant religion.  In 1545 Henry VIII was the ruler and a large tract of land was granted to the Daltons from Hugh d’Lacy, and the west portion of West Meath County became Dalton country.  (Through the King of France, Louis II, the Daltons bore the right to have the Fleur-de-lis on their coat of arms from then until the present time.) 

By 1561 the Daltons had spread throughout most of Ireland through the various branches and grants of the three sons of Phillip, but our branch is found in Meath and West Meath Counties. 

At this point there is a break of approximately three hundred years in our genealogical history. 

Peter Dalton  1753 

In about 1753 Peeter Dalton was born in Ardbraccan, Meath, Ireland.  (Also called Bohermein.)  Peter was an industrious, thrifty, well-to-do, better class farmer.  He occupied a hundred acres of good land and was a member of the Catholic Parish at Nevan, Ireland.  In about 1778 he married Nancy Naulty and they became the parents of eight children: John, Thomas, Patrick, James, Matthew, Bridget, Nancy , and Mary.  They raised their children to be honest, honorable and pious. 

James and Matthew died and were buried at Nevan, Meath, Ireland.  John and Thomas came to America.  There is no record of what happened to Patrick, Bridget, and Mary, but Nancy married a man named Matthew McGuire and they too came to America.