Robert Preston, 1st Baron Gormanston

Robert Preston, 1st Baron Gormanston (died 1396) was an Anglo-Irish nobleman, statesman and judge of the fourteenth century. He held several senior judicial offices including, for a brief period, that of Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He was the founder of the leading Anglo-Irish family of Preston whose titles included Viscount Gormanston and Viscount Tara.

He was the son of Roger de Preston (died 1346) and his wife and cousin Maud or Matilda de Preston. His father and uncles were the sons of Adam de Preston, a wealthy merchant from Preston, Lancashire; they came to Ireland before 1320. Roger held several judicial offices including justice of the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland). Robert is first heard of in 1346 when he inherited property in Preston. He followed his father into the legal profession, becoming Irish King's Serjeant about 1348 and Attorney General for Ireland in 1355.

As Law Officer his duties were onerous : in 1357 he was ordered to accompany the Lord Justice of Ireland through Leinster and Munster, and to plead and defend pleas on behalf of the Crown. This assize lasted for almost 6 months, which must have seriously interfered with his private practice, although he received a salary of £29, which was then a very large sum, and his expenses. He became Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas in 1358, and held that office for 20 years.

In 1359-61 the English Crown was faced with a serious rebellion in Leinster led by the O'Byrne clan and the MacMurrough-Kavanaghs. King Edward III appointed his second son Lionel of Antwerp as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland to put down the rebellion, in which he was largely successful. Preston served as his lieutenant in the campaign and received a knighthood. He was created Baron Gormanston between 1365 and 1370. He had already been summoned to the Irish Parliament as Baron Kells, in right of his first wife, Margaret de Bermingham.

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