FitzEustace, Roland (c.1430–1496), Lord Portlester , administrator, was son of Sir Edward FitzEustace of Kilcullen and Harristown, Co. Kildare, and a member of one of the most prominent families of the English lordship. His father served as deputy lieutenant to Richard of York (qv) (autumn 1452–May 1453) and again from May 1454 till his death (October 1454). FitzEustace's long career in the Dublin administration began in the early 1450s. In May 1454 he was appointed treasurer of Ireland: a position he was to hold, either by himself or with a co-treasurer, for almost forty years. He also had a life grant of joint custody of the office of chief clerk of the king's bench and the common pleas from November 1454. Throughout his life, FitzEustace was closely allied with Thomas fitz Maurice FitzGerald (qv), 7th earl of Kildare, and his son Gerald (qv), 8th earl of Kildare, who married (c.1471) one of his daughters, Alison. FitzEustace travelled to England in the winter of 1461–2, possibly to remind Edward IV of the support given to his father, Richard, duke of York. While in England, he was created baron of Portlester and granted the manor of Portlester (March 1462). He was also appointed deputy lieutenant (May 1462) and sent back to Ireland with troops to deal with the pro-Lancastrian rebellion led by John Butler (qv), 6th earl of Ormond. Although he reached Ireland too late to affect the outcome of the rebellion, Portlester remained deputy lieutenant till superseded by Thomas fitz James FitzGerald (qv), 8th earl of Desmond, in April 1463. Portlester was accused of plotting to make Desmond king of Ireland in 1468, and helped Kildare escape from his imprisonment in the same year. He was appointed co-chancellor of Ireland in April 1472, holding office till his removal in November 1478, although he had competition for the office in the person of Sir Gilbert Debenham, who had a royal grant of the office in August 1472.
Portlester was one of the captains of the Guild of St George at its inception (1474); he received parliamentary grants of lands and a subsidy to fortify his manor at Kilcullen (1478), and his position as treasurer was confirmed in the parliament of 1479. He joined with Kildare in supporting the pretender Lambert Simnel (qv) and received a pardon for his actions in May 1488 and another confirmation of his office of treasurer. He had custody of the office of chancellor before the end of 1486 and retained the position till June 1492. He was summoned with the other titled nobility of Ireland to London by Henry VII. He acted to delay the return of the lands of the archbishopric of Dublin to the new archbishop, Walter FitzSimons (qv), in 1493, and was ordered to cease his obstruction and to account for his forty years as treasurer by the parliament held by FitzSimons. He was also a benefactor of several religious institutions, including St Audoen's, Dublin; New Abbey, Kilcullen; and a chantry in Skreen. Although he was married three times (first to Joan, daughter of John Tapton; secondly (a. October 1458) to Joan, widow of Christopher Plunkett, Lord Killeen; and finally (c.1476) to Margaret, widow of Thomas Barnewall), he had no legitimate sons. His five daughters married into the nobility and gentry of the Pale, but when he died (December 1496) his title of Portlester died with him, and he was buried in New Abbey, Kilcullen.