John Drake (Mayor of Dublin)

John Drake (died after 1422) was one of the most celebrated medieval Mayors of Dublin. He was acclaimed by his fellow Dubliners as a hero for his decisive victory over the O'Byrne clan of County Wicklow at the Battle of Bloody Bank in 1402.

He was a member of the prominent Drake family of Drakerath, County Meath, who were a junior branch of the wealthy English landowning Drake family of Ash, Musbury, Devon. (Sir Francis Drake is said to have belonged to another branch of the same family, although this has been disputed). John was a close relative, possibly a son, of Richard Drake of Drakerath, who was High Sheriff of Meath in 1385, and he was probably the John Drake who held the same office in 1422. Matilda (or Maud) Drake, who married the eminent judge Sir Christopher Bernevall, was a close relative, possibly a sister, of John.

Drake was elected Mayor of Dublin for his first term in 1401. In the summer of the following year the O'Byrnes, who periodically raided Dublin, moved a large force of mercenaries to the banks of the River Dargle at Bray in County Wicklow, about twelve miles south of Dublin. There they remained for some days, being apparently uncertain how to proceed. This fatal hesitation gave the Walsh family, who owned nearby Carrickmines Castle, a chance to warn the Dubliners of the impending raid.

Drake, who seems to have been given sole power to deal with the emergency, acted quickly and decisively: he assembled a large and well-armed force of Dublin citizenry, assisted by the fighting monks of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, which fell on the mercenary camp at the Dargle and defeated them with heavy loss of life. The casualties on the O'Byrne side were so high - one estimate puts the death toll on their side at 4000- that the area became known as Bloody Bank, and was so called until the nineteenth century. The outcome of the battle did much to enhance the security of Dublin and the Pale, while it greatly weakened the power of the O'Byrnes, who were forced to acknowledge the authority of the English Crown, and to surrender the key fortress of Newcastle MacKynegan, near present day Newcastle, County Wicklow.

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