Nehemiah Donnellan (1649 – 25 December 1705) was an Irish lawyer and

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 ...

.Ball pp.62-3

Early life

He was the son of Sir

James Donnellan Sir James Donnellan (c. 1588 – 1665) was an Irish lawyer and politician, who became Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas in 1660. He was unusual among the Irish judges of the time in being of Gaelic descent; and more remarkable in that his ...

Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas The chief justice of the Common Pleas for Ireland was the presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Ireland, which was known in its early years as the Court of Common Bench, or simply as "the Bench", or "the Dublin bench". It was one of the s ...

, and grandson of

Nehemiah Donnellan Nehemiah Donnellan (a.k.a. Fearganainm Ó Domhnalláin) (fl. c. 1560-1609) was Archbishop of Tuam. Background Donellan was born in the county of Galway, a son of Mael Sechlainn Ó Dónalláin, by his wife Sisly, daughter of William Ó Cellaigh o ...

Archbishop of Tuam The Archbishop of Tuam ( ; ga, Ard-Easpag Thuama) is an archbishop which takes its name after the town of Tuam in County Galway, Ireland. The title was used by the Church of Ireland until 1839, and is still in use by the Catholic Church. Histor ...

and Elizabeth O'Donnell. His mother was Sarah Wheeler, daughter of Jonas Wheeler,

Bishop of Ossory The Bishop of Ossory () is an Episcopal polity, episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient of Kingdom of Ossory in the Provinces of Ireland, Province of Leinster, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remain ...

and his wife Martha Tucker; Sarah was the widow of Mathew Tyrrell,

Mayor of Dublin The Lord Mayor of Dublin ( ga, Ardmhéara Bhaile Átha Cliath) is the honorary title of the chairperson ( ga, Cathaoirleach, links=no ) of Dublin City Council which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The ...

. He graduated from

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

in 1666. Although he had originally intended to become a soldier, he resolved on a legal career instead, and entered

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in 1669. He seems to have been an exceptionally unruly student: he was fined for breaking down the doors of the Temple and for gambling at Christmas. He was called to the

Irish Bar The Bar of Ireland ( ga, Barra na hÉireann) is the professional association of barristers for Ireland, with over 2,000 members. It is based in the Law Library, with premises in Dublin and Cork. It is governed by the General Council of the Ba ...

about 1672 and became Commissioner of Revenue Appeals in 1677. After the Revolution of 1688 he and his mother and his children lived for a time in England. He was appointed

Prime Serjeant This is a list of lawyers who held the rank of serjeant-at-law at the Irish Bar. Origins of the office of serjeant The first recorded serjeant was Roger Owen, who was appointed between 1261 and 1266, although the title itself was not commonly ...

on 29 December 1692 and represented the borough of

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fra ...

from 1692 to 1693. In 1693 he was made

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 ...

Judge

He was raised to the High Court bench as a Puisne Baron of the Irish Court of Exchequer in 1695, and on 31 December 1696 was made one of the Commissioners of the

Great Seal of Ireland The Great Seal of Ireland was the seal used until 1922 by the Dublin Castle administration to authenticate important state documents in Ireland, in the same manner as the Great Seal of the Realm in England. The Great Seal of Ireland was used fro ...

, pending the appointment of John Methuen as

Lord Chancellor of Ireland The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland (commonly known as Lord Chancellor of Ireland) was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801, it was also the highest political office of ...

in 1697. He became

Chief Baron of the Exchequer The Chief Baron of the Exchequer was the first "baron" (meaning judge) of the English Exchequer of Pleas. "In the absence of both the Treasurer of the Exchequer or First Lord of the Treasury, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, it was he who pre ...

on 27 December 1703, holding the office until his death. His elevation to the Bench was said to be part of an effort to remove judges who were suspected of

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

or pro-Catholic views; but it is surprising that Donnellan, who was a descendant of an Old Irish,

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

-speaking family which had several

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

members, was not suspected of Catholic sympathies himself. As regards his political beliefs, Ball suggests rather cynically that he had found it expedient to change them, and that he was no more convinced a Whig than he had been a Tory. In 1698 the Irish-born writer and publisher

John Dunton John Dunton (4 May 1659 – 1733) was an English bookseller and author. In 1691 he founded The Athenian Society to publish ''The Athenian Mercury'', the first major popular periodical and first miscellaneous periodical in England. In 1693, for fo ...

, on a visit to Dublin, gave a favourable verdict on the Irish judiciary, including Donnellan: "men whose reputation is such that no one complains of them".

Family

He married twice; little is known of his first wife, who died before 1688, leaving one surviving son, James, and a daughter. He remarried Martha Ussher, daughter of Christopher Ussher, who outlived him by many years (they are said to have become estranged), and married secondly Phillip Perceval, brother of the 1st

Earl of Egmont Earl of Egmont was a title in the Peerage of Ireland, created in 1733 for John Perceval, 1st Viscount Perceval. It became extinct with the death of the twelfth earl in 2011. History The Percevals claimed to be an ancient Anglo-Norman family, ...

. Nehemiah and Martha had two sons, Nehemiah, MP for

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

, and Christopher, and two daughters, Katherine and

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

(died 1762). His daughter Anne is remembered today as the friend of the leading Irish writers of her time, and for founding the Donnellan Lectures at Trinity College Dublin. Her sister Katherine married Robert Clayton,

Bishop of Cork and Ross The Bishop of Cork and Ross is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Cork and the town of Rosscarbery in Republic of Ireland. The combined title was first used by the Church of Ireland from 1638 to 1660 and again from 1679 to ...

. The artist and letter-writer

Mary Delaney Mary Delany ( Granville; 14 May 1700 – 15 April 1788) was an English artist, letter-writer, and Blue Stockings Society, bluestocking, known for her "paper-mosaicks" and botanic drawing, needlework and her lively correspondence. Early life Ma ...

wrote an unflattering sketch of Katherine as "giving herself the airs of a Queen" after her husband was made a bishop. She may well have come to regret his promotion, as his religious opinions were so unorthodox as to raise doubts as to whether he was a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

at all.

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...

said unkindly that Clayton's writings seemed calculated to destroy anyone's Christian faith, and it seems that only his sudden death in 1758 averted an inquiry by his fellow bishops into charges of

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

against him.Walpole p.79 Robert and Katherine Clayton

References

* * Joseph Haydn and Horace Ockerby, ''The Book of Dignities'', 3rd edition, London 1894 (reprinted Bath 1969) * Gerard, Frances ''Picturesque Dublin Old and New'' Hutchinson and Co London 1898 * Kenny, Colum ''Kings' Inns and the Kingdom of Ireland'' Irish Academic Press Dublin 1992 *

''Memoirs and Portraits'' B.T. Batsford Ltd. London 1963 * * http://www.ballyd.com/history/baron.html

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donnellan, Nehemiah 1649 births 1705 deaths Irish MPs 1692–1693 Lawyers from Dublin (city) People from County Galway Members of the Middle Temple Chief Barons of the Irish Exchequer Recorders of Dublin Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Galway constituencies Serjeants-at-law (Ireland)