Roger de Birthorpe

Roger de Birthorpe (c.1280–c.1345) was an English landowner and lawyer who had a distinguished career in Ireland as a judge, becoming Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer in 1327. His career however was marked by violence and controversy: he fled to Ireland after being imprisoned for trespass after a raid on Sempringham Priory, although he was later pardoned for his part in the raid. He was a friend and neighbour of Sir Geoffrey Luttrell of Irnham, who commissioned the Luttrell Psalter.

Family

He was born at Birthorpe in Lincolnshire, the eldest son of John de Birthorpe, Lord of the Manor of Birthorpe. Presumably because he defaulted on the payment, he was imprisoned in Lincoln Castle, from which he escaped. His estate at Birthorpe was forfeited to the Crown, and regranted to Henry de Beaumont. Roger fled to Ireland and was outlawed.

In Ireland

While Roger may well have been minimizing his own part in the Sempringham raid, his account of subsequent events is probably truthful enough. He arrived in Ireland in 1313, very likely to seek the assistance of relatives of Geoffrey Luttrell: the Luttrell family had acquired great influence there since the 1220s (Robert Luttrell was Lord Chancellor of Ireland 1238-1245). He also acquired powerful patrons in the FitzGerald family, headed by John FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Kildare. In 1316, Kildare and other "magnates of Ireland" procured a royal pardon for him, and thereafter his rise to power was rapid. In 1327, the same year he petitioned the King for the restitution of his lands, he became Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer.