Thomas Cusack (Irish judge)
An earlier John Cusack is recorded at Cushinstown in the 1380s: his daughter married Peter Hussey, Baron Galtrim.
[4] Despite his use of bribery to gain office, Cusack was highly regarded as a judge: O'Flanagan[5] praises his practical common sense, his ability to discern the truth of any case and his minute attention to detail.
His opening speech to the Commons as Speaker was an eloquent defence of royal policy, and in particular of the breach with the Papacy and the suppression of the monasteries.
True to his reputation for impartiality, he urged that the Old Irish be treated as subjects of the Crown, not its enemies and that they be given the full benefits of English common law.
He was appointed High Sheriff of Meath in 1543 and raised troops in that county for service abroad; he also assisted in the defence of the Pale in 1548.
[4] His duties were executive as well as judicial and he was sent to impose martial law in Connaught, a task in which he showed considerable severity.
With Sir Anthony St. Leger, the strong-minded and turbulent Lord Deputy, Cusack (unlike many of his colleagues) was always on friendly terms.
Although Cusack was a supporter of the Reformation, and a notorious profiteer from the sale of monasteries, the devoutly Roman Catholic Queen Mary I on her accession showed him no ill-will on account of his religious beliefs.
[4] She may have been aware that Cusack himself had leanings towards the Catholic faith, as did several of his children and grandchildren (though not his eldest son Robert, who was a convinced Protestant).
[6] He was superseded as Lord Chancellor in 1555, following his quarrel with the Queen, which also led to a brief spell in the Tower of London, a heavy fine and his temporary disgrace.
Relations with Elizabeth soured, as she became increasingly sceptical about his policy of conciliation, and in the last two years of his life, he took little part in public affairs.
A memorial to Cusack and his second wife Maud Darcy was raised in Trevet Church (now a ruin) by his son John, who reputedly carved it, and it still exists in a fragmentary form.
O'Flanagan's claim that Cusack led a simple domestic life hardly gives a full or accurate picture of his decidedly troubled marital career.
In later years Cusack was accused of inciting his servants to adultery with Joan to give him grounds for divorce, although this is probably untrue.
[12] Joan remarried into the prominent Bathe family of Drumcondra, Dublin and was still living in 1581; Thomas, perhaps in a belated acknowledgement of her rights, left her a small legacy.
Though it was clearly not a love marriage (Jenet showed a keen interest in securing as much of the Cusack family property as possible, while her husband needed her money to pay off his heavy debts) it seems to have been reasonably happy.
However a bitter feud developed between Jenet and her stepson Edward, and Thomas' will, which left Lismullen Abbey to his widow, led to years of litigation between the two.
Despite his somewhat troubled private life, his willingness to acquire monastic lands, his use of bribery to gain office, and one allegation early in his career of embezzlement of Crown funds, Thomas Cusack is generally judged to have been one of the finest public servants of his time.
