John Drake

John Drake (died c. 1433) 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 July 1402.

Background 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, Devon. Sir Francis Drake is sometimes 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 may have been the John Drake who held the same office in 1422 (although some sources say that he had retired into private life by then). Matilda (or Maud) Drake, who married the eminent judge Sir Christopher Bernevall, was also a close relative, possibly a sister, of John. He married Isabella, widow of John Buckland.

He became a merchant in Dublin, and traded with Gascony in corn and wine. He was one of the two bailiffs of Dublin in 1482–83.

He became a substantial landowner in the Donnybrook region of south Dublin, and also held lands at Simmonscourt, now Ballsbridge. His wife died about 1419; John himself may have lived until 1433. In 1422 and again in 1425 he paid for the saying of mass by the monks of Holy Trinity Church for the souls of himself, his parents, his wife Isabella, and her first husband John Buckland. He was a generous benefactor of Holy Trinity, and granted the monks there his lands at Simmonscourt. He is buried in Christchurch Cathedral, Dublin.

Reputation Although he was a hero to the people of Dublin, Drake was regarded in quite a different light by the O'Byrnes, who maintained that the "battle" at Bloody Bank was actually an unprovoked massacre, since they had not attacked nor intended to attack Dublin (although what else they meant to do with such a large army was never made clear). They did not forget or forgive him: a much later ballad composed by an O'Byrne descendant referred bitterly to Drake as the general who slaughtered hundreds of innocents at the Dargle. The balance of the evidence however is that Drake, though he could be impetuous and violent at times, acted on that occasion in accordance with his duty to keep Dublin safe from attack.