Richard Wogan (died after 1453) was an Irish judge and cleric who held the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and also served as a

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

. He was born in

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the ...

, a member of the Wogan family of Rathcoffey Castle, which produced several distinguished Irish officials. They were originally a Pembrokeshire family.

John Wogan Sir John Wogan (1588–1644) was a Welsh politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1614 and 1644. Wogan was the son of Sir William Wogan of Wiston, Pembrokeshire, and his wife Sybil Owen, the daughter of Sir Hugh Owen of ...

Justiciar of Ireland The chief governor was the senior official in the Dublin Castle administration, which maintained English and British rule in Ireland from the 1170s to 1922. The chief governor was the viceroy of the English monarch (and later the British monarc ...

, died in 1321, having been granted Rathcoffey, Clane and other lands in Kildare in 1317. His descendants built Rathcoffey Castle. Richard was a

clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

, but never held high office in the Church: he was described in the Council minutes as "

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

". He was first mentioned as a Crown official in Ireland in 1441, and held the office of Lord Chancellor, probably between the years 1442 and 1449 (although as usual in this period the exact dates are disputed).O'Flanagan, J. Roderick ''Lives of the Lord Chancellors and Keepers of the Great Seal of Ireland'' 2 Volumes London 1870

Lord Chancellor

His tenure as Lord Chancellor was marked by controversy, as a result of the bitter

feud A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one pa ...

between the Butler and Talbot factions, which dominated Irish politics for more than two decades. Almost all senior Irish officials of the Crown were forced to declare their allegiance to one or other side, and Wogan chose to support the Talbot faction, headed by

John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

and his formidable brother

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stro ...

, Archbishop of Dublin.Otway-Ruthven, A.J. ''History of Medieval Ireland'' Barnes and Noble reissue New York 1993 As a result, he was accused by Ormonde of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

and of a number of other offences, including hiding the

Great Seal of Ireland The Great Seal of Ireland was the seal used until 1922 by the Dublin Castle administration to authenticate important state documents in Ireland, in the same manner as the Great Seal of the Realm in England. The Great Seal of Ireland was used fro ...

, failing to enrol Acts of 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 ...

and ignoring a

summons A summons (also known in England and Wales as a claim form and in the Australian state of New South Wales as a court attendance notice (CAN)) is a legal document issued by a court (a ''judicial summons'') or by an administrative agency of governme ...

to appear before the Council.''Patent Roll 22 Henry VI'' These charges were levelled principally by

James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond (23 May 1393 – 23 August 1452) was the son of James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond. He was called 'The White Earl', and was esteemed for his learning. He was the patron of the Irish literary work, 'The Book of the ...

, head of the Butler faction. In 1442 Wogan was accused of "wickedly and without licence quitting Ireland". In fact he went to England to plead in his own defence. He argued that the charge of treason meant only that he had attempted to carry out the King's commands, but that none of the King's other officers dared to support him against the Butlers. His defence was accepted, and he twice received a

royal pardon In the English and British tradition, the royal prerogative of mercy is one of the historic royal prerogatives of the British monarch, by which they can grant pardons (informally known as a royal pardon) to convicted persons. The royal prerog ...

for all alleged transgressions committed by him while in Ireland.Ball F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921'' John Murray London 1926 He evidently wished to continue in office as long as possible, but, not surprisingly, asked that a Deputy might be appointed to act for him as he admitted that "I cannot bear Ormonde's heavy lordship". Although it eventually died away, the feud at its height was so intense that it reached a level of personal hatred.

Soldier

He was unusual among the holders of the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland in being a military man, who took part in the English defence of

Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine ...

in 1451. In 1453, he was involved in a private war against Anne Eustace, the heiress of another branch of the Wogan family, and used his troops to seize back Rathcoffey Castle, which Anne had occupied. A petition of Anne Eustace and her second husband Sir Robert Dowdall to the

concerning the Wogan

inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offici ...

, dated February 1459, suggests that Richard died sometime between 1453 and 1458.''Patent Roll 37 Henry VI''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wogan, Richard Lord chancellors of Ireland People from County Kildare