John Burnell (died c.1492) was an Irish

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

who held office as

Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer The Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer was the Baron (judge) who presided over the Court of Exchequer (Ireland). The Irish Court of Exchequer was a mirror of the equivalent court in England and was one of the four courts which sat in the buildin ...

. The

Burnell family The Burnell family were a Dublin family who were prominent in Irish public life and in the arts from the thirteenth to the seventeenth century. They acquired substantial estates in County Dublin, and married into the Anglo-Irish aristocracy. They ...

had been Lords of the Manor of

Balgriffin Balgriffin ( ga, Baile Ghrífín, meaning "Griffin's town") is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It lies within southern Fingal in the traditional County Dublin and it is partly in the jurisdiction of Dublin City Council and partly that of Fingal C ...

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

since the fourteenth century: they acquired the manor of

Castleknock Castleknock () is an affluent suburb located west of the centre of Dublin city, Ireland. It is centered on the village of the same name in Fingal. In addition to the suburb, the name "Castleknock" also refers to older units of land division: ...

through marriage into the Tyrrell family, who had held the feudal

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

, and died out around 1370. The Burnells had a strong tradition of judicial service; Robert Burnell, who was probably John's great-grandfather, and who married the Tyrrell heiress to the barony of Castleknock, was a Baron of the

Court of Exchequer (Ireland) The Court of Exchequer (Ireland) or the Irish Exchequer of Pleas, was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was the mirror image of the equivalent court in England. The Court of Exchequer was one of the four royal courts of justic ...

1388–1413, as was John's cousin Patrick Burnell (died 1491).Ball p.185 The family tradition of judicial service was continued by

Henry Burnell Henry Burnell (c. 1540–1614) was an Irish judge and politician; he served briefly as Recorder of Dublin and as a justice of the Court of King's Bench. Though he was willing to accept Crown office, he spent much of his career in opposition to t ...

(died 1614), who was

Recorder of Dublin Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

and a judge of the

Court of King's Bench (Ireland) The Court of King's Bench (of Queen's Bench when the sovereign was female, and formerly of Chief Place or Chief Pleas) was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England. The King's Benc ...

. John was made a Baron of the

for life in 1478. In 1479 he had royal licence to go on a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

to England.''Patent Roll 20 Edward IV'' In 1482 he was appointed Deputy to the Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer,

Oliver FitzEustace Oliver FitzEustace ( died after 1491) 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. Oliver w ...

. Elrington Ball explains that a Deputy was required because Oliver was considered to be mentally deficient. He was unable to speak or apparently understand what was said to him, so that the

oath of office An oath of office is an oath or affirmation a person takes before assuming the duties of an office, usually a position in government or within a religious body, although such oaths are sometimes required of officers of other organizations. Such ...

could not be administered to him. Oliver was a natural son of the powerful Irish nobleman

Rowland FitzEustace, 1st Baron Portlester Rowland FitzEustace, 1st Baron Portlester (c. 1430 – 19 December 1496) 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 ...

, who obtained the position of Chief Baron for his son and the right to name a Deputy Chief Baron for himself.Ball p.106 Burnell was superseded as Deputy in 1487. In 1491 he and Oliver were appointed joint Chief Barons, presumably due to Portlester's influence, but Burnell seems to have died soon afterwards. He was succeeded in his estates by his son, also called John who in 1494 was forgiven the arrears of

rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

owed by the estate to the Crown.''Patent Roll 10 Henry VII'' He was also

Escheator Escheat is a common law doctrine that transfers the real property of a person who has died without heirs to the crown or state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in "limbo" without recognized ownership. It originally applied to a ...

for

in 1478/9. His burial place was within the private chapel of Baron Portlester at St. Audoen's Church, where his tombstone survives.

References

People from Castleknock 15th-century Irish judges 1490s deaths Year of birth unknown Chief Barons of the Irish Exchequer {{Ireland-law-bio-stub