Cotter baronets
| Cotter Baronetcy, of Rockforest – 1763 – | |
|---|---|
Arms: Quarterly, 1st & 4th, argent a chevron gules between three serpents proper, Cotter; 2nd and 3rd, azure, a fesse between a fleur-de-lis in chief and a mullet in base or, Rogerson. Crest:-A dexter arm embowed, armed and grasping a dart, all proper. | |
| Creation date | 11 August 1763 |
| Created by | King George III |
| Baronetage | Baronetage of Ireland |
| First holder | Sir James Cotter, 1st Baronet of Rockforest |
| Present holder | Sir Julius Cotter, 8th Baronet of Rockforest |
| Heir presumptive | Stuart Cotter |
| Remainder to | the 1st Baronet's heirs male |
| Status | Extant |
| Former seat(s) | Anngrove, Rockforest |
| Motto | DUM SPIRO SPERO (While I breath I hope.) |
The Cotter Baronetcy, of Rockforest in the County of Cork, is a title in the Baronetage of Ireland. The baronetcy was created on 11 August 1763 for James Cotter, a member of the Irish House of Commons for Askeaton.
The Cotters are noted as one of the very few Irish families of verifiable Norse descent to survive the Norman invasion of Ireland, and are said to descend from Óttar of Dublin, who was a Hiberno-Norse King of Dublin reigning from 1142 to 1148.
King James II of England promised the grandfather of the first Baronet, Sir James Fitz Edmond Cotter, the title of Marquess, but following the surrender of the Jacobite forces in 1691 James II went into exile and the promise could not be kept.