John of St John (died 1253) was an English-born clergyman in Ireland who held office as

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

Ferns A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except th ...

. He was born in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and first came to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in 1212 as a Royal clerk in the

Exchequer of Ireland The Exchequer of Ireland was a body in the Kingdom of Ireland tasked with collecting royal revenue. Modelled on the English Exchequer, it was created in 1210 after King John of England applied English law and legal structure to his Lordship of I ...

, whereby he gained great knowledge of the Irish public finances. Beresford, David "St. John, John of" ''Cambridge Dictionary of Irish Biography'' He was granted the manor of Newcastle Lyons in South Dublin. He was appointed bishop in 1223, being noteworthy as the first English Bishop of Ferns, after an unsuccessful effort to make him

Bishop of Ossory The Bishop of Ossory () is an episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient of Kingdom of Ossory in the Province of Leinster, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been ...

. He may have died in 1243, but it was more likely in 1253. He was

Lord High Treasurer of Ireland The Lord High Treasurer of Ireland was the head of the Exchequer of Ireland, chief financial officer of the Kingdom of Ireland. The designation ''High'' was added in 1695. After the Acts of Union 1800 created the United Kingdom of Great Britain a ...

1217-1232, and a member of the Privy Council of Ireland from 1219, and was valued for his expert knowledge of the Irish finances. He visited England to discuss the state of Irish affairs with the English Crown. He also acted as a justice in eyre, and as Chief

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 Ireland. He was a political figure of considerable importance until about 1236. In later life he rather faded from the public eye, and his precise date of death is uncertain, although it was probably in the summer of 1253. https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bsjohnj.html CH

References

13th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland 1243 deaths Bishops of Ferns {{Ireland-RC-bishop-stub