Thomas Kent

Sir Thomas Kent (c. 1460–1511) was an Irish judge who held office as Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer.

He was born in Drogheda, It is unclear if he was related to the Thomas Kent, clerk, who was Deputy to the Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland in 1452.

Kent and Darcy were in Dublin in 1482–3, studying law. The appointment suggests that Kent was a protégé of Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare, who had been restored to favour after a period of disgrace, due to his unsuccessful efforts to place two pretenders on the English throne. Kildare obtained from King Henry VII the right to appoint all Irish judges and law officers except the Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Hart believes that Kent's appointment marks a return to the practice of appointing Irish-born judges, whereas after the Lambert Simnel rebellion, of which Kildare had been the prime instigator, the practice had been to appoint judges of English birth whose loyalty to the Crown could presumably be relied on.

In 1508 he was chosen to be a member of the new Guild of the Fraternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the House of St. Thomas the Martyr. This was one of the Guilds of the City of Dublin, and represented the city's carpenters, millers, masons and tilers.