Richard Delahide

Richard Delahide (died 1540) was an Irish judge of the sixteenth century, who held the offices of Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas and Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer. His career was seriously damaged by the Rebellion of Silken Thomas, in which several members of his family played a leading part, and he was fortunate to escape permanent disgrace.

Background and early career

He belonged to an Anglo-Irish family which had long been settled at Moyglare, County Meath. Sir Walter de la Hyde (note the different spelling), living in 1415, seems to have been a Crown servant in good standing, to judge by the grants of property made to him. Richard was a cousin of another Sir Walter Delahide, who married Janet FitzEustace, an aunt of Gerald FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Kildare. The FitzGerald family had been almost all-powerful in Irish politics since the 1470s, but the ruling class by the 1520s had split into pro-Kildare (Geraldine) and anti-Kildare factions, the latter being headed by the Earl of Ormond. Given their close family ties, it was natural for Richard to look to the Earl of Kildare to advance his career. On the other hand, another of his cousins, Christopher Delahide, who was a justice of the Court of King's Bench (Ireland) in the 1530s, belonged to the opposing Ormond faction, and publicly denounced the Geraldines' misrule of Ireland. Christopher's appointment was widely seen as a rebuff to the Geraldine faction, who had previously blocked his elevation to the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland).

Though little is known of Richard's legal practice, it was almost certainly on Kildare's nomination that he was appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in 1514; he held that office for 20 years, though he was threatened with removal in 1529, an early indication of the decline of the Geraldines power.