John Burnell

Who is John Burnell?

John Burnell was an Irish judge who held office as Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer.

The Burnell family had been lords of the manor of Balgriffin, County Dublin since the fourteenth century and had acquired the manor of Castleknock through marriage into the Tyrrell family, who held the feudal barony of Castleknock. They had a strong tradition of judicial service; Robert Burnell, who was probably John's great- grandfather,and married the Tyrrell heiress, was a Baron of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland)1388-1413, as was John's cousin Patrick. The judicial tradition was continued by Henry Burnell, Recorder of Dublin.

John was made a Baron of the Court of Exchequer for life in 1478. In 1482 he was appointed Deputy to the Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer, Oliver FitzEustace. Elrington Ball explains that a Deputy was required because Oliver was considered to be mentally deficient, and was unable to speak or understand what was said to him, so that the oath of office could not be administered to him. Oliver was a natural son of the powerful Irish nobleman Rowland FitzEustace, 1st Baron Portlester, who obtained both the position for his son and the right to name a Deputy himself. Burnell was superseded as Deputy in 1487. In 1491 he and Oliver were appointed joint Chief Barons, presumably again due to Portlester's influence, but Burnell seems to have died not long after.