Sir Richard Blake was an Irish

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

Mayor of Galway The office of Mayor of Galway is an honorific title used by the of Galway City Council. The council has jurisdiction throughout its administrative area of the city of Galway which is the largest city in the province of Connacht, in Ireland. Th ...

, fl. 1627–1648.

Biography

Blake was the son of Richard Blake of Ardfry, near

Oranmore Oranmore ( or ) is a town in County Galway, Ireland, east of Galway city on an inlet of Galway Bay. At the 2022 census, Oranmore had a population of 5,819. The town is in a civil parish of the same name. Etymology Oranmore is the anglicisat ...

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

Career

Sir Richard was

for the term 1627-28 and from 1639 to 1649 elected to sit for

in the

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland () was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until the end of 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two chambers: the Irish Hou ...

. In 1648 he was elected Speaker or Chairman, of the assembly of the

Irish Confederation The Irish Confederation was an Irish nationalist independence movement, established on 13 January 1847 by members of the Young Ireland movement who had seceded from Daniel O'Connell's Repeal Association. Historian T. W. Moody described it as "t ...

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

. He supported the

Ormonde Ormonde is a surname originated in Ireland (Ormonde) and Scotland (Ormond (surname), Ormond), but also occurring in England, United States, Portugal (mainly in Azores, as a variation of the scottish surname Drummond_(surname), Drummond) and Brazil. ...

peace treaties. Both he and his cousin,

Sir Valentine Blake, 3rd Baronet Sir Valentine Blake, 3rd Baronet (died 1652) was an Irish merchant and politician. Biography Blake was the eldest of three sons of Sir Thomas Blake and Juliane, daughter of Geoffrey Browne. He was admitted to the Middle Temple on 19 July 1628 ...

, were captured by the soldiers of Owen Roe O'Neill in June, 1648 but were released unharmed. His descendants included

Baron Wallscourt Baron Wallscourt, of Ardfry in the County of Galway, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 31 July 1800 for Joseph Blake, with remainder, in default of male issue of his own, to the heirs male of the body of his father Joseph B ...

and Michael Blake.

References

* ''Roll of Honour:The Mayors of Galway'', William Henry, Galway, 2002. {{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Sir Richard Politicians from County Galway Mayors of Galway 17th-century Irish businesspeople People of the Irish Confederate Wars Irish MPs 1639–1649 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Galway constituencies People from Oranmore