Sir Thomas LUTTRELL of Luttrellstown, Knight
Lord Chief Justice of Ireland
Born: BEF 1496, Luttrellstown, Dublin, Ireland
Died: 1554, Luttrellstown, Dublin, Ireland
Buried: 1554, Clonsilla Church, Ireland
Father: Richard LUTTRELL of Luttrellstown
Mother: Margaret FITZLYONS
Married 1: Anne AYLMER (dau. of Bartholomew Aylmer of Lyons and Margaret Chevers) 1531, Luttrellstown, Dublin, Ireland
Children:
3. Christopher LUTTRELL of Luttrellstown (b. BEF 1530 - d. 1556)
Married 2: Elizabeth BATHE (dau. of Sir William Bathe of Rathfeigh)
Children:
5. James LUTTRELL of Luttrellstown (Sir)
6. Simon LUTTRELL of Luttrellstown
7. Robert LUTRELL of Tankardstown
9. Walter LUTTRELL (b. ABT 1554 - d. AFT 1572)
The Right Hon. Sir Thomas Luttrell, Chief Justice of
the Common Pleas in Ireland, as he became, was a
typical example of a gentleman of the English Pale of
his time. In spite of the centuries which had elapsed
since his family first settled in Ireland and of
constant intercourse in his youth with the Irish,
which is shown by his knowledge of the Irish language,
he remained ever true to the interests of England, and
looked upon Ireland, outside the small extent embraced
in the Pale, as a foreign country.
At the same time the long separation of his family
from England caused him to have little in common with
the inhabitants of that country, and to take what may
perhaps be described as a parochial view of English
policy. Notwithstanding the residence in England
necessary for his admission to the legal profession,
during which he must have made acquaintance with many
of English birth, his relatives and more intimate
friends all belonged to the small community within the
Pale.
Both Chief Justice Luttrell's wives -for he was twice married- were also taken from
old Pale families, one being the daughter of
Bartholomew Aylmer of Lyons, and the other the
daughter of Sir William Bathe, of Rathfeigh.
Of Luttrell's early life little is known. His first
marriage appears to have taken place in 1506, when he
can have been little more than a youth, and in 1527 he
appears as plaintiff in a suit in the Common Pleas in
connection with the property inherited from Sir Elias
de Ashbourne.
In 1532 his talents first received recognition from
the Crown in his appointment as Solicitor-General and
King's Serjeant in Ireland, and in 1534 he was
promoted to the Bench as Chief Justice of the Common
Pleas, a position he filled until his death twenty
years later.
He was an active member of the Council, in which
capacity we find him accompanying Lord Deputy Grey on
his expedition to meet Tirlagh O´Poole, and on
another occasion taking charge of Dublin in the Lord
Deputy's absence; and it has been stated that he was
instrumental in securing the preservation of the
public records in a place of safety.
When the Commission presided over by Sir Anthony St.
Leger was sent to Ireland in 1537 by Henry
VIII,
Chief Justice Luttrell was one of those called upon to
give evidence. He urged the desirability of
restraining the defenders of the Pale in their
exaction's, which he feared would soon reduce the Pale
to the same condition as the rest of Ireland, where
obedience to their Prince was only feigned; the
necessity of subduing their nearest enemies, the
Kavanaghs, O'Tooles and O'Byrnes; the danger of
employing Irish soldiers; the advantage of a Lord
Deputy of English birth but with long tenure of
office; and, with reference to the inhabitants of the
Pale, the benefit of making the English dress and
language, as well as knowledge of the use of the bow,
compulsory, of expelling Irish bards and musicians, of
preventing the return of Englishmen to their own
country, and finally, of printing the statutes, a work
only now about to be accomplished.
Some letters from Luttrell written about
this time are still extant; in one of these he refers
to the capture of his relative Aylmer of Lyons, by the
O'Tooles, and says that a ransom will have to be paid
for his release; and in another he mentions the recent
"ruffling time" with O'Neill, and says that
rents will be slowly paid, as the farmers, whose
services saved the Pale from utter destruction, are
all lying out in camps.
In the latter letter the Chief Justice also mentions
the Dissolution of the religious houses, by which he
profited. St. Mary's Abbey had owned from the time of
its foundation the lands of Coolmine, in Clonsilla
parish, and in addition had obtained in the fifteenth
century lands in that parish which had belonged to the
Priory of Little Malvern in England.
Of the latter lands Chief Justice Luttrell was tenant
at the time of the dissolution, and doubtless then
became owner. In addition he received grants of other
monastic property, including some of the possessions
of the Hospital of St. John the Baptist, to which he
had acted as legal adviser.
The estate which he had inherited from his father was
no inconsiderable one, and must have been of material
assistance to him in professional advancement. Of this
we catch a glimpse in the rare and much. prized
goshawk sent by him as a present to Mr. Secretary
Cromwell.
At the time of his death Chief Justice Luttrell was
possessed of much personal as well as real property,
and shortly after his death the Crown applied to his
executors for the loan of what was then a very large
amount of money.
He kept open house in the castle of Luttrellstown, and
entailed on the future owners certain property for the
maintenance of hospitality there, together with the
use of a basin and ewer of silver, a silver gilt salt
cellar and cover, a dozen spoons, and a chain of fine
gold of twenty links - articles of no small value as
is shown by their weight in ounces, which the Chief
Justice sets forth in his will.
His death took place in 1554, and he was
buried according to his directions, "honestly but
without pomp", in Clonsilla Church, which he
directed should be extended sufficiently to admit of a
sepulchre being made for him on the north side of the
new part.
He must have, at any rate outwardly, adopted the
reformed faith, but his belief in its creed did not
prevent his leaving money for the preferment in
marriage of maidens of his kin in the hope of
obtaining salvation for himself and his brother Simon.
Besides providing for the extension of Clonsilla
Church he left money for the repair of the chancel and
also for rebuilding the bridge at Mulhuddart. He left
six sons and three daughters, one of whom was married
to Luke Netterville of Dowth, who became one of the
Justices of the Queen's Bench, and another to Thomas
Dillon of Riverston. Another son, Richard, had
predeceased him, leaving a daughter, for whom the
Chief Justice made provision.
The Chief Justice was succeeded by his eldest son
Christopher, who however survived him only a short
time, and two years after the Chief Justice's death,
in 1556, his second son, James, was in possession of
Luttrellstown.
James
Luttrell died on 1557 and his little son only
lived three years.
On the death of this infant Luttrellstown passed to
the Chief Justice's third son, Simon Luttrell, from
whom the subsequent owners were descended. Of his
three younger brothers the eldest, Robert, settled at
Tankardstown, in the County Meath; the second, John,
who died in 1620 and was buried at Clonsilla, resided
at a place called Killeigh; and the third, Walter,
matriculated in 1572 at Oxford University.
Sources:
Ball, Francis Elrington, "A History of the County Dublin", Volume IV, Chapter 1.
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