[2] He is known to have been most reluctant to take up this office, probably because it would involve him in heavy expenses, and he did so only after King Richard II issued a warrant commanding de Clay, along with two other leading advocates, John Hill and Sir John Cary,[3] to be admitted to that rank by a specified day.
[2] In 1385 he was sent to Ireland with a large retinue to take up office as Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, to which he was appointed in February.
[4] They were also appointed to a Commission of Oyer and Terminer to deal with all treasons and felonies in Dublin and the Pale.
[6] He had been transferred to the more senior office of Lord Chief Justice of Ireland earlier that year.
[1] He returned to England before 1389, when he was living on his estates in Nottinghamshire; later he is recorded as sitting on a commission of oyer and terminer.