Octavian De Spinellis

Octavian De Spinellis or Ottaviano de Palatio (died June 1513) was Archbishop of Armagh from 1478 until 1513.

Biography Spinellis was born in Italy, probably in Lombardy. He is said to have been attached to the Curia, and his residence in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican City may have given rise to his alternative surname De Palatio (later Anglicised to Palles). an objection was raised to the appointment of Cormac Mág Shamhradháin because he was illegitimate. This appointment was revoked on 20 October 1480 and Tomás Mac Brádaigh, the Archdeacon of Kilmore, recommended replacing him: his decision was confirmed by Pope Sixtus IV.

Later in the decade, the Archbishop clashed bitterly with the Bishop of Meath, John Payne. Payne had been deeply involved in the attempt to put the pretender Lambert Simnel on the English throne, and had preached the sermon at Simnel's so-called coronation in Dublin. Spinellis and his fellow Archbishop, John Walton of Dublin, made vigorous efforts to free him, even hiring troops, but to no effect. No doubt Spinellis was among those who opposed pardoning Keating for his active role in the Simnel Rebellion. Keating was expelled from the Order House at Kilmainham and died in poverty a few years later.

Spinellis died in office in 1513. He was described as "a man of considerable wisdom and learning". Several of his relatives had accompanied him to Ireland, and settled there. They used the alternative surname De Palatio, which was Anglicised to Palles, and became prosperous landowners in County Cavan. They remained loyal to the Roman Catholic faith, even at the height of the Penal Laws. The most distinguished of the family was Christopher Palles (1831-1920), Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer, who is still often called "the greatest of the Irish judges".