William Fletcher (Irish judge)

He felt especially strongly about the condition of Ireland in his time, and a highly political address he delivered to a grand jury in 1814 caused much controversy and public comment.

[2] William was educated at Trinity College Dublin, graduating BA in 1770, entered the Middle Temple in 1776, and was called to the Bar in 1778, taking silk in 1795.

This was most notable in his charge to a grand jury in County Wexford at the summer Assizes in 1814, where the jurors were treated to a fiery oration on all the evils afflicting the nation.

The Orange societies, he said "have produced the most mischievous effects... they poison the very fountains of justice, and even magistrates under their influence, have, in too many instances, violated their duty and their oaths".

[2] The younger William married Francesca, youngest daughter of the leading United Irishman, Archibald Hamilton Rowan, and his wife Sarah Dawson, and had issue.