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.[1]
He was the son of Warin Tirel. The Tirels or Tyrells of Powerstown were a junior branch of the leading Anglo-Irish family of Tyrell. The senior branch of the family, which died out in the male line in 1370, held the Irish feudal barony of Castleknock.[1] He was a substantial landowner in County Dublin, with his principal residence at Powerstown Avas.[2]
He is known to have been in England, presumably studying law, in 1354; he then returned to Ireland, where he held office as King's Serjeant from 1372 to 1376.[1] The position of Serjeant then was an onerous one, and on occasion involved some physical danger, since English rule in Ireland was insecure, and long journeys were hazardous. Tirel himself in 1380 simply refused to go on circuit due to the dangers of the roads, nor apparently was he blamed for this.
He was a political figure of considerable importance, who attended the sessions of the Parliament of Ireland of 1375 and 1380, and several meetings of the Great Council (as King's Serjeant he was ipso facto a member of the Council).[3] By then Chief Justice, he was present at the Council meeting in September 1386 when Sir John Stanley, the new Lord Lieutenant of Ireland read out the letters patent for his appointment.[4]
He was appointed a judge of the Court of King's Bench in 1376 and Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas in 1386. He was exempted from payment of certain of the feudal duties of a landowner in 1378.[1] Like many Irish judges of the period he was reluctant, on grounds of safety, to go on assize: in 1380 Walter Cotterell, the King's Serjeant, was deputised by the Privy Council to act in his place as judge of assize for Munster, Kilkenny and Wexford, "on account of the dangers of the roads".[5] Cotterell acted in Tirel's place for several sessions, over a period of nine months.[3] Tirel died in 1395.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921 London John Murray 1926 Vol. 1 p.88
- ^ Ball, F. Elrington A History of the County Dublin Vol.6 Dublin University Press 1920 p.39
- ^ a b Hart, A.R. A History of the King's Serjeants at law in Ireland Four Courts Press 2000 pp.16-20
- ^ Patent Roll 10 Richard II
- ^ Smyth, Joseph Constantine "Chronicle of the Law Officers of Ireland" London Butterworths 1839 p.183