The Lordship of Ireland, sometimes referred to retrospectively as Anglo-Norman Ireland, was the part of Ireland ruled by the King of England and controlled by loyal Anglo-Norman Lords between 1177 and 1542. The lordship was created following the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169–1171. It was a papal fief, granted to the Plantagenet kings of England by the Holy See, via Laudabiliter. As the Lord of Ireland was also the King of England, he was represented locally by a governor, variously known as the Justiciar, Lieutenant, Lord Lieutenant or Lord Deputy.
Robert de Ferrers, 6th Earl of Derby (1239–1279) was an English nobleman.
Thomas Cantock, Quantock or Cantok was an English-born cleric and judge in medieval Ireland, who held the offices of Bishop of Emly and Lord Chancellor of Ireland.
Walter de Thornbury was an English-born statesman and cleric who held the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland in the 14th century. His efforts to secure confirmation of his election as Archbishop of Dublin ended in tragedy with his death in a shipwreck.
Adam de Harvington, also called Adam de Herwynton was a fourteenth-century Crown official and judge who had a successful career in both England and Ireland. He held office as Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer and Lord Treasurer of Ireland, and as Chancellor of the Exchequer of England, and acquired considerable wealth.
Robert de Emeldon, or Embleton was an English-born Crown official and judge who spent much of his career in Ireland. He held several important public offices, including Attorney-General for Ireland, Lord High Treasurer of Ireland and Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer. He was a turbulent and violent man, who was guilty of at least one homicide, was imprisoned for a number of serious crimes including rape and manslaughter, and had a reputation for corruption: but he was a royal favourite of King Edward III and was thus able to survive his temporary disgrace in the early 1350s.
William de Karlell was an English-born judge, administrator and cleric in fourteenth-century Ireland. He held numerous benefices including Archdeacon of Meath and Rector of Youghal, and sat in the Irish House of Commons. After sitting for some years as a Baron of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland) he was removed from office, following a flood of complaints about his acts of extortion and oppression committed by himself and Chief Baron Holywood, but he was later restored to favour, and served briefly as Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer. He is buried in St Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny.
John de Grauntsete or Grantsete (or John of Grantchester) (c. 1270 – c. 1350) was an English judge who lived in fourteenth-century Ireland. We know more about him than we do about any other contemporary Irish judge, and from the surviving information we can form some idea of the lifestyle of an Irish judge in his time. He sat in turn in each of the Irish Courts of common law, and uniquely he is known to have appeared in Court as an advocate even after he became a judge.
John de Karlell was an English-born cleric, civil servant and judge in fourteenth-century Ireland. He served as second Baron of the Court of Exchequer, and as Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer. He became Chancellor of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, after a struggle for the office with his colleague Walter de Brugge.
William Devereux, Baron Devereux of Lyonshall was an English noble who was an important Marcher Lord as he held Lyonshall Castle controlling a strategically vital approach to the border of Wales in the time of Edward I and Edward II. He was the first of this family officially called to Parliament, and was ancestor to John Devereux, 1st Baron Devereux of Whitchurch Maund, the Devereux Earls of Essex, and the Devereux Viscounts of Hereford. His coat of arms was the same as his father's and described as "argent, fess and three roundels in chief gules" which passed to the descendants of his first wife, the Devereux of Bodenham; or "gules od un fesse d'argent ove turteaus d'argent en le chief" which passed to the descendants of his second wife, the Devereux of Frome.
Sir William Devereux of Bodenham was a prominent knight in Herefordshire during the reign of Edward III, and an important member of the retinue of the Earls of Hereford. He is the ancestor of the Devereux Earls of Essex and Viscounts of Hereford.
Stephen Devereux of Bodenham and Burghope was a member of a prominent knightly family in Herefordshire during the reigns of Edward I, Edward II and Edward III. An important retainer of the de Bohun Earls of Hereford, he gave rise to the Devereux Earls of Essex and Viscounts of Hereford.
John Devereux of Manne was a member of a prominent knightly family in Herefordshire during the reigns of Edward II, and Edward III. He fought at the Battle of Crecy, and gave rise to the Devereux Barons of Whitchurch Maund.
William of Bardfield, William de Berdefeld or William de Bardesfeld was an English-born lawyer of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth century who enjoyed a successful legal career in England before moving to Ireland, where he was successively Serjeant-at-law (Ireland), justice of the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland), and justice of the Court of the Justiciar of Ireland.
Nicholas de Snyterby, or Snitterby was a Law Officer and judge in Ireland in the fourteenth century, who held office as King's Serjeant, Baron of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland) and justice of the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland).
Sir Walter de la Haye or de Haye was an English-born statesman and judge in Ireland of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, who served for many years as Sheriff of County Waterford and as Chief Escheator of Ireland, and briefly as Justiciar of Ireland.
Nicholas de Clere, or le Clerk was an English-born Crown administrator in the late thirteenth-century Ireland. He was a skilled financier who achieved high Government office, becoming Lord Treasurer of Ireland, but he faced serious charges of corruption, as a result of which he was removed from office. He was ruined financially by the huge debts he owed to the Crown, and spent his last years in prison.
Sir John Cruys or Cruise was a prominent Irish military commander, diplomat and judge of the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. He was one of the most substantial landowners in County Dublin and County Meath and built Merrion Castle near Dublin City in the 1360s. His marriage to the heiress of the powerful Verdon family of Clonmore brought him in addition substantial lands in County Louth. He sat in the Irish Parliament and was a member of the King's Council. He was a highly regarded public servant, but also a determined and acquisitive man of business, who fought a ten-year battle to establish his wife's right to her inheritance.
John Brettan or Breton was an Irish judge and Crown official. His petitions to the Irish Privy Council, of which he wrote five between 1376 and 1382, and which have survived ; cast a valuable light on the disturbed condition of English-ruled Ireland in the late fourteenth century, and especially the situation in Carlow, his home town, which was the effective seat of English government in the latter half of the fourteenth century.
William de Epworth was an English-born judge and Crown official in Ireland in the reign of King Edward III. His career was marked by conflict with two other judges, Nicholas de Snyterby and John de Troye, who contested his right to sit as a Baron of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland). He also faced allegations of corruption in his conduct in another non-judicial office, which was taken very seriously, but of which he was ultimately cleared.
