James Keating

Sir James Keating (died ) was an Irish cleric and statesman of the fifteenth century. He was Prior of the Irish house of the Knights Hospitallers, which was based at Kilmainham, Dublin, and a member of the Privy Council of Ireland.

Despite his political eminence and clerical office, he was a man of ruthless character and violent temper, who once tried to murder a judge, and was later directly responsible for the death of his intended replacement as Prior.

After a long and turbulent career, described by one historian as amounting to "thirty years of outrage, rapine and fraud", he was finally removed from the office of Prior of Kilmainham in 1488 for his treason in supporting the Lambert Simnel Rebellion, and died in poverty a few years later.

Biography

He was born in Bree, County Wexford, to a prominent landowning family who are recorded in County Wexford from about 1250. He was the grandson of Sir Henry Keating, knight. Little is known of his early life. He joined the Order of Knights Hospitallers, of which his family had been generous benefactors, rose rapidly through its ranks and in 1461 became Prior of the Order's Irish house at Kilmainham, in succession to Sir Thomas Talbot, having taken the trouble of travelling to Rhodes in 1459 to canvass support for his appointment from his superiors. The motive for the attack is unknown, although crimes of violence, even among the ruling class, were not uncommon in that era. Twenty years earlier another Irish judge, James Cornwalsh, Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer, had been murdered in the course of a private war over possession of a castle: his killers were later pardoned for the crime. Likewise, when Patrick Segrave was murdered by Patrick White and others in 1455, all the killers were pardoned.

Keating was not, it should be said, the first Prior of Kilmainham to have a reputation for lawlessness: Thomas FitzGerald (reputedly an illegitimate member of the great FitzGerald dynasty), who was removed from office as Prior in 1447, was a notably turbulent and litigious individual, who clashed with James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormonde and with Sir William Welles, the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, whom he was accused of kidnapping. Prior Richard de Wirkeley, in the previous century, was another violent and controversial character who headed the Kilmainham house.

Keating was arrested and arraigned for trial before the Irish Parliament on a number of charges, including attempted murder, but the charges were dropped on condition that he pay Dowdall 100 marks in damages (although it seems that he never did so). Worcester held a Parliament at Drogheda where he proceeded to deal mercilessly with his enemies, including the Earl of Kildare, who fled abroad, and Keating, who was briefly imprisoned and subjected to a heavy fine. Keating by contrast was commended by the victorious Yorkists for his loyalty to their cause. The Lancastrians during their brief restoration had also indirectly strengthened his political position by executing his enemy, Worcester, who was a committed Yorkist and perhaps the most hated man in England.

Though not a founder member, Keating was later elected one of the knights of the Brotherhood of Saint George, the short-lived military order set up in 1470 for the defence of the Pale. In 1471 the Irish Parliament gave him leave to go abroad for two years, for what purpose is unclear. In 1474 he was a party to the charter establishing the Dublin Smith's Guild, one of the earliest of the Guilds of the City of Dublin, and ranked third in precedence. Ironically his lifelong enemy Sir Robert Dowdall was another of the founders.

In 1478 he clashed again with the English Crown when King Edward IV, in an effort to strengthen his control of Ireland, sent Lord Grey of Codnor to Ireland as Lord Lieutenant. The Anglo-Irish nobles, led by the immensely powerful Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare and his father-in-law Baron Portlester, simply refused to recognize his authority: Keating, who had assumed the role of Constable of Dublin Castle, apparently without any legal right to it (Richard Archbold was later described as the "rightful Constable" and had letters patent to prove his appointment) played a key role in these events by refusing Lord Grey entry to the Castle. despite the rival claim of Richard Archbold, on condition that he repair the drawbridge, which he had destroyed to impede Grey's entry. In 1487 Kildare, Portlester, Keating and their allies made the mistake of supporting the claims of the pretender Lambert Simnel, who claimed to be Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, the rightful heir of the House of York. Simnel, whose true origins are something of a mystery, was an imposter, but is known to have borne a striking resemblance to the real Warwick, who was a prisoner in the Tower of London, where he remained until his execution in 1499. Simnel was proclaimed King Edward VI and crowned in Dublin. He invaded England with a large army, only to be crushed at the Battle of Stoke Field.

Keating's ruin and last years Henry VII was remarkably merciful in victory: Simnel himself became a servant in the Royal Household, and almost all of the Anglo-Irish nobility received a royal pardon. The notable exception was Keating, whose record of violence, and defiance both of the Crown and his own superiors made it impossible for the King to trust him. He had unwisely incurred the enmity of Ottaviano de Spinellis, who was now Archbishop of Armagh, over the Lumley affair, and the Archbishop no doubt opposed a pardon for Keating. Sir Richard Edgcumbe, the Crown official sent to Ireland to accept the submission of the Anglo-Irish nobility, chose to regard Keating and Sir Thomas Plunket, the Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas, (who however was eventually pardoned) as the "prime instigators" of the rebellion, although most historians attach more importance to the roles of the Earl of Kildare and his father-in-law Lord Portlester. Despite repeated pleas to Edgcumbe on Keating's behalf, to which Edgcumbe responded with "right sharp words", he was refused a pardon and deprived of the office of Prior once more; he was also deprived of his office as Constable of Dublin Castle, which was restored to Richard Archbold, who had been unlawfully excluded from it for several years. Further a rule was laid down that in future the Prior must always be an Englishman. Showing all his old stubbornness, Keating refused to leave Kilmainham, but was finally ejected in 1491. His last act as Prior was to secure the appointment of his own candidate, James de Valle or Wall, as his successor. He died in poverty, probably in 1494.