Thomas Cusacke

Last updated

Thomas Cusacke, Cusack or de Cusack (died c.1496) was an Irish barrister and judge, who held the offices of Attorney General for Ireland and Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. [1] He should not be confused with his much younger cousin Sir Thomas Cusack, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, who was a child of about six when the elder Thomas died.

Elrington Ball states that he belonged to a junior branch of the well-known landowning Cusack family of County Meath, who were living at Gerrardstown as early as the late thirteenth century: Geoffrey de Cusack was Lord of Gerrardstown in 1295. [1] The Cusacks were a numerous family, but Thomas was most likely a younger son of Sir Walter Cusack, who was Coroner for Meath in 1450. [2]

He was a cousin of John Cusack of Cushinstown: John was the father of the Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas Cusack, and ancestor, through his granddaughter Catherine Colley (née Catherine Cusack-Wellesley) [3] of the Duke of Wellington. [4]

Thomas is first heard of in London in 1472, when he was a law student: he went to London, in his own words: "so as to thoroughly ground himself in the King's law", [1] and he was given a licence to import grain into Ireland. He was appointed Attorney General for Ireland in 1480. [1] He was not as far as is known the Thomas Cusack who was Recorder of Dublin in 1488: Cusack was also a fairly common name in Dublin. [5]

Like nearly all the senior Irish judges in that era, he was a client of Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare, who was almost all-powerful in Ireland for more than 30 years. Kildare and his faction made the mistake of supporting the claims of Lambert Simnel, a pretender to the English Crown, who was decisively defeated at the Battle of Stoke Field in 1487. The victorious King Henry VII was merciful to the Irish rebels (as indeed he was to Simnel himself, who became a servant in the Royal household). He issued a royal pardon to the great majority of the rebels, including Cusacke, who became Lord Chief Justice in 1490, and his namesake the Recorder. [1]

Henry's policy of clemency had its limits, and his strong suspicion that at least some of the Anglo-Irish nobility were aiding another pretender to the Throne, Perkin Warbeck, led to Kildare's temporary downfall in 1494. The new Lord Deputy of Ireland, Sir Edward Poynings, undertook a general purge of the Irish judges, including Cusacke, who was replaced by the eminent English lawyer Thomas Bowring. [1]

From 1496 onwards Kildare regained much of his influence. Some of his former allies on the bench returned to office, but no more is heard of Cusacke, which suggests that he had died sometime between 1494 and 1496.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rowland FitzEustace, 1st Baron Portlester</span> Irish peer, statesman and judge

Rowland FitzEustace, 1st Baron Portlester was an Irish peer, statesman and judge. He was one of the dominant political figures in late fifteenth-century Ireland, rivalled in influence probably only by his son-in-law Garret FitzGerald, the "Great" Earl of Kildare.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Barnewall, 3rd Baron Trimlestown</span> Irish nobleman, judge and politician

John Barnewall, 3rd Baron Trimleston, was an Irish nobleman, judge and politician. He was the eldest son of Christopher Barnewall, 2nd Baron Trimlestown and his wife Elizabeth Plunket, daughter of Sir Thomas Fitz-Christopher Plunket of Rathmore, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench in Ireland and his second wife Marian Cruise. He succeeded his father as 3rd Baron in about 1513. His father, like most of the Anglo-Irish aristocracy, had supported the claim of the pretender Lambert Simnel to the English throne in 1487. After the failure of Simnel's rebellion, he received a royal pardon.

Nicholas St Lawrence, 4th Baron Howth was a leading Irish nobleman, soldier and statesman of the early Tudor period, who held the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland.

Walter Fitzsimon or Fitzsimons was a statesman and cleric in Ireland in the reign of Henry VII, who held the offices of Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor of Ireland.

Sir Thomas FitzGerald of Laccagh (c.1458–1487) was an Irish lawyer, statesman and soldier who was Lord Chancellor of Ireland under Richard III and Henry VII, but rebelled against Henry and was killed at the Battle of Stoke.

Sir Thomas Cusack (also spelt Cusacke or Cusake) (1490–1571) was an Anglo-Irish judge and statesman of the sixteenth century, who held the offices of Master of the Rolls in Ireland, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland, and sat in the Irish House of Commons. He was one of the most trusted and dependable Crown servants of his time, although he led a somewhat turbulent private life.

Walter Wellesley (c.1470–1539) was a sixteenth-century Irish cleric and judge. He was Prior of Great Connell Priory, Bishop of Kildare 1529-39, and Master of the Rolls in Ireland 1531-2.

John Payne, Bishop of Meath, held that office from 1483 until his death in 1506; he was also Master of the Rolls in Ireland. He is best remembered for his part in the coronation of Lambert Simnel, the pretender to the Crown of England, in 1487.

Oliver FitzEustace was an Irish judge. His appointment as Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer was a surprising one since according to the leading historian of the Irish judiciary he appears to have been unable to speak.

Sir Thomas Kent was an Irish judge who held office as Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer.

John Estrete, or Strete was an Irish judge, author, law lecturer and statesman of the late fifteenth century. He held the offices of King's Serjeant, Deputy Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer, and Master of the Coinage of Ireland. He was a member of the Privy Council of Ireland. He wrote at least one legal textbook, Natura Brevium.

Sir Henry Colley, or Cowley was an Irish soldier and landowner of the Elizabethan era. He is chiefly remembered today as an ancestor of the 1st Duke of Wellington.

The Brotherhood of Saint George was a short-lived military guild, which was founded in Dublin in 1474 for the defence of the English-held territory of the Pale. For a short time, it was the only standing army maintained by the English Crown in Ireland. It was suppressed by King Henry VII in 1494, due to his suspicions about the Brotherhood's loyalty to his dynasty. It was not an order of knighthood, although some of its individual members were knights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Talbot (died 1487)</span>

Thomas Talbot was a wealthy landowner and judge in fifteenth-century Ireland. He was the head of the prominent Talbot family of Malahide Castle. His descendants acquired the title Baron Talbot de Malahide, and he himself was recognised by the Crown as Lord of Malahide, although this was not a hereditary title. He was also Admiral of the Port of Malahide. By the time of his death he held lands in four counties and was one of the principal landowners in the Pale. After his death, there was a lawsuit between his widow Elizabeth and a Talbot relative, James, over possession of some of his properties.

Barnaby Barnewall was an Irish barrister and judge, and a founder member of the military guild, the Brotherhood of Saint George.

Sir Thomas Plunket (c.1440–1519) was a wealthy Irish landowner, lawyer and judge in fifteenth-century and early sixteenth-century Ireland. He held office as Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer and Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas. After the change of the English royal family in 1485, his loyalty to the new Tudor dynasty was deeply suspect, and he was involved in two attempts to put a pretender on the English throne. On each occasion he was disgraced, fined and removed from office; yet he had sufficient political influence to ensure his return to favour and high office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Bowring</span> English-born lawyer and judge

Thomas Bowring (c.1440-1504) was an English-born lawyer and judge in fifteenth-century Ireland, who held office as Lord Chief Justice of Ireland.

John Nangle, 16th Baron of Navan was an Irish nobleman and military commander of the early Tudor era. He was renowned in his own lifetime as a courageous soldier, who fought with distinction at the Battle of Knockdoe in 1504.

Patrick Burnell was an Irish judge and Crown official of the fifteenth century.

Walter de Cusack was an Anglo-Irish judge, magnate and military commander of the fourteenth century.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921
  2. Burke's Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland London Henry Colburn 1850 p.87
  3. Burke's Peerage
  4. Longford Wellington
  5. The Voyage of Sir Richard Edgcumbe into Ireland in 1488

Sources

Legal offices
Preceded by Lord Chief Justice of Ireland
1490–1494
Succeeded by