CHIEF GOVERNORS
of these accounts have survived. The earliest is James
de Audley’s, rendered eight years after his death in 1272,
and the fullest is that for John de Sandford, covering his
tenure of the chief governership from 1288 to 1290.
Powers and Responsibilities
The authority vested in the chief governor was delegated
to him by the crown, and he was at all times subject to
the control of the lord of Ireland. However, with this
proviso, his powers were extensive. As commander-in-
chief of the army, head of the civil administration, and
supreme judge, he decided all important matters of pol-
icy in Ireland. One of the most important powers exer-
cised by the chief governors was the right to proclaim
the royal service—to summon the chief magnates to war
in person, or to pay a sum called scutage in order to
provide someone in their place. He also appointed and
dismissed officers of the administration and granted or
withheld pardons for offenses committed against the
crown. The chief governor also exercised the royal right
of purveyance, which enabled him to seize food, goods,
and transport for his household and for war, although
he was expected to pay a fair price to the owners of the
goods. The chief governors had the power to appoint
deputies in their absences. During the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries the justiciars had normally
remained resident in Ireland. However, many of the
fifteenth-century lieutenants remained in England and
acted almost entirely by deputy. Occasionally a resident
chief governor could appoint a deputy to deal with a
specific task or area. In the later fourteenth century the
growing pressures of war and the disorganization of the
administration frequently necessitated the appointment
of deputy chief governors to act for certain districts.
Thus, in 1376 Stephen de Valle was appointed to super-
vise Meath and Munster as the deputy of the chief gov-
ernor, Maurice FitzThomas.
On his travels around the medieval lordship of Ireland,
the justiciar was accompanied by his own law court, of
which he was the chief justice. He was provided with
professional legal services by the itinerant justices, and
from at least as early as 1270 one of these justices
became a full-time official of the justiciar’s court. From
1324 there are references to two justices of the justiciar’s
bench. The work of the court was recorded on the justi-
ciary rolls. After Richard II’s visit to Ireland, the justi-
ciar’s court developed into the court of the King’s Bench.
Some Prominent Chief Governors
It has been traditional to see John Wogan as one of the
ablest and most energetic of chief governors, although
this may be due to the fact that his tenure of office was
lengthy and comparatively well-documented. He was
appointed justiciar in October 1295 and held the office
until June 1308, and again from May 1309 until August- The Justiciary Rolls for the period of his office
have survived in calendared form and bear testimony
to the ceaselessly itinerant nature of the office and the
multiplicity of tasks performed by Wogan. By the end
of Wogan’s tenure the area subject to direct royal gov-
ernment was substantially increased.
Another high-profile chief governor was Thomas de
Rokeby, appointed in July 1349 to succeed Walter de
Bermingham. Rokeby had made his reputation as a
soldier and administrator during the Anglo-Scottish
wars, and his appointment has been seen as marking
a change in royal policy toward Ireland. Rokeby’s
attempts to recover and fortify land by a combination
of warfare and collaboration with marcher and Gaelic
lords were partly successful. In July 1350, a series of
instructions from England required the justiciar to
undertake a general overhaul of the Irish administra-
tion, involving a full examination of the rolls of the
exchequer and other courts and an investigation of
corrupt practices. This enquiry has left no trace of its
results, but appears to have inspired the ordinances
issued at a great council held in Kilkenny in November - These ordinances display the usual preoccupa-
tion with provision for defense and were to be re-
enacted in substance by the Statutes of Kilkenny in - When he died in office in 1357, Rokeby was
praised by the Dublin Annals for having fought the
Irish well and paid for his provisions.
These same Annals some years earlier had dis-
played considerable animosity toward another justi-
ciar, Ralph de Ufford, stating that when he died in
April 1346 there was great rejoicing and the clergy
celebrated Easter with special joy. Ufford, who was
the grandson of Robert de Ufford, justiciar under
Edward I, had married the widow of the earl of Ulster
and had important interests in Ireland in her right. His
tenure saw the swift dismissal of some long-serving
officials of the administration, the temporary destruc-
tion of the power of the earls of Desmond and Kildare,
and the distribution of forfeitures to members of his
own retinue. These actions undoubtedly made him
some enemies, although the Irish Council, writing to
the king shortly after his death, spoke warmly of him.
The names of other chief governors are linked with
scandals, usually financial. Geoffrey de Marisco, for
example, who held the office from 1215 to 1221, was
accused of systematically using the king’s revenues in
Ireland for his own purposes and of defying all attempts
to control his actions and force him to render account.
Similar accusations were made against Stephen de Ful-
borne, justiciar from 1281 to 1288, necessitating a wide-
ranging investigation of his activities in 1284. It was
said that he filled offices only on receipt of a substantial