Thomas Luttrell (Irish Judge)
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Sir Thomas Luttrell (born before 1490 – died 1554 ) was a wealthy
Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...
landowner of the sixteenth-century
Irish 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 was also a distinguished lawyer and
judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...
who held the offices of King's Serjeant,
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 ...
and
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 ...
.


Background

He was born in
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 ...
, the eldest son of Richard Luttrell of
Luttrellstown Castle Luttrellstown Castle is a castellated house located in Clonsilla on the outskirts of Dublin, Ireland dating from the early 15th century (c. 1420). It has been owned variously by the eponymous and notorious Luttrell family, by the bookseller ...
, the head of a prominent
Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...
family, which came originally from
Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...
, and his wife Margaret FitzLyons or FitzLeones, daughter of Patrick FitzLyons of Dublin. His exact date of birth is not recorded but it was almost certainly before 1490 since his first marriage took place in 1506.Ball, F. Elrington
''History of the County Dublin''
Volume IV, Alexander, Thom & Co. (Limited), Dublin, Ireland, 1907.
Little is known of his younger years, other than his early marriage to Anne Aylmer. He was involved in a
lawsuit A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today ...
over a disputed
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. Offi ...
in 1527. He was presumably by then a
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 ...
of some years standing, since he became King's Serjeant and Solicitor General in 1532 (the office of Serjeant was much older and more senior).Hart, A.R. ''A History of the King's Serjeants-at-law in Ireland'' Dublin Four Courts Press 2000 p.28 He was spoken of as a possible judge of the
Court of Common Pleas (Ireland) The Court of Common Pleas was one of the principal courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror image of the equivalent court in England. Common Pleas was one of the four courts of justice which gave the Four Courts in Dublin, which is sti ...
in 1533, and in the next year became Chief Justice of that Court, although Burke indicates it was in November 1533,Burke, Sir Bernard
''A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire''
New Edition, 1866, Pages 339-340.
holding that office until his death 20 years later. Like most of the senior judges appointed at this time, he owed his advancement to the patronage of the King's Chief Minister,
Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; – 28 July 1540) was an English statesman and lawyer who served as List of English chief ministers, chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false cha ...
, although his legal ability was not in doubt.Ball, F. Elringto
''The Judges in Ireland 1221–1921''
John Murray, London, 1926


In government

He was an active member 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 ...
, although for no clear reason he was not appointed to the Council in 1532, immediately on becoming Serjeant, as had been the practice for many years. He accompanied Sir
William Skeffington Sir William Skeffington (c. 146531 December 1535) was an English knight who served as Lord Deputy of Ireland. Early life William Skeffington was born in Skeffington Hall, Leicestershire, the eldest son of Thomas Skeffington by his wife, Mary. ...
, the
Lord Deputy of Ireland The Lord Deputy was the representative of the monarch and head of the Irish executive (government), executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and then the Kingdom of Ireland. He deputised prior to 1523 for the Viceroy of Ireland ...
, on a mission to negotiate with the O'Toole clan. Luttrell was of great assistance on this mission since (perhaps surprisingly, given his normal attitude to Gaelic culture) he spoke fluent Irish. He took charge of the defence of Dublin in the Lord Deputy's absence and was praised for his diligence in that regard. During the rebellion of
Silken Thomas {{Infobox noble, type , name = Thomas FitzGerald , title = The Earl of Kildare , image = Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare.jpg , caption = , alt = , CoA = , ...
, 9th
Earl of Kildare Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used. The titl ...
, he was briefly taken prisoner by the rebels: the Kildare branch of the
FitzGerald dynasty The FitzGerald dynasty is a Hiberno-Norman noble and aristocratic dynasty, originally of Cambro-Normans, Cambro-Norman and Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman origin. They have been Peerage of Ireland, peers of Ireland since at least the 13th centur ...
had always seen him as an enemy, and with good reason, as he had been appointed to the Solicitor General's office and the Bench largely to counter their influence. He sat on a commission into the acquisition by the Crown of monastic lands in 1541, and himself received several grants of lands in Dublin and Meath, notably of the lands of St. Mary's Abbey at
Clonsilla Clonsilla () is a northwestern suburb of Dublin in Fingal, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Clonsilla (civil parish), Clonsilla is also a Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in the Barony (Ireland), barony of Castleknock (barony), Castleknock ...
, and the revenues of Bective Abbey and St Peter's,
Trim Trim or TRIM may refer to: Cutting * Cutting or trimming small pieces off something to remove them ** Book trimming, a stage of the publishing process ** Pruning, trimming as a form of pruning often used on trees Decoration * Trim (sewing), or ...
. By the time of his death he owned or had a share in six former
monasteries 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 m ...
. He was
knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...
in 1540. When
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
set up a commission, headed by Sir Anthony St. Leger, in 1537 on the governance of Ireland, Luttrell submitted a detailed memorandum on the subject. In this paper, he recommended the imposition of the English language and style of dress on the inhabitants of the Pale, the expulsion of Irish musicians from the Pale, and the need to discourage English settlers from returning home. He wrote about the danger of trusting Irish
soldiers 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, a warrant officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word ...
, the need to subdue the neighbouring
Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...
clans, in particular the O'Byrnes and O'Tooles of
County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606 in Ireland, 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces ...
, the desirability of the Lord Deputy being English, and the necessity for him to serve a lengthy term of office. He argued that the inhabitants of
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 ...
were overtaxed, and he recommended the printing of the Irish Statutes.


Death and memorial

Luttrell was in London at the time of
Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain as the wife of King Philip II from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She made vigorous a ...
's accession but returned to Dublin and died there the following year. He was a very wealthy man, due partly to his acquisition of
monastic Monasticism (; ), also called monachism or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual activities. Monastic life plays an important role in many Christian churches, especially ...
lands: his will refers to numerous objects of gold and silver, and in 1538 he was able to present
Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; – 28 July 1540) was an English statesman and lawyer who served as List of English chief ministers, chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false cha ...
with a
goshawk Goshawk may refer to several species of birds of prey in the family Accipitridae: Palearctic * Eurasian goshawk, ''Astur gentilis'', often referred to simply as the goshawk, since it is the only goshawk found in much of its range (in Europe and ...
, which was always a very rare bird in Ireland, and therefore very prized. After his death, the Crown asked his
executors An executor is someone who is responsible for executing, or following through on, an assigned task or duty. The feminine form, executrix, is sometimes used. Executor of will An executor is a legal term referring to a person named by the maker o ...
for a loan of £6000 out of the estate, an indication of the size of Luttrell's fortune. Though he outwardly conformed to the
Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...
, on his deathbed he requested prayers for the salvation of his soul, and the
funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...
itself was conducted according to the Catholic rite, confirming the general suspicion that he always remained a
Roman Catholic 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 ...
at heart. Some of his descendants, notably his grandson and namesake Thomas Luttrell (died 1634), who sat in the
Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...
for
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 ...
, were open and politically active Catholics. He was buried by his own direction "with honesty but no pomp" in
Clonsilla Clonsilla () is a northwestern suburb of Dublin in Fingal, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Clonsilla (civil parish), Clonsilla is also a Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in the Barony (Ireland), barony of Castleknock (barony), Castleknock ...
Church, and left a bequest for the building of a
mortuary A morgue or mortuary (in a hospital or elsewhere) is a place used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification (ID), removal for autopsy, respectful burial, cremation or other methods of disposal. In modern times, corpses have cus ...
chapel there. On a more worldly note, he directed that an open house be kept for guests at Luttrellstown Castle.


Character

Elrington Ball sums up Luttrell as "a typical gentleman of the English Pale of his time". Although his family had been settled in Ireland for centuries; although he had constant contact with the neighbouring Old Irish families from his early youth onwards, and spoke fluent Irish, he identified wholly with the interests of England. It is fair to say that Ireland outside
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 ...
was to him a foreign country. His most attractive quality was the hospitality for which he was famous.


Family

Luttrell married firstly, and apparently, while he was still in his teens (1506), Anne Aylmer, daughter of Bartholomew Aylmer of Lyons and Margaret Cheevers, daughter of Walter Cheevers, and sister of his future colleague Sir
Gerald Aylmer Gerald Edward Aylmer, (30 April 1926, Greete, Shropshire – 17 December 2000, Oxford) was an English people, English historian of 17th century England. Gerald Aylmer was the only child of Edward Aylmer (cricketer), Edward Arthur Aylmer, fro ...
. His second wife was Elizabeth Bathe, daughter and co-heiress of Sir William Bathe of Rathfeigh,
County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...
whom he married after 1550.Ball, Hist. of Co. Dublin, Vol IV, pg 5. By his two marriages, he had at least ten children, including- *Richard, who predeceased him *Anne, who married Thomas Dillon of Riverstown,
County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...
, and was the mother of Sir Robert Dillon,
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 ...
*Christopher, who inherited his father's estate but died two years after him, without male heirs *Margaret, who married Luke Netterville, justice of the
Court of King's Bench (Ireland) The Court of King's Bench (of Queen's Bench when the sovereign was female, and formerly of Chief Place or Chief Pleas) 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 King's Ben ...
: their descendants held the title Viscount Netterville *Sir James Luttrell,
High Sheriff of County Dublin The Sheriff of County Dublin (or (High) Sheriff of the County of Dublin) was the Sovereign's judicial representative in County Dublin. Initially, an office for a lifetime, assigned by the Sovereign, the Sheriff became an annual appointment follo ...
, who inherited Luttrellstown from his brother Christopher; he was the second husband of the much-married Dame Jenet Sarsfield, but they had no surviving issue *Simon, his brother James's heir, from whom later generations of Luttrells were descended, including the
Earls of Carhampton Earl of Carhampton was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1785 for Simon Luttrell, 1st Viscount Carhampton. He had already been created Baron Irnham, of Luttrellstown in the County of Dublin, in 1768 and Viscount Carhampton, of ...
*Robert Luttrell, m. Elizabeth, 2nd dau. of Robert Rochfort, Esq., of Kilbride, and was father of Richard Luttrell of Tankardstown, County Meath, who m. Anne, dau. of
Robert Cusack Robert Stephen Cusack (born 10 December 1950) is an Australian former butterfly and freestyle swimmer of the 1960s and 1970s, who won a bronze medal in the 4x100-metre freestyle relay at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. Born in Marybo ...
, Esq., of Cussington, County Meath, and d. in October 1633, leaving two sons and two daus., viz., 1 Oliver, of Tankardstown; 2 James; 1 Jane, m. to Rowland Plunket of Cocklestown; and 2 Mary, m. to George Bathe, of Edickston, County Meath. *John Luttrell, who m. Mary, dau. of Walter Nugent, Esq., of Moyrath, County Meath. *Walter *at least one more daughter.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luttrell, Thomas 1554 deaths Lawyers from County Dublin 1490s births 16th-century Irish judges Solicitors-general for Ireland Chief justices of the Irish Common Pleas Serjeants-at-law (Ireland)