Robert de Holywood (died 1384) was an Irish judge and landowner who held the office of
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 ...
. He was the ancestor of the Holywood family of Artane Castle, and of the St. Lawrence family, Earls of Howth. He was a substantial landowner with property in Dublin, Meath and Louth. He became extremely unpopular, and was removed from office after numerous complaints of "oppression and extortion" were made against him. These were apparently inspired by his close association in the mid-1370s with Sir
William de Windsor, the embattled Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
[Otway-Ruthven, A.J. ''A History of Medieval Ireland'' Barnes and Noble reissue New York 1993 p.307]
Career
He took his surname from the parish of Holywood (also spelt Hollywood), near
Balbriggan
Balbriggan (; , IPA: bˠalʲəˈbʲɾʲɪɟiːnʲ is a coastal town in Fingal, in the northern part of County Dublin, Ireland, approximately 34 km from Dublin City. The 2016 census population was 21,722 for Balbriggan and its environs.
...
,
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 ...
. He was a younger son: an
inquest
An inquest is a judicial inquiry in common law jurisdictions, particularly one held to determine the cause of a person's death. Conducted by a judge, jury, or government official, an inquest may or may not require an autopsy carried out by a coro ...
in 1408 described him as the younger brother of William Holywood.
[''Patent Roll 9 Henry IV '']
He was appointed Chief
Remembrancer
The Remembrancer was originally a subordinate officer of the English Exchequer. The office is of great antiquity, the holder having been termed remembrancer, memorator, rememorator, registrar, keeper of the register, despatcher of business. The R ...
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 ...
in 1348,
[''Patent Roll 22 Edward III'']and in 1359 he was charged with organising the defence of
Leinster
Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...
. Much of the
Anglo-Irish administration, including the Courts of Exchequer and
Common Pleas
A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...
, was moved from
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
to
Carlow
Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272.
The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic bounda ...
in 1361, on the grounds that Carlow was more central and convenient for the English government, (there was no
capital city
A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, Department (country subdivision), department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city ...
of Ireland or seat of central government as such). Robert in his capacity as Remembrancer was one of the first officials to make the move. He was appointed Chief Baron in 1363: he was superseded the following year, during a general "shake-up" of Irish officials. He was reappointed in 1367. He probably spent most of his time in Dublin, as conditions in Carlow had become extremely dangerous, due to regular raids by the Irish of
Leinster
Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...
:
[Otway-Ruthven p.287] the town was burnt in 1363, 1376 and 1391,
[Otway-Ruthven pp.309-10 ] and the
Exchequer
In the civil service of the United Kingdom, His Majesty’s Exchequer, or just the Exchequer, is the accounting process of central government and the government's ''current account'' (i.e., money held from taxation and other government reven ...
moved back to Dublin for a time in the 1360s. In 1376 his colleague
John Brettan John Brettan or Breton (died after 1382) was an Irish judge and Crown official. His regular petitions to the Crown and to the Irish Privy Council, of which he wrote five which have survived between 1376 and 1382 (others by his own account have been ...
wrote that the situation had become so bad that most of the Barons, other than Brettan himself, who was a local man, dared not travel to Carlow.
[''Close Roll 51 Edward III'' ]
In 1376 Robert was finally dismissed from office as Chief Baron, and given his immense unpopularity with the ruling class, was probably lucky to avoid more serious sanctions. He died eight years later.
[Ball p.84]
In 1361 he received a
royal pardon
In the English and British tradition, the royal prerogative of mercy is one of the historic royal prerogatives of the British monarch, by which they can grant pardons (informally known as a royal pardon) to convicted persons. The royal preroga ...
for purchasing land without royal permission, something strictly forbidden for Crown officials. This pardon may relate to his purchase of
Artane (originally called Tartaine) Castle, of which he was the first recorded owner and which remained in his family for two centuries (unlike many judges of the time, he was not in
holy orders).
In 1367 he sat on a powerful commission to determine whether or not the manor of
Rathkeale
Rathkeale () is a town in west County Limerick, in Ireland. It is 30 km (18 mi) southwest of Limerick city on the N21 road to Tralee, County Kerry, and lies on the River Deel. Rathkeale has a significant Irish Traveller population, and ...
was Crown land, but it apparently never reported, since a similar inquiry was launched in 1374.
Ball argues that while some of his fellow judges, notably John Brettan, willingly exposed themselves to the dangers of going on
assize
The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes e ...
, Holywood preferred the comparative security of
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
.
[Ball p.34] This may well be an unfair judgment since Carlow, the seat of the royal courts, was notoriously dangerous.
[ Brettan himself remarked that many of his fellow judges were simply afraid to travel there: if Holywood preferred to stay in Dublin, he was certainly not unique.][ His fellow Chief Justice ]John Tirel
John Tirel, or Tyrell (died 1395) was a prominent judge and statesman in fourteenth-century Ireland who held office as Serjeant-at-law and Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas.Ball, F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921'' London John Mu ...
was another judge who refused to go on assize "on account of the dangers of the roads".[Hart, A.R. ''A History of the King's Serjeants-at-law in Ireland'' Dublin Four Courts Press 2000 pp.16-20]As for Brettan, while he undoubtedly showed considerable courage, he was a Carlow man himself, and had long played a part in its defences.[''Patent Roll 32 Edward III'' ]
In 1373, in consideration of his good services to the Crown, Robert was given permission to found a chantry
A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings:
# a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or
# a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area in ...
with five chaplains at Holywood and in 1376 was given permission to allow them to choose a warden. The chaplains were required to pray for the souls of Sir Robert himself, his two wives, and Queen Philippa of Hainault
Philippa of Hainault (sometimes spelled Hainaut; Middle French: ''Philippe de Hainaut''; 24 June 1310 (or 1315) – 15 August 1369) was Queen of England as the wife and political adviser of King Edward III. She acted as regent in 1346,Strickla ...
, the deceased wife of King Edward III
Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...
.
Downfall
In 1376 his career came to an abrupt end. The unpopular and combative Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the Kingdo ...
, Sir William de Windsor, was summoned to England in February of that year to answer numerous charges of corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
and maladministration and was suspended from office.[ At the same time a flood of complaints by the ]Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...
nobility of "extortions, oppressions and injuries" was directed against Holywood and the second Baron of the Irish Exchequer, William de Karlell, who were clearly seen as key members of the Windsor regime, and both judges were summoned to England, along with Windsor, the Bishop of Meath
The Bishop of Meath is an episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient Kingdom of Meath. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains as a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with another bishopric.
History
Unt ...
, Stephen de Valle, Sir John Cruys
Sir John Cruys or Cruise (died 1407) was a prominent Irish soldier, 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 ...
and others, to answer for their conduct.[ The ]English Privy Council
The Privy Council of England, also known as His (or Her) Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council (), was a body of advisers to the sovereign of the Kingdom of England. Its members were often senior members of the House of Lords and the House of ...
, have examined them, dismissed them from office and sent them back to Ireland for further questioning by the senior English official Sir Nicholas Dagworth, who had assumed emergency powers of government during the crisis.[ However the matter ended there; the Anglo-Irish nobility seems to have been content with the two judges' dismissal. Their associate Sir John Cruys of Merrion Castle went on to have a highly successful career.] Holywood in a petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication.
In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offici ...
of 1379 asked for a suspension of any further legal proceedings against him and the restoration of his property.The National Archives
National archives are central archives maintained by countries. This article contains a list of national archives.
Among its more important tasks are to ensure the accessibility and preservation of the information produced by governments, both ...
SC 8/215/10728 Holywood retired into private life, but Karlell was eventually reinstated and was himself appointed Chief Baron, a few months before he died in 1383.
Family and descendants
Robert's first wife was named Joan; his second wife, who outlived him, was called Nesta. In 1385 Nesta was granted the customary licence from the Crown to a widow to remarry whom she pleased.[''Patent Roll 9 Richard II'' ] She also received one-third of her husband's lands as her dower
Dower is a provision accorded traditionally by a husband or his family, to a wife for her support should she become widowed. It was settled on the bride (being gifted into trust) by agreement at the time of the wedding, or as provided by law.
...
. At Robert's death in 1384, his son Sir Christopher de Holywood (who must have been Nesta's son) succeeded to his estate: since Christopher was described as being 24 years old in 1408, he must have been in his infancy when his father died.[ In 1403 he received a ]pardon
A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the ju ...
for all trespasses committed by him on royal land: this apparently means that he had entered his late father's lands before the Crown formally regranted them to him. In 1408 he also succeeded to the estates of his cousin John Holywood, son of William.[
Christopher became a distinguishe soldier, and in 1413 was appointed one of the commanders of the King's army in Ireland. He married c.1400 Katherine Preston, widow of William Lawless.][ He died in or about 1416 and was succeeded as owner of Artane by his son, the younger Robert de Holywood, who was then a minor (he was born in 1401) and was made a Royal ward.][Adams p.18] Robert was given full control of his estates on attaining his majority in 1422.[''Patent Roll 10 Henry V ''] He served as Sheriff of County Dublin
The Sheriff of County Dublin (or (High) Sheriff of the County of Dublin) was the Sovereign's judicial representative in County Dublin. Initially, an office for a lifetime, assigned by the Sovereign, the Sheriff became an annual appointment follo ...
in 1426. [''Close Roll 5 Henry VI''] He died in 1431, leaving three daughters, Margaret, Elizabeth and Eleanor, as his co-heiresses.[''Patent Roll 10 Henry VI'' ] Most of the Holywood estates passed to the Burnell family 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 ...
towards the end of the fifteenth century.
Christopher also had at least one daughter Eleanor, who married the 1st Baron Howth
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...
(his name is variously given as Christopher and Stephen), and was the mother of Christopher St Lawrence, 2nd Baron Howth
Christopher St Lawrence, 2nd Baron Howth ( died 1462 or 1465 ) was an Anglo-Irish nobleman. He was a key figure in fifteenth-century Irish politics, and one of the strongest supporters in Ireland of the House of York, who seized the English Crown ...
.
Christopher's widow Katherine married as her third husband Sir Richard FitzEustace
Sir Richard FitzEustace (c.1380–1445) was an Irish statesman who twice held the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland.
Family background
He was born about 1380 in Coghlanstown, County Kildare. His father was Sir Maurice FitzEustace, High Sh ...
, Lord Chancellor of Ireland.[''Patent Roll 9 Henry V'']
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holywood, Robert de
1384 deaths
People from Artane, Dublin
Year of birth unknown
Chief Barons of the Irish Exchequer