Stephen Rice

Sir Stephen Rice (1637–1715) was an Irish lawyer and judge, who served as Chief Baron of the Exchequer in Ireland under James II. He was noted for his close political association with Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell and for his legal rulings in support of Catholic land rights in Ireland during his brief tenure.

Early life Rice was born in Dingle, County Kerry in 1637. albeit some older references give his parents as James Rice MP and Phyllis Fanning, part of an Old English Roman Catholic family with large estates in Munster. He became a member of King's Inns in 1674. By 1678 he had established a private practice of some size and counted many Catholic and Protestant landowners, such as Lord Bourke and Sir Donough O'Brien, 1st Baronet, among his clients.

Judge under James II Following the accession of James II in 1685, Catholic lawyers were gradually appointed to the Irish bench, with an accompanying dispensation from taking the Oath of Supremacy. Rice was made a privy councillor in May along with Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, Thomas Nugent, Sir Richard Nagle, Justin MacCarthy, and Richard Hamilton. He first sat as a judge at the beginning of June and afterwards went to the Leinster circuit.