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Sir Robert Bagod (died 1299) was an Irish
judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...
who was appointed the first
Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas The chief justice of the Common Pleas for Ireland was the presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Ireland, which was known in its early years as the Court of Common Bench, or simply as "the Bench", or "the Dublin bench". It was one of the s ...
in 1276. He built
Baggotrath Castle Baggotrath Castle, or Baggotsrath Castle, was a castle situated at present-day Baggot Street in Dublin city centre. It was built in the late thirteenth century by the Bagod (later called Baggot) family, for whom it was named. During the English ...
, which was the strongest
fortress A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
in Dublin: it was located on present-day
Baggot Street Baggot Street () is a street in Dublin, Ireland. Location The street runs from Merrion Row (near St. Stephen's Green) to the northwestern end of Pembroke Road. It crosses the Grand Canal near Haddington Road. It is divided into two sections: ...
in central Dublin. He also founded the
Carmelite , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount Car ...
Friary in Dublin.Mackay, Ronan "Bagot (Bagod), Robert" ''Cambridge Dictionary of Irish Biography''


Early career

He was born in Dublin, the son of Ralph Bagod; the Bagod family had come to Ireland in the 1170s. Robert spent the earlier part of his career in Limerick, where he served as County
Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...
and
Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...
of King John's Castle. He was accused of misconduct in respect of his official duties in 1275 but was cleared of all charges. He was held in high regard by 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 was a friend of
Robert Burnell Robert Burnell (sometimes spelled Robert Burnel;Harding ''England in the Thirteenth Century'' p. 159 c. 1239 – 25 October 1292) was an English bishop who served as Lord Chancellor of England from 1274 to 1292. A native of Shropshire, h ...
, Bishop of Bath and Wells, the highly influential
Lord Chancellor of England The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...
, and received a knighthood from King
Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal o ...
. He was excused for exceeding the permitted limits in building a house adjoining the Limerick city walls in about 1270.


Judge

In 1276 the Irish Court of Common Pleas (which was often known in its early days as "the Bench") was established. Bagod was chosen to be its Chief Justice (
Thomas de Chaddesworth Thomas de Chaddesworth, de Chedworth or de Chadsworth (c.1230-1311) was an English-born Crown servant and cleric who spent some fifty years in Ireland, and died there at a great age. He was Deans of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, Dean of St ...
, Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, acted as Chief Justice for a time in a temporary capacity). He had three associate justices to serve under him; in later centuries the number of associate justices was reduced to two. He was also required to act as a justice in eyre, i.e. an itinerant justice, when necessary, although the eyre system was rapidly falling into disuse in Ireland during his term on the Bench, and was rarely used after 1290. In addition to his judicial office, he served as Deputy
Treasurer of Ireland The Lord High Treasurer of Ireland was the head of the Exchequer of Ireland, chief financial officer of the Kingdom of Ireland. The designation ''High'' was added in 1695. After the Acts of Union 1800 created the United Kingdom of Great Britain a ...
. He was regularly called on to sit on special commissions, both in Ireland and England, most notably the commission of inquiry of 1293-4 into alleged misconduct by William de Vesci, the Justiciar of Ireland. With the other members of the commission, who included Sir
William de Essendon Sir William de Essendon, de Estdene or Eastdean (died after 1314) was an English-born cleric, lawyer and Crown official, much of whose career was spent in Ireland in the reign of Edward I of England. He served twice as Lord High Treasurer of Irel ...
and Sir
Walter de la Haye Sir Walter de la Haye (died after 1309) was an English-born statesman and judge in Ireland of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, who served for many years as Sheriff of County Waterford and as Chief Escheator, and briefly as Just ...
, he was ordered to appear before King
Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...
and the Parliament in April 1294 to report on their findings. In 1293-4 he and his colleagues heard a lawsuit between John Cogan and the
Abbey of St Thomas the Martyr An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...
near Dublin, on the disputed ownership of lands at Ballymckelly, County Dublin. In 1294 Bartholemew Dardiz complained to the Privy Council that Bagod and his fellow Justices had heard an inheritance dispute between himself and his cousin Thomas Dardiz concerning lands at
Castlekeeran Castlekeeran is a former monastery and a National Monument in County Meath, Ireland. Location Castlekeeran survives as a walled graveyard, south of Carnaross and on the south bank of the Leinster Blackwater. History Castlekeeran was founde ...
, County Meath (only a ruined monastery survives there today), and had found in his favour, but that the judgment had not been executed.''Close Roll 22 Edward I'' The
Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...
ordered that the records be searched for in the Irish Treasury (
Exchequer of Ireland The Exchequer of Ireland was a body in the Kingdom of Ireland tasked with collecting The Crown, royal revenue. Modelled on the Exchequer, English Exchequer, it was created in 1210 after King John of England applied English law and legal structure ...
), where they had been deposited, and when located that they be sent to Bagod and his colleagues so that they might execute the judgment. Numerous similar requests from the Council over the following years to be informed of the outcome of individual cases suggest a degree of unhappiness with the efficiency of the Court's procedures. He was a valued Crown servant: in 1281 he received an unspecified financial reward for his loyalty, and in 1284 in consideration of his long service he was excused from going on assize (always an onerous task, in view of the bad roads and perennial threat of
assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...
or highway robbery). He retired on health grounds in October 1298, when he was described as being too "old and infirm" to continue in office.''Patent Rolls 26 Edward I'' He probably died early in the following year.


Family

His eldest son and heir, Sir
Robert Bagod the younger Sir Robert Bagod (died after 1329) was a judge, Crown servant and military commander in fourteenth-century Ireland.Ball p.61 He was the eldest son of the judge and landowner Sir Robert Bagod, of a family which had been settled in Dublin since the ...
(died 1330), was, like his father, a knight who served as
High Sheriff of County Limerick The High Sheriff of Limerick was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Limerick, Ireland from the 13th century until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Limerick County Sheriff. ...
and a justice of the Common Pleas. The younger Robert resigned or was dismissed from the Bench in about 1324. Two of Sir Robert's grandsons, Thomas and Hervey, were also High Court judges. Thomas was probably the Thomas Bagod who owned the lands which later became the site of Merrion Castle in the 1330s.


Landowner

In 1280 he bought the lands which were then called "the Rath", subsequently called Baggotrath or Baggotstrath, from the Hyntenbergh family. He built Baggotrath Castle, which later passed from the Bagods to the Fitzwilliam family. It was severely damaged during the English Civil War, allowed to fall into ruin by its owners, and demolished in the early nineteenth century. The family name is commemorated in Baggot Street and nearby Baggotrath Place. The Hyntenberghs also sold him a stone dwelling house near present-day Werburgh Street. In addition, he acquired lands in
Dundrum, Dublin Dundrum (, ''the ridge fort''), originally a town in its own right, is an outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The area is located in the Dublin postal districts, postal districts of Dublin 14 and Dublin 16. Dundrum is home to the Dundrum Town Centr ...
, which his son later sold to the le Poer family. There was also the Limerick property, originally called Brownstown: his son made Limerick the main family residence. Possibly his proudest achievement was founding Ireland's only Carmelite
Friary A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
in Dublin in about 1274, despite considerable local opposition. It apparently stood on the same site as the present
Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church is a Roman Catholic church in Dublin, Ireland maintained by the Carmelite order. The church is noted for having the relics of Saint Valentine, which were donated to the church in the 19th century by Pope Gre ...
. He has been described as a man of energy and ability, noted for his loyalty to the Crown and for the confidence the Government placed in him.
Baggot Street Baggot Street () is a street in Dublin, Ireland. Location The street runs from Merrion Row (near St. Stephen's Green) to the northwestern end of Pembroke Road. It crosses the Grand Canal near Haddington Road. It is divided into two sections: ...
in Dublin was named after him. The ''Red Book of the Exchequer at Dublin''Published in ''Transactions of the Chronological Institute of London'' 1852 gives his date of death as 6 January 1298, but this is probably a slip for 1299, as the Patent Rolls clearly date his retirement to October 1298.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bagod, Robert Lawyers from Dublin (city) 13th-century Irish politicians Chief Justices of the Irish Common Pleas 13th-century Irish judges High Sheriffs of County Limerick 1299 deaths