Richard Plunkett (c.1340-1393) was an eminent Irish judge and statesman of the fourteenth century, who held the offices ofLord Chief Justice of Ireland andLord Chancellor of Ireland. His descendants held the titlesBaron Dunsany,Baron Killeen andEarl of Fingall.
He was born about 1340, the son of John Plunkett of Rathregan (or Rathgreen),County Meath and Alicia d'Arcy (or Alicia de Trim).[1] The Plunketts were a long-establishedAnglo-Irish family ofthe Pale, who originally settled atBeaulieu inCounty Louth about 1200: his mother Alicia is also described as being "of Beaulieu". Another branch of the family, descendants of Richard's brother, another John, later held the titleBaron Louth.[2]
He was considered to be one of the best lawyers of his generation, and was appointedKing's Serjeant in 1372.[3] He was already sufficiently well respected by 1364 to form part of the powerfuldelegation sent to England to describe the state of the Irish government and to complain to KingEdward III about thecorruption andmaladministration of certain officials of the Crown in Ireland; the complaints were directed in particular againstThomas de Burley, theLord Chancellor of Ireland.[4] Richard sat on aRoyal Commission which was set up to examine and remedy the abuses complained of.[4] He was also a notedParliamentarian; he sat in theIrish House of Commons and took a leading part in theKilkennyParliament of 1374. He was a member of thePrivy Council of Ireland and attended several meetings of theGreat Council.[5] He became a judge of theIrish Court of Common Pleas in 1376. In 1381 he was appointed to try an action fornovel disseisin against Richard Dowdall and his wife Isabella. In July 1388 he was promoted to Chief Justice of the King's Bench, on the same terms enjoyed byJohn Keppock,[6] and the following September he was made Lord Chancellor.[7] He had already been acting as Chancellor for some months, due to the pressure of business on his predecessor, and was specially authorized to seal Court writs without affixing theGreat Seal of Ireland to them.[7] Elrington Ball[3] puts his death around 1389, but O'Flanagan[8] states that he was still alive in 1393, whenRichard Northalis succeeded him as Lord Chancellor.
O'Flanagan[8] calls him one of the most eminent Irishmen of his time, a lawyer of great distinction and equally distinguished for his Parliamentary career.
Richard married Margaret, widow of Robert Burnell, of the leading Anglo-IrishBurnell family ofBalgriffin,County Dublin. They had three children, Christopher, John, and Anne. Christopher was the father of the firstBaron Killeen.[9]
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| Preceded by | Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench for Ireland 1388–1388 | Succeeded by |