Peter Martyn

Peter Martyn (born after 1630, died after 1690) was an Irish barrister, landowner and judge. He was one of the Roman Catholic judges appointed to the Irish Bench by King James II, as part of James's policy of creating an exclusively Catholic Irish administration. After the downfall of James' cause at the Battle of the Boyne he was accused of attempting to ingratiate himself with the new regime, but soon afterwards he was attainted. He later fled the country and died in exile.

Background He was born in Kinvara, County Galway, the second son of Richard Óge Martyn (died 1648) of Dunguaire Castle and his wife Magdalen French. later Richard was a key figure in Confederate Ireland. His eldest son Oliver Óge Martyn, despite his father's dubious loyalty to the Crown, was able to hold on to the family estates; unlike his brother Peter, he was never attainted, apparently due to the high regard felt for him by his neighbours.

Career

In the general atmosphere of religious toleration which followed the Restoration of Charles II (since both the King and his brother and heir James were known to incline to the Roman Catholic faith) Peter's cousin Patrick Darcy was able to resume his legal practice and may have encouraged Peter to follow him to the Irish Bar. Peter entered Middle Temple in 1663 and the King's Inn in 1673, and was on the Connaught Circuit in 1683.

Burke, writing in 1885, described Martyn as a "great humourist" of whom many stories were still being told, but apparently, he did not think any of the stories memorable enough to repeat.