Oliver Jones (-1682) was an Irish politician and judge of the seventeenth century, who was widely rumoured to have secret Roman Catholic sympathies, and was criticised for changing sides during the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

. He was born in

Athlone Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midland Region, Ir ...

, the third son of John Jones, a

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

, and Jane Messett.Ball, F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921'' John Murray London 1926 Vol.1 p.353
/ref> He was admitted to the

King's Inns The Honorable Society of King's Inns () is the "Inn of Court" for the Bar of Ireland. Established in 1541, King's Inns is Ireland's oldest school of law and one of Ireland's significant historical environments. The Benchers of King's Inns aw ...

in 1638. He entered the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...

as MP for

in 1639. He was generally believed to have

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

sympathies, and as a result, he clashed with the

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 K ...

, the Earl of Strafford and with Strafford's key ally Sir Richard Bolton, the

Lord Chancellor of Ireland The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland, commonly known as the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was the highest ranking judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 until the end of 1800, it was also the hi ...

. After Strafford's downfall and death in 1641, Jones was active in the

impeachment Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In Eur ...

of Lord Chancellor Bolton. He belonged to the "moderate Protestant party" in the Commons (many of them lawyers like himself) who were anxious to find common ground with their Roman Catholic colleagues. Amidst the general turmoil which followed the

Irish Rebellion of 1641 The Irish Rebellion of 1641 was an uprising in Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, initiated on 23 October 1641 by Catholic gentry and military officers. Their demands included an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and ...

, he disappeared for a time from the records, and little is known of his activities until 1649, when he was appointed Attorney General for the province of

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

. In 1652, despite his supposed Roman Catholic beliefs, he was prepared to swear an

oath Traditionally, an oath (from Old English, Anglo-Saxon ', also a plight) is a utterance, statement of fact or a promise taken by a Sacred, sacrality as a sign of Truth, verity. A common legal substitute for those who object to making sacred oaths ...

to be true and faithful to the

Cromwellian Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially a ...

regime.Ball p.286 After the

Restoration of Charles II The Stuart Restoration was the reinstatement in May 1660 of the Stuart monarchy in Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland. It replaced the Commonwealth of England, established in January 164 ...

, this was not held against him, since several of his colleagues on the Bench had also made their peace with Cromwell, and the restored

Stuart dynasty The House of Stuart, originally spelled Stewart, also known as the Stuart dynasty, was a royal house of Scotland, England, Ireland and later Great Britain. The family name comes from the office of High Steward of Scotland, which had been hel ...

was, within reason, prepared to overlook such disloyalty. He was restored to his old office of Attorney General for Connacht and returned to the House of Commons as member for

County Roscommon County Roscommon () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the province of Connacht and the Northern and Western Region. It is the List of Irish counties by area, 11th largest Irish county by area and Li ...

. He was then living in

Roscommon Castle Roscommon (; ; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60 road (Ireland), N60, N61 road (Ireland), N61 and N63 road (Irelan ...

. In 1662 he became

Chief Justice of Connacht The chief justice of Connacht was the senior of the judges who assisted the Lord President of Connaught in judicial matters. Despite the chief justice's title, full judicial powers were vested in the Lord President, whose office was established in ...

, and made a valuable ally in the

Lord President of Connaught The Lord President of Connaught was a military leader with wide-ranging powers, reaching into the civil sphere, in the English government of Connacht, Connaught in Ireland, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The office was created in 1569 ...

, Lord Berkeley. As a judge he was noted for willingness to give impartial justice to Roman Catholics, which no doubt fuelled the general belief that he was a Catholic himself. In 1670, Lord Berkeley, during his relatively brief term as Lord Lieutenant, promoted Jones to a seat on 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 sti ...

, and he was transferred in 1672 to the

Court of King's Bench (Ireland) The Court of King's Bench (of Queen's Bench when the sovereign was female, and formerly of Chief Place or Chief Pleas) was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England. The King's Ben ...

. This promotion no doubt caused some comment in view of his known leaning towards Catholicism; but in post-Restoration Ireland, the religious atmosphere was relatively tolerant, especially in the early 1670s, and Jones was far from being the only High Court judge with Catholic leanings. He was even spoken of as a possible

Lord Chief Justice of Ireland The Court of King's Bench (or Court of Queen's Bench during the reign of a Queen) was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England. The Lord Chief Justice was the most senior judge ...

in 1673, although his religious beliefs probably did disqualify him on that occasion. He continued to go regularly as the judge of

assize The assizes (), or courts of assize, 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 ex ...

to Connacht.Burke, Oliver ''Anecdotes of the Connaught Circuit'' Hodges Figgis Dublin 1885 p.54 He died in 1682 and was buried in

St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin Saint Patrick's Cathedral () in Dublin, Ireland is the national cathedral of the Church of Ireland. Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Christ Church Cathedral, also a Church of Ireland cathedral in Dublin, is designated as the local cathedral of ...

. He was married with children, although little seems to be known of his family.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Oliver People from Athlone 1682 deaths Year of birth uncertain Irish MPs 1639–1649 Justices of the Irish Common Pleas Justices of the Irish King's Bench Chief justices of Connacht Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for Athlone Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Roscommon constituencies Irish MPs 1661–1666 Lawyers from County Westmeath