William Bathe (judge)

[1] He should not be confused with his much younger cousin William Bathe of Drumcondra Castle, who was a Jesuit and noted musicologist.

[2] The Bathes were a long-established family which settled in County Meath, and had several branches in Meath and Dublin: William's branch of the family lived at Athcarne, near Duleek, which William inherited in about 1559; he built Athcarne Castle (which is now a ruin) in 1590.

[3] The Queen and her ministers naturally took offence at these strictures on their Irish government, and regarded those responsible for the book with suspicion; but unlike some of the other students involved, notably Henry Burnell and Richard Netterville, William was never an active opponent of the Crown.

[3] He subsequently became an office holder, and as such was required to swear the usual oath to recognise Queen Elizabeth I as head of the Church of Ireland.

[2] He acted as the judge of assize in Ulster in 1591-2, but shortly afterwards his health declined seriously: it was said that both his judgment and his memory failed, and his work had to be done by colleagues or temporary judges, although he apparently remained on the Bench until his death in 1597.