Thomas Luttrell (Irish judge)

He was also a distinguished lawyer and judge who held the offices of King's Serjeant, Solicitor General for Ireland and Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas.

[2] Like most of the senior judges appointed at this time, he owed his advancement to the patronage of the King's Chief Minister, Thomas Cromwell, although his legal ability was not in doubt.

Luttrell was of great assistance on this mission since (perhaps surprisingly, given his normal attitude to Gaelic culture) he spoke fluent Irish.

When Henry VIII set up a commission, headed by Sir Anthony St. Leger, in 1537 on the governance of Ireland,[2] Luttrell submitted a detailed memorandum on the subject.

He wrote about the danger of trusting Irish soldiers, the need to subdue the neighbouring Gaelic clans, in particular the O'Byrnes and O'Tooles of County Wicklow, the desirability of the Lord Deputy being English, and the necessity for him to serve a lengthy term of office.

He was a very wealthy man, due partly to his acquisition of monastic lands: his will refers to numerous objects of gold and silver, and in 1538 he was able to present Thomas Cromwell with a goshawk, which was always a very rare bird in Ireland, and therefore very prized.

[5] Some of his descendants, notably his grandson and namesake Thomas Luttrell (died 1634), who sat in the Irish House of Commons for County Dublin, were open and politically active Catholics.