Robert de Holywood
Robert de Holywood (died 1384) was an Irish judge and landowner who held the office of Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer. He was the ancestor of the Holywood family of Artane Castle, and of the St. Lawrence family, Earls of Howth. He became extremely unpopular, and was removed from office after numerous complaints of "oppression and extortion" were made against him. These were apparently inspired by his close association in the mid-1370s with Sir William de Windsor, the embattled Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.[1]
Career
He took his surname from the parish of Holywood (also spelt Hollywood), near Balbriggan, County Dublin.[2] He was appointed a Remembrancer of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland) in 1356, and in 1359 he was charged with organising the defence of Leinster. When the capital of Norman Ireland was moved from Dublin to Carlow in 1361, on the grounds that Carlow was more central and convenient for the government, Robert in his capacity as Remembrancer was one of the first officials to make the move.[3] He was appointed Chief Baron in 1363: he was superseded the following year, during a general "shake-up" of Irish officials. He was reappointed in 1367. In 1376 he was finally dismissed from office as Chief Baron, and given his immense unpopularity with the ruling class, was probably lucky to avoid more serious sanctions. He died eight years later.[4]
In 1361 he received a royal pardon for purchasing land without royal permission, something strictly forbidden for Crown officials. This pardon may relate to his purchase of Artane (originally called Tartaine) Castle, of which he was the first recorded owner and which remained in his family for two centuries (unlike many judges of the time, he was not in holy orders).[5]
In 1367 he sat on a powerful commission to determine whether or not the manor of Rathkeale was Crown land, but it apparently never reported, since a similar inquiry was launched in 1374. Ball notes that while many of his fellow judges willingly exposed themselves to the dangers of going on assize, Holywood preferred the comparative security of Dublin.[6]
In 1373, in consideration of his good services to the Crown, he was given permission to found a chantry with five chaplains at Holywood and in 1376 was given permission to allow them to choose a warden.[4] The chaplains were required to pray for the souls of Sir Robert himself, his two wives, and Queen Philippa of Hainault, the deceased wife of King Edward III.[7]
Downfall
In 1376 his career came to an abrupt end. The unpopular and combative Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Sir William de Windsor, was summoned to England in February of that year to answer numerous charges of corruption and maladministration and was suspended from office.[1] A flood of complaints by the Anglo-Irish nobility of "extortions, oppressions and injuries" was made at the same time against Holywood and the second Baron of the Irish Exchequer, William de Karlell, who were clearly seen as key members of the Windsor regime, and both judges were summoned to England, along with Windsor, the Bishop of Meath, Stephen de Valle, Sir John Cruys and others, to answer for their conduct.[1] The English Privy Council, have examined them, dismissed them from office and sent them back to Ireland for further questioning by the senior English official Sir Nicholas Dagworth, who had assumed emergency powers of government during the crisis.[1] However the matter ended there; the Anglo-Irish nobility seems to have been content with the two judges' dismissal. Their associate Sir John Cruys of Merrion Castle went on to have a highly successful career.[1] Holywood in a petition of 1379 asked for a suspension of any further legal proceedings against him and the restoration of his property.[8] Holywood retired into private life, but Karlell was eventually reinstated and was himself appointed Chief Baron, a few months before he died in 1383.[9]
Family
Robert's first wife was named Joan; his second wife, who outlived him, was called Nesta.[6] At his death in 1384, his son Sir Christopher de Holywood succeeded to the estate. Christopher became a distinguished soldier, and in 1413 was appointed one of the commanders of the King's army in Ireland.[10] He died in or about 1416 and was succeeded as owner of Artane by his son, the younger Robert de Holywood, who was then a minor and was made a Royal ward.[11] Robert served as Sheriff of County Dublin in 1426. Christopher also had at least one daughter Eleanor, who married the 1st Baron Howth (his name is variously given as Christopher and Stephen), and was the mother of Christopher St Lawrence, 2nd Baron Howth. The bulk of the Holywood estates passed by marriage to the Burnell family of Balgriffin towards the end of the fifteenth century.
References
- ^ a b c d e Otway-Ruthven, A.J. A History of Medieval Ireland Barnes and Noble reissue New York 1993 p.307
- ^ Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921 John Murray London 1926 Vol.1 p.84
- ^ Otway-Ruthven p.277
- ^ a b Ball p.84
- ^ Adams, C.L. Castles of Ireland London 1904 p.18
- ^ a b Ball p.34
- ^ Patent Rolls of Edward III vol.xv. p.338
- ^ The National Archives SC 8/215/10728
- ^ Ball pp.85-6
- ^ Otway-Ruthven p.348
- ^ Adams p.18