Sir Robert Dillon of Riverston (c. 1540 – 1597) was an Irish lawyer, judge, and politician. He came from a family with a distinguished record of judicial service. He pursued a successful career as a judge, which was, however, dogged by accusations of corruption and other serious wrongdoing, of which the worst was that he had falsely condemned Nicholas Nugent, another judge and rival, to death. Sir Robert Dillon, the subject of this article, must not be confused with an earlier Sir Robert Dillon of Newtown (c. 1500 – 1579), his grand-uncle, who was also Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas.
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Birth and origins
Dillon was born about 1540, probably at Riverston, County Meath, the eldest son of Thomas Dillon and his wife, Anne Luttrell. His father was the eldest son of Sir Bartholomew Dillon, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. His father's family comprised many holders of judicial offices and was well-connected. The Dillons were Old English and descended from Sir Henry Dillon who came to Ireland with Prince John in 1185.
His mother was a daughter of Sir Thomas Luttrell, who was Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas.
Dillon must not be confused with his great-uncle Sir Robert Dillon of Newtown (near Trim), although they are easyly confused as both held the same judicial office, and the records of the King's Inns do not always distinguish clearly between them.
Career
Dillon was educated at Lincoln's Inn, London, where he is recorded in 1560. It was here that his lifelong enmity with Nicholas Nugent began: the two Irish law students were reprimanded for brawling by the benchers of the inn, and bound to keep the peace.
His first official appointment came in 1569 when he was made second justice of Connacht, Ireland, serving under Ralph Rokeby, the first Chief Justice of Connacht. In this capacity, he favourably impressed Sir Edward Fitton, the first Lord President of Connaught. When Fitton became Vice-Treasurer of Ireland, he secured Dillon's appointment as Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland. Two other powerful patrons were Adam Loftus, the Archbishop of Dublin, and Robert Weston, the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, who recommended Dillon for appointment as Master of the Rolls in Ireland, partly on account of his staunch adherence to the Church of Ireland. As Fitton's protégé, Dillon was inevitably drawn into the bitter feud that erupted in 1572-3 between Fitton and Sir William FitzWilliam, the Lord Deputy of Ireland. FitzWilliam urged the Queen to detain Dillon in the Fleet Prison, but Elizabeth I took Dillon's side in the dispute, reprimanded FitzWilliam, and persuaded him to resolve his differences with Fitton. Relations between Dillon and FitzWilliam improved in later years.
After years of lobbying for a senior judicial post, involving at least one trip to London, Dillon was, in 1577, made second justice of the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland), serving under his great-uncle Sir Robert Dillon, chief justice of the Common Pleas. On his great-uncle's death in 1580, he expected to be promoted to his place, but the position was given to his rival Nicholas Nugent. Dillon reached his aim eventually in 1581 when Nugent had to resign in the context of the revolt of his nephew William Nugent. Dillon was knighted in November 1581 by Arthur Grey, 14th Baron Grey de Wilton, the Lord Deputy. Nugent's execution in 1582 greatly damaged the reputation of a man who had always been unpopular, and caused the Queen and Lord Burghley to regard him with suspicion.
Meanwhile, Dillon was also willingly involved in the Elizabethan era religious persecution of the strictly illegal and underground Catholic Church in Ireland, even when it also meant harming his own relatives. When Dillon visited Slane Castle, which belonged to Baron Slane his first cousin by his grandmother Ismay, he recognised Archbishop Dermot O'Hurley, who sheltered there. Dillon informed the authorities at Dublin Castle. Lord Slane was immediately summoned by the lord justices, Adam Loftus and Henry Wallop, and, under pain of being charged with high treason, Lord Slane aided in the archbishop's arrest, which led to his execution.
Reputation
Elrington Ball remarks that while Dillon's conduct as a judge was deplorable, he was an eloquent public speaker, and a man of some personal charm and humour.
Marriages and children
Dillon married twice, but neither of his marriages can be dated.
First marriage
He married firstly Eleanor Alan, daughter of Thomas Alen of Kilteel Castle, County Kildare and his wife Mary Rawson, natural daughter of John Rawson, Viscount Clontarf.
Robert and Eleanor had a son:
Richard, who predeceased his father unmarried
—and a daughter:
Mary, married Patrick Segrave of Killeghlan, County Meath, son of Richard Segrave
Second marriage
Dillon married secondly Catherine Sarsfield, daughter of Sir William Sarsfield of Lucan Manor, who had been Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1566, and his wife Mabel FitzGerald.
Robert and Catherine had five sons:
Bartholomew (died 1633), married Catherine, daughter and heiress of Alexander Fitton and his wife Mary Wyse, in about 1595, which made him owner of Bective Abbey. Bartholomew was 24 years old at his father's death.
William
Thomas, father of Arthur Dillon
Michael
Christopher
—and nine daughters of which the eldest:
Eleanor (died 1635), married Richard Aylmer of Dullardstown
Dillon's second wife died in 1615.
Notes and references
Sources
Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Pollard, Albert Frederick (1895). "Dillon, Sir Robert (d. 1597)". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 41. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 312–314.