Introduction
Thomas Cusacke (died c.1496) was an Irish barrister and judge, who held the offices of Attorney General for Ireland and Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. He should not be confused with his much younger cousin Sir Thomas Cusack, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, who was a childof about six when the elder Thomas died.
Elrington Ball states that he belonged to a junior branch of the well-known landowning Cusack family of County Meath. He was thus acousin of John Cusack of Cussington: John was the father of the Lord Chancellor,Sir Thomas Cusack, and ancestor, through his granddaughter Catherine Colley (née Catherine Cusack-Wellesley)of the Duke of Wellington.
Thomas is first heard of in London in 1472, when he wasa law student: he went to London, in his own words: "so as to thoroughly ground himself in the King's law",and hewas given a licence to import grain into Ireland.He wasappointed Attorney General for Irelandin 1480.
Like nearly all the senior Irishjudgesin that erahe was a client of Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare, who was almost all-powerfulin Ireland for more than30 years.Kildare and hisfaction made the mistake of supporting Lambert Simnel,a pretenderto the English Crown, who was decisively defeated at the Battle of Stoke Field in 1487. The victorious King Henry VIIwas merciful to the Irish rebels (as indeed he was to Simnel himself, who became a servantin the Royal household). He issued a royal pardon for the great majority of the rebels, includingCusacke, who became Lord Chief Justice in 1490.
Henry'spolicyof clemency hadits limits, and his strong suspicion that the Anglo-Irishnobility were aiding another pretender to the Throne, Perkin Warbeck, led to Kildare's temporary downfall in 1494. The new Lord Deputy of Ireland, Sir Edward Poynings, undertook a general purge of the Irish judges, including Cusacke who was replaced by the eminent English lawyer Thomas Bowring.
From 1496 onwardsKildare regained much of his influence. Some of his formerallies on the bench returned to office,but no more is heard of Cusacke, which suggests that he had diedsometime between 1494 and 1496.
Sources
- Ball, F. ElringtonThe Judges in Ireland 1221-1921John Murray London 1926
- Longford, ElizabethWellington- the Years of the Sword Weidenfeld & Nicolson London 1969
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Philip Bermingham |
Lord Chief Justice of Ireland 1490–1494 |
Succeeded by Thomas Bowring |