Thomas Dillon (judge)

Thomas Dillon (c. 1535 – 1606) was an Irish judge and landowner: his descendants held the title Baron Clonbrock.

He was born at Proudstown, near Navan, County Meath. He was a grandson of Gerald Dillon, whose elder brother Sir Richard Dillon founded the senior branch of the family which held the title Earl of Roscommon. Thomas's father, another Richard Dillon, was a High Court judge.

He entered the Inner Temple in 1559. Having been called to the Bar he briefly held office as justice of Wexford, then practiced on the Connacht circuit. He became Chief Justice of Connacht in 1577 in which office he gained a reputation for integrity, and was suggested as a possible Lord Chief Justice of Ireland in 1582.

In 1593, despite the general understanding that a provincial Chief Justiceship should not be combined with a seat on the High Court Bench, he became a justice of the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland). He continued to spend most of his time in Connacht, but in 1596 he clashed with his formidable superior, Sir Richard Bingham, the Lord President of Connaught, and was committed to Dublin Castle as a result. He was restored to favour the following year, after Bingham himself suffered temporary disgrace and fled to England. He lived mainly at Curraghboy, County Roscommon, and suffered serious damage to his property during the Nine Years War. He died in 1606 and was buried in Dublin.

He married Alice Shaen, sister of Sir Francis Shaen, ancestor of the Shaen Baronets. They had at least one son Robert (died 1628). Thomas's last direct male descendant Robert Dillon, 5th Baron Clonbrock, died in 1926.

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