Nehemiah Donnellan (1649–1705)

For other uses, seeNehemiah Donnellan (disambiguation).

Nehemiah Donnellan(1649 – 25 December 1705) was an Irish lawyer andjudge.

Early life

He was the son of SirJames Donnellan,Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas,and grandson ofNehemiah Donnellan,Archbishop of Tuamand Elizabeth O'Donnell. His mother was Sarah Wheeler, daughter ofJonas Wheeler,Bishop of Ossoryand his wife Martha Tucker; Sarah was the widow of Mathew Tyrrell,Mayor of Dublin.

He graduated fromTrinity College Dublinin 1666. Although he had originally intended to become a soldier, he resolved on a legal career instead, and enteredMiddle Templein 1669. He seems to have been an exceptionally unruly student: he was fined for breaking down the doors of the Temple and for gambling at Christmas.

He was called to theIrish Barabout 1672 and became Commissioner of Revenue Appeals in 1677. After theRevolution of 1688he and his mother and his children lived for a time in England.

He was appointedPrime Serjeanton 29 December 1692 and represented the borough ofGalwayin theIrish House of Commonsfrom 1692 to 1693. In 1693 he was madeRecorder of Dublin.

Judge

He was raised to the High Court bench as a Puisne Baron of the IrishCourt of Exchequerin 1695,and on 31 December 1696 was made one of the Commissioners of theGreat Seal of Ireland,pending the appointment ofJohn MethuenasLord Chancellor of Irelandin 1697.He becameChief Baron of the Exchequeron 27 December 1703, holding the office until his death.His elevation to the Bench was said to be part of an effort to remove judges who were suspected ofToryor pro-Catholic views; but it is surprising that Donnellan, who was a descendant of an Old Irish,Gaelic-speaking family which had severalRoman Catholicmembers, was not suspected of Catholic sympathies himself.As regards his political beliefs, Ball suggests rather cynically that he had found it expedient to change them, and that he was no more convinced aWhigthan he had been a Tory.

In 1698 the Irish-born writer and publisherJohn Dunton,on a visit to Dublin, gave a favourable verdict on the Irish judiciary, including Donnellan: "men whose reputation is such that no one complains of them".

Family

He married twice; little is known of his first wife, who died before 1688, leaving one surviving son, James, and a daughter.He remarried Martha Ussher, daughter of Christopher Ussher, who outlived him by many years (they are said to have become estranged), and married secondly Phillip Perceval, brother of the 1stEarl of Egmont.Nehemiah and Martha had two sons, Nehemiah, MP forCounty Tipperary,and Christopher, and two daughters, Katherine andAnne(died 1762).

His daughter Anne is remembered today as the friend of the leading Irish writers of her time, and for founding the Donnellan Lectures at Trinity College Dublin.

Her sister Katherine marriedRobert Clayton,Bishop of Cork and Ross.The artist and letter-writerMary Delaneywrote an unflattering sketch of Katherine as "giving herself the airs of a Queen" after her husband was made a bishop. She may well have come to regret his promotion, as his religious opinions were so unorthodox as to raise doubts as to whether he was aChristianat all.Horace Walpolesaid unkindly that Clayton's writings seemed calculated to destroy anyone's Christian faith, and it seems that only his sudden death in 1758 averted an inquiry by his fellow bishops into charges ofheresyagainst him.

Portrait of Robert Clayton, Bishop of Cork and Ross, and his wife Katherine, daughter of Nehemiah Donnellan

References

• Ball, Francis Elrington (1926).The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921.London: John Murray.
• Joseph Haydn and Horace Ockerby,The Book of Dignities,3rd edition, London 1894 (reprinted Bath 1969)
• Gerard, FrancesPicturesque Dublin Old and NewHutchinson and Co London 1898
• Kenny, ColumKings' Inns and the Kingdom of IrelandIrish Academic Press Dublin 1992
• Horace WalpoleMemoirs and PortraitsB.T. Batsford Ltd. London 1963
• leighrayment^[usurped]
• http:// ballyd /history/baron.html