Patrick Barrett (died 10 November 1415) was an

Irishman The Irish ( or ''Na hÉireannaigh'') are an ethnic group and nation native to the island of Ireland, who share a common ancestry, history and culture. There have been humans in Ireland for about 33,000 years, and it has been continually inhab ...

who held

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and

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

high offices in Ireland.

Biography

Patrick Barrett was an Augustinian

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

at Kells Priory in the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Ossory The Diocese of Ossory (; ) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in eastern Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is one of three suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin, ...

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is named after the City status in Ir ...

. He succeeded Thomas Dene as

Bishop of Ferns The Bishop of Ferns () is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Ferns in County Wexford, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bishopr ...

. He was consecrated Bishop of Ferns in

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in December 1400. After returning to Ireland, Barrett was restored to possession of the

temporalities Temporalities or temporal goods are the secular properties and possessions of the church. The term is most often used to describe those properties (a '' Stift'' in German or ''sticht'' in Dutch) that were used to support a bishop or other religious ...

on 11 April 1401. Barrett built a tower house at Mountgarret in 1408. He was

justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

and Keeper of the Peace for Wexford. He was Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1410 to 1412, and was then superseded by Thomas Cranley. Despite complaints, common throughout the Middle Ages in Ireland, about "the dangers of the roads" he was able to go on

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 ...

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

and South

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

in 1410 to hear "certain urgent causes".''Patent Roll 11 Henry IV'' He appropriated the church of Ardcolm to

Selskar Abbey Selskar Abbey () is a ruined Augustinian abbey in Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Founded in the twelfth century, the abbey's full name was the Priory of St Peter and St Paul. The name is derived from Old Norse language, Old Norse '' ...

(the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul) in

Wexford Wexford ( ; archaic Yola dialect, Yola: ''Weiseforthe'') is the county town of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the ...

. He moved the diocesan seat from Ferns to

New Ross New Ross (, formerly ) is a town in southwest County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, on the River Barrow on the border with County Kilkenny, northeast of Waterford. In 2022, it had a population of 8,610, making it the fourth-largest t ...

, due to the chronic political disturbance in Ferns. He helped to suppress a

rebellion Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

in Wexford in 1412.Ball, F.Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921'' London John Murray 1926 p. 178 He compiled a catalogue of his predecessors in the see of Ferns. In 1414 he obtained leave for one of his chaplains to go and study at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

for four years. He died on 10 November 1415 and was buried at Kells Priory. He was succeeded as Bishop of Ferns by Robert Whittey, who held the See for forty years and lived to be almost ninety.

References

Sources

* * * Year of birth missing 1415 deaths 15th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland Bishops of Ferns Lord chancellors of Ireland Lawyers from County Wexford Lawyers from County Waterford Christian clergy from County Waterford Christian clergy from County Wexford People from New Ross {{Ireland-RC-bishop-stub