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 (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of Kingdom of England, England's governanc ...

. He was born in

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

, the third son of John Jones, a

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

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

King's Inns The Honorable Society of King's Inns ( ir, Cumann Onórach Óstaí an Rí) 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 environment ...

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 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fr ...

as MP for

in 1639. He was generally believed to have

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

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 King ...

, the Earl of Strafford and with Strafford's key ally Sir Richard Bolton, the Lord Chancellor of Ireland. After Strafford's downfall and death in 1641, Jones was active in the

impeachment Impeachment is the 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. I ...

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 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1641) was an uprising by Irish Catholics in the Kingdom of Ireland, who wanted an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and to partially or fully reverse the plantat ...

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

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

to be true and faithful to the

Cromwellian Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

regime.Ball p.286 After the

Restoration of Charles II The Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland took place in 1660 when King Charles II returned from exile in continental Europe. The preceding period of the Protectorate and the civil wars came to ...

, 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 spelt Stewart, 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 held by the family progenitor Walt ...

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 "Steadfast Irish heart" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Roscommon.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Connacht , subdi ...

. He was then living in

Roscommon Castle Roscommon (; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60, N61 and N63 roads. The name Roscommon is derived from Coman mac Faelchon who buil ...

. 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 Connaught in Ireland, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The office was created in 1569, and in ...

, 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 stil ...

, 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 Be ...

. 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 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 ...

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 ( ir, Ard-Eaglais Naomh Pádraig) in Dublin, Ireland, founded in 1191 as a Roman Catholic cathedral, is currently the national cathedral of the Church of Ireland. Christ Church Cathedral, also a Church of Ireland cat ...

. 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