[1] He acquired a bad reputation for unscrupulous business methods and corruption: in particular, he was responsible for the murage scandal of 1308 to 1313, in which he misappropriated crucial public funds intended for the defence of the Dublin city walls.
In fairness to Geoffrey, Beresford's conduct may also have been questionable as he was himself imprisoned and removed from office, although his career was not damaged in the long term.
[5] Despite Geoffrey's dubious reputation for commercial honesty this claim may have been genuine: at any rate, it was not rejected outright but referred back to the authorities in Dublin for further discussion.
[6] Geoffrey was apparently undeterred by his imprisonment, or the failure of his lawsuits, and in 1308 he applied to King Edward II for a licence to levy a toll for six years to pay for the murage.
The murage was the tax imposed every year since 1221 for the upkeep of the Dublin city walls, and part of it was earmarked for the repair of Isolde's Tower, the defensive tower situated at one end of Old Dublin Bridge (now Father Mathew Bridge), on present-day Essex Quay[7] which had been damaged by fire.
He promised to make amends for his trespasses, and gave a bond on behalf of himself and his family in the sum of 500 silver marks, as a pledge that he would not trouble the city any further.
There is a report from 1299 of a lawsuit they brought in the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland) before the Chief Justice (Simon de Ludgate) and his colleagues against William Haleghton, Matilda's former bailiff.