Richard Finglas (died 1574) was an Irish

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

and Law Officer of the sixteenth century. He belonged to the prominent Finglas family of Westphailstown (or Westpalstown),

County Dublin County Dublin ( or ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and holds its capital city, Dublin. It is located on the island's east coast, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Until 1994, County Dubli ...

. He was a close relative, probably a nephew or grandson, of

Patrick Finglas Patrick Finglas (died 1537) was a leading Irish judge and statesman of the sixteenth century, who was regarded (except perhaps in his last years) as a mainstay of the English Crown in Ireland. He was also the author of an influential "Breviat", or ...

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 ...

, who died in 1537. He was appointed Principal Solicitor for Ireland in 1550.Smyth pp.173, 285-6 As Principal Solicitor, he served as deputy to the

Solicitor General for Ireland The Solicitor-General for Ireland was the holder of an Irish and then (from the Act of Union 1800) United Kingdom government office. The holder was a deputy to the Attorney-General for Ireland, and advised the Crown on Irish legal matters. On r ...

. He was appointed

Serjeant-at-law (Ireland) This is a list of lawyers who held the rank of serjeant-at-law at the Bar of Ireland. Origins of the office of serjeant The first recorded serjeant was Roger Owen, who was appointed between 1261 and 1266, although the title itself was not us ...

in 1554. Some sources state that he was appointed Solicitor General in the same year, but this may simply reflect the frequent confusion between the two similarly named offices of Solicitor General and Principal Solicitor. He played a part in the development of 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 ...

as Ireland's first law school, and is listed as one of the lessees of the building which housed the Inns at Blackfriars (modern Henrietta Street) in the 1567

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

from the

English Crown This list of kings and reigning queens of the Kingdom of England begins with Alfred the Great, who initially ruled Wessex, one of the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which later made up modern England. Alfred styled himself king of the Anglo-Sax ...

. He sat on a number of Crown commissions, including one in 1559 for assessing the inhabitants of Dublin for

taxation A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal person, legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to Pigouvian tax, regulate and reduce nega ...

, and two for

mustering Muster may refer to: Military terminology * Muster (military), a process or event for the accounting for members in a military unit * Muster list, list of the functions for team members * A mustering, in military terminology, is a specialised ...

the available troops in

the Pale The Pale ( Irish: ''An Pháil'') or the English Pale (' or ') was the part of Ireland directly under the control of the English government in the Late Middle Ages. It had been reduced by the late 15th century to an area along the east coast s ...

. He sat on a commission of gaol delivery in

Westmeath County Westmeath (; or simply ) 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 Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...

and

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 10,302, making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. It is home to Kildare Cathedral, historically the site of an important abbey said to have been founded by Saint ...

in 1553-4.Morrin Vol.1 p.346 As Queen's Serjeant, he earned high praise from the Irish Government for his devotion to duty: he was awarded a special

annuity In investment, an annuity is a series of payments made at equal intervals based on a contract with a lump sum of money. Insurance companies are common annuity providers and are used by clients for things like retirement or death benefits. Examples ...

of £10 for his "labour and diligence" and his regular attendance before the

Court of Castle Chamber The Court of Castle Chamber (which was sometimes simply called ''Star Chamber'') was an Irish court of special jurisdiction which operated in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It was established by Elizabeth I of England in 1571 to deal w ...

(the Irish version of

Star Chamber The court of Star Chamber () was an English court that sat at the royal Palace of Westminster, from the late to the mid-17th century (), and was composed of privy counsellors and common-law judges, to supplement the judicial activities of the ...

) and the

Privy Council of Ireland His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal executi ...

; this seems to have been a special reward over and above the normal fees for his office. Despite his obvious legal ability, and the high opinion which the Irish Government had of his diligence, he never became a High Court judge: this probably reflected the low opinion which

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

had of her Irish Law Officers, whom she generally refused to promote to the judiciary, and whom, when they died or retired, she replaced, if possible, with English lawyers. On the other hand, she seems to have had a high opinion of Finglas himself, as shown by her decision to grant him a special allowance. He died, still in office, in 1574.

Sources

*Hart, A. R. ''History of the King's Serjeant at law in Ireland'' Four Courts Press Dublin 2000 *Kenny, Colum ''King's Inns and the Kingdom of Ireland'' Irish Academic Press Dublin 1992 *Morrin, James ''Calendar of the Patent and Close Rolls of Chancery in Ireland in the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary and Elizabeth'' Alexander Thom and Co. Dublin 1861 *Smyth, Constantine Joseph ''Chronicle of the Law Officers of Ireland'' Butterworths London 1839

Notes

{{reflist Serjeants-at-law (Ireland) Lawyers from County Dublin Year of birth missing 1574 deaths 16th-century Irish lawyers