Bartholomew Dillon

Sir Bartholomew Dillon (died 1533) was a leading Irish judge of the sixteenth century who held the offices of Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer and Chief Justice of the King's Bench in Ireland.

Bartholomew Dillon
Chief Justice of the Irish King's Bench
In office
1533–1533
Preceded byPatrick Bermingham
Succeeded byPatrick Finglas
Personal details
BornRiverston, County Meath
Died1533

Birth and origins

Bartholomew was born at Riverstown, County Meath, eldest son of Sir James Dillon and his wife Elizabeth Bathe.[1] His father was Baron of the Exchequer.[2] His father's family was Old English and descended from Sir Henry Dillon who came to Ireland with Prince John in 1185.[3] His mother was a daughter of Bartholomew Bathe of Dollardstown Castle, Athy, County Kildare.

Sir Robert Dillon (died 1579), Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas, was his younger brother.

Family tree
Bartholomew Dillon with his two wives, his parents, and other selected relatives.[lower-alpha 1]
Sir Richard
Dillon
of Proudston
fl. 1424		Jeanne
Wile
James
Dillon
of Riverston		Elizabeth
Bathe
Elizabeth
Barnewall		Bartholomew
Dillon
of Riverston
d. 1533
Chief Justice		Elinor
Plunkett		Robert
Dillon
of Newtown
d. 1579
Chief Justice
Thomas
Dillon
of Riverston		Anne
Luttrell		Lucas
Dillon
1530–1592
Chief Baron
Robert
Dillon
c. 1540 – 1597
Chief Justice		Catharine
Sarsfield
d. 1615		James
1st Earl
Roscommon
d. 1641
Legend
XXXSubject of
the article		XXXEarls of
Roscommon

Marriages and children

Dillon married twice. His first wife was Elizabeth Barnewall, daughter of Thomas Barnewall of Irishtown.

Bartholomew and Elizabeth had a son:

  1. Thomas, father of Sir Robert Dillon (died 1597)

—and two daughters:

  1. Anne, married Nicholas Kent of Davidstown[5]
  2. Ismay, married three times. First to John Fleming of Stephenstown, a grandson of James Fleming, 7th Baron Slane, and was the mother of Thomas Fleming, 10th Baron Slane.[6] Secondly to Richard Tath of Cookstown, and thirdly to Sir Thomas Barnewall, second son of John Barnewall, 3rd Baron Trimlestown and his eldest child by his second wife Margaret FitzLeones.

Dillon's younger brother Robert founded the branch of the family that held the title Earl of Roscommon. By birth and marriage the Dillon brothers belonged to the small Anglo-Irish ruling class of the Pale.

Career

Dillon was an official in the Court of Exchequer (Ireland) by 1505 and became a Baron of the Exchequer in 1507. He was appointed Chief Baron in 1514 but removed after a year, for reasons which are unclear.[7] He was Deputy Treasurer of Ireland from 1516 to 1522, when he became a judge of the Court of King's Bench (Ireland). On 15 January 1533 he was made Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench for Ireland[8] but died suddenly soon after.[9]

According to Elrington Ball, at a time when the Irish ruling class were deeply split between supporters (the so-called Geraldines) and opponents of the 9th Earl of Kildare, Dillon was one of the most committed Geraldines, and spent much of his time in England defending the Earl of Kildare's interests.[10]

Notes, citations, and sources

Notes
  1. This family tree is based on the genealogies of the earls of Roscommon.[4] Also see the lists of children in the text.

Citations
  1. Ball 1926, p. 191, line 11. "... was a son of James Dillon and Elizabeth Bathe;"
  2. Ball 1926, p. 112, line 9. "Both James Dillon and his son, Sir Bartholomew Dillon, who succeeded him as baron of the Exchequer ..."
  3. Webb 1878, p. 149, line 7: "... [Sir Henry Dillon] came to Ireland in 1185 as secretary to Prince John ..."
  4. Lodge 1789, pp. 139–142 (footnote). "We now return to Sir Richard Dillon ..."
  5. Lodge 1789, p. 143. "Anne, married to Nicholas Kent, of David's-town, Esq."
  6. Cokayne 1896, p. 158. "10. Thomas (Fleming) Baron Slane [I. [Ireland] ], cousin and h. [heir] male, being s. [son] and h. of James Fleming of Stephenstown by Ismay, da. [daughter] of Bartholomew Dillon ..."
  7. Ball 1926, p. 191, line 13. " was appointed first baron of the Exchequer in 1507 and chief baron 1514; was superseded 1515;"
  8. Smyth 1839, p. 83. "Sir Bartholomew Dillon, Knt., (ad placita nostra coram nobis tenenda,) — Bermingham deceased, — patent, Hoggeston, 15 Jan. 1532."
  9. Ball 1926, p. 191, line 18. "... was appointed chief justice of the King's Bench 1533; died same year;"
  10. Ball 1926, p. 191, line 17. "... appears in London acting on behalf od the Earl of Kildare 1526;"

Sources
  • Ball, Francis Elrington (1926). The Judges in Ireland 1221–1921. Vol. 1 (1st ed.). London: John Murray. OCLC 832154869. – 1221 to 1690
  • Cokayne, George Edward (1896). Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant. Vol. 7 (1st ed.). London: George Bell and Sons. OCLC 1180891114. – S to T (for Slane)
  • Lodge, John (1789). Archdall, Mervyn (ed.). The Peerage of Ireland or, A Genealogical History of the Present Nobility of that Kingdom. Vol. 4. Dublin: James Moore. OCLC 264906028. – Viscounts
  • Smyth, Constantine (1839). Chronicle of the Law Officers of Ireland. London: Henry Butterworth. OCLC 1018312937.
  • Webb, Alfred (1878). "Dillon, Sir Henry". Compendium of Irish Biography. Dublin: M. H. Gill & Son. p. 149. OCLC 122693688.
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