{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022
Richard le Brun (died after 1324) was an English-born cleric,
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 ...
and Crown official in fourteenth-century Ireland. He was
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 ...
1319-1324.
He is first heard of in 1310, when he was acting as
attorney
Attorney may refer to:
* Lawyer
** Attorney at law, in some jurisdictions
* Attorney, one who has power of attorney
* ''The Attorney'', a 2013 South Korean film
See also
* Attorney general, the principal legal officer of (or advisor to) a gove ...
in England to
Nicholas de Balscote
Nicholas de Balscote (died 1320) was an English-born official and judge in fourteenth-century Ireland. He attained high judicial office, but his career was damaged by a quarrel with King Edward II.Ball, F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221-1 ...
, a senior figure in the
Exchequer of Ireland
The Exchequer of Ireland was a body in the Kingdom of Ireland tasked with collecting The Crown, royal revenue. Modelled on the Exchequer, English Exchequer, it was created in 1210 after King John of England applied English law and legal structure ...
who became
Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland
The Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland was the head of the Exchequer of Ireland and a member of the Dublin Castle administration under the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the Kingdom of Ireland. In early times the title was sometimes given as Ch ...
the same year, and Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer three years later. Richard later moved to Ireland and obtained a position at the Exchequer, where he was described as a "King's clerk". His job was described as "engrosser", which generally meant a copier of deeds, but in view of his later eminence, it was presumably a senior enough position. He also served as an
itinerant justice
An eyre or iter, sometimes called a general eyre, was the name of a circuit travelled by an itinerant justice in medieval England (a justice in eyre), or the circuit court over which they presided, or the right of the monarch (or justices acting ...
in
County Wexford
County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí Ceinns ...
.
He was in holy orders and became a prebendary both in the Diocese of Cloyne and the Diocese of Ossory. He became a Baron of the Exchequer in 1319, and almost immediately replaced Balscote, who was in disgrace following a quarrel with King Edward II of England, as Chief Baron. Richard held that office until 1324, when he was replaced by
Adam de Harvington
Adam de Harvington, also called Adam de Herwynton (c.1270-c.1345) 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 ...
. His date of death is not recorded.
There was a later judge of the same name, who may have been a relative of the first Richard. The second Richard served as a justice of the
Court of Common Pleas (Ireland)
The Court of Common Pleas was one of the principal courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror image of the equivalent court in England. Common Pleas was one of the four courts of justice which gave the Four Courts in Dublin, which is still ...