John Brettan

John Brettan or Breton (died after 1382) was an Irish judge and Crown official. Carlow Castle. Carlow was Brettan's hometown, and for a time the effective centre of English rule in Ireland

Career His family name is English: it is generally thought to be derived from Breton, and was occasionally spelt that way. He was born in Carlow town and lived there for most of his life. The three citizens were given a commission of array, to muster the inhabitants of the town and put them in a proper condition for war. The defence of Carlow from raids by the Irish of Leinster was to be a preoccupation of Brettan throughout his career. Whether he had any military training, as commissioners of array usually did, is unclear. The Commission's defence of the town seems to have been successful in the short term, and Carlow suffered no major attack until 1363. However the Courts returned to Dublin in 1393, as Carlow had become as dangerous as Dublin: it was subject to frequent attack by Irish clans, and was burnt on at least three occasions, in 1363, 1376 and 1391-2, with heavy casualties in the 1376 attack. Brettan himself had helped organise the defence of Carlow against a similar threat of attack in 1358. He wrote that he had "continued the pleas of the Court (of Exchequer) in diverse places", and journeyed to the town of Carlow "where the Exchequer was", even in time of war when the other Barons dared not go there. in the recent destruction of the town by the Irish of Leinster. This was a reference to the attack of 1376, in which there were heavy casualties;

Later career – further petitions In 1377 he petitioned for reimbursement of the cost of his horse, whose value he put at 100 shillings. The horse was lost at Youghal, where he had travelled "on the King's business", as he attempted to cross the River Blackwater on his own, apparently because he was unable to pay the toll to the ferryman.

His fourth and fifth surviving petitions to the King and Council in 1381 and 1382 are almost identical in content, except that Thomas Bache, the Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland, and Richard Walsh, Chamberlain of the Exchequer, joined in the 1381 petition. Both state that Brettan in his capacity as Remembrancer had been employed to levy the King's debts in seven counties of Munster and Leinster over a six-month period in 1381-1382, at great expense and labour, without any reward. On foot of the petition of 1381 Brettan and Walsh were awarded £4 (Bache got slightly more). On foot of the petition of 1382, King Richard II, being yet again satisfied by the Council of the truth of his claim, awarded him 40 marks compensation. and held that office until 1386 when he became a Baron for the second time,

Thomas Taillour replaced Brekdene as Remembrancer.