John Blennerhassett (judge)

Sir John Blennerhassett (c.1560-1624) was an English-born judge and politician who became Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer and sat in the Irish House of Commons as MP for Belfast. He was a member of a prominent Norfolk family which acquired large estates in Ireland, mainly in County Fermanagh. The Blennerhasett family also has a long and enduring connection with County Kerry.

He was born at Pockthorpe, near Lyng, Norfolk, a younger son of William Blennerhassett; from his approximate date of birth he must have been the child of William's second marriage to Alice Sylsby. His father, who also held lands at Horsford, was a substantial landowner and magistrate, noted for his "Godly zeal" and extreme Puritan views. John's brothers Edward and Thomas played a key part in the Plantation of Ulster and were granted large estates in Fermanagh. Robert Blennerhassett, the founder of the Blennerhassett family of Ballyseedy, County Kerry, was a cousin, as was the elder John Blennerhassett, who was member of Parliament for Norwich in 1571.

He studied law at Furnivall's Inn, then entered Lincoln's Inn in 1583, and was called to the Bar in 1591. In 1609 he became a Bencher of Lincoln's Inn and in the same year he was sent to Ireland as an extra Baron of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland), due to the alleged infirmity of the existing Barons; he ranked in seniority directly after the Chief Baron. He became a member of the King's Inn and Treasurer in 1611, and had a chamber in the Inn. He was knighted by James I at Hampton Court in 1609. He had a name for being a "good servant of the Crown" and sat as MP for Belfast in the only Irish Parliament of the reign. He was a Commissioner for the Plantation of Wexford. He enjoyed the patronage of Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork and arranged the marriage of Lord Cork's seven-year-old daughter Sarah to Thomas Moore, son of Garret Moore, 1st Viscount Moore.

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