Sir Richard Nagle (1636 – 6 April 1699) was an Irish Jacobite politician and lawyer. He held the positions of

Attorney-General for Ireland The Attorney-General for Ireland was an Kingdom of Ireland, Irish and then, from 1801 under the Acts of Union 1800, United Kingdom government office-holder. He was senior in rank to the Solicitor-General for Ireland: both advised the Crown on ...

Speaker of the Irish House of Commons The Speaker of the Irish House of Commons was the presiding officer of the Irish House of Commons until its disestablishment in 1800. In the absence of a government chosen from and answerable to the Commons, the Speaker was the dominant politic ...

Lord Justice of Ireland The Lords Justices (more formally the Lords Justices General and General Governors of Ireland) were deputies who acted collectively in the absence of the chief governor of Ireland (latterly the Lord Lieutenant) as head of the executive branch o ...

and Secretary of State and War for Ireland under King James II. He fled to France in 1691, joining James II at

Saint-Germain-en-Laye Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. ...

, where he resumed his duties as nominal Secretary of State and War. He later served as Commissioner of the Household.Corp, p 360.

Biography

Richard was born into an

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

family at Carrigacunna Castle, in

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

, the son of James Nagle of Annakissy, and James' wife, Honora Nugent. This was his family's seat. His brother Pierce was a future High Sheriff of County Cork. Although Richard initially intended to join the clergy, he was educated in law at Gray's Inn and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. "Active and skilful", he had a successful career as a lawyer. The Earl of Tyrconnell brought Richard to England with him in 1685 to meet James II.D'Alton, p 147. James created him Attorney-General for Ireland and knighted him in 1686. He also appointed him to 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 ...

. As an MP for Cork, Nagle was elected Speaker by the Irish House of Commons in 1689. This parliament is known to posterity as the "

Patriot Parliament Patriot Parliament is the name commonly used for the Irish Parliament session called by King James II during the Williamite War in Ireland which lasted from 1688 to 1691. The first since 1666, it held only one session, which lasted from 7 May ...

". It spurned the outcome of the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

, recognising King James's divine right to the Irish crown over William of Orange's parliamentary one. William, made King of England during the revolution, was set on conquering Ireland from James, and to achieve that end he launched the

Williamite War The Williamite War in Ireland took place from March 1689 to October 1691. Fought between Jacobite supporters of James II and those of his successor, William III, it resulted in a Williamite victory. It is generally viewed as a related conflic ...

. Richard was diametrically opposed to the Act of Settlement 1662 (he was the author of ''A Letter from Coventry'', an anti-settlement pamphlet), which had punished

royalists A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gover ...

and

Roman Catholics 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 ...

who had fought against parliament in the

Civil Wars A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.James Fearon"Iraq' ...

; he unsuccessfully advocated its repeal in this session.D'Alton, p 149. James's

Irish Army The Irish Army () is the land component of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Defence Forces of Republic of Ireland, Ireland.The Defence Forces are made up of the Permanent Defence Forces – the standing branches – and the Reserve Defence Forces. ...

forces were routed by William's at the

Battle of the Boyne The Battle of the Boyne ( ) took place in 1690 between the forces of the deposed King James II, and those of King William III who, with his wife Queen Mary II (his cousin and James's daughter), had acceded to the Crowns of England and Sc ...

, in 1690; King James retreated to Dublin. It was here he convened a council that advised him to flee to France. Nagle was one of its members. They reasoned that if he did not leave "he would run a great risk of being taken by the enemy". James followed their advice. Nagle, accompanied by Tyrconnell, visited him at his court-in-exile, Saint Germain, at the end of 1690.D'Alton, p 150. In Nagle's absence, his duties as Secretary of State were executed by

Thomas Nugent, 1st Baron Nugent of Riverston Thomas Nugent (died May 1715) was an Irish Roman Catholic barrister who became Lord Chief Justice of Ireland under James II of Great Britain, and held a 1689 title as Baron Nugent of Riverston (of complex legal status). Early life He was the sec ...

. Upon the death of Tyrconnell, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Nagle became one of the Lord Justices of Ireland. The others were Francis Plowden and Baron Fitton of Gawsworth. They administered what remained of Jacobite Ireland in the place of the Lord Lieutenant, though they did not assume command of the armed forces.Murray, p 223. Sir Richard Nagle married Jane (Joan) O'Kearney on 19 September 1669 at Clonbrogan, Ireland. Jane's sister, Mary O'Kearney, married Sir Richard's brother, Pierce Nagle of Annakissy, the high sheriff of County Cork in 1689.

Bibliography

References

*Corp, Edward T: ''A Court in Exile: the Stuarts in France, 1689–1718''. Cambridge University Press. 2009. *Cruise O'Brien, Conor: ''The Great Melody: A Thematic Biography of Edmund Burke.'' Chicago University Press. 1993. *D'Alton, John: ''King James' Irish Army List''. IGF. 1997. *Gibson, CB: ''The History of the County and City of Cork – Volume II''. READ BOOKS. 2008. *Historical and Archaeological Society, Cork: ''Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society''. The Society. 1917. *Murray, Robert Henry: ''Revolutionary Ireland and its Settlement''. Macmillan. 1911. *Seward, Paul: ''Parliamentary History: Speakers and Speakership''. Blackwell Publishing. 2010.

Notes

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Nagle, Richard Politicians from County Cork Irish Jacobites 1636 births 1699 deaths Members of Gray's Inn Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Cork constituencies Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Irish MPs 1689 Speakers of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801)