John Wogan

Who is John Wogan?

Sir John Wogan or John de Wogan, styled lord of Picton was a Cambro-Norman judge who served as Justiciar of Ireland from 1295 to 1313.

There are several dubious theories about Wogan's ancestry, and uncertainty exists about his wives, sons, and other relations. He came from Picton in Pembrokeshire and was a vassal of William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke. He came to have lands in Pembrokeshire, Somerset, Dorset, Devon, Wiltshire, and Oxfordshire. He may have represented de Valence at an Irish court case in 1275, and in 1280 he was steward of Wexford, Valence's Irish liberty. He was an eyre in England in 1281–4, and returned to Ireland in 1285. In 1290 he was a referee with Hugh Cressingham in a dispute between queen Eleanor and de Valence and his wife.

In December 1295 he took office as justiciar, and organised a two-year truce between the feuding Burkes and Geraldines. In 1296 he organised a force with Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster, Theobald Butler, and John FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Kildare to assist Edward I in his war against the Scots; the king entertained them at Roxburgh Castle in May.