Patrick Finglas was a leading Irish judge and statesman of the sixteenth century, who was regarded as a mainstay of the English Crown in Ireland. He was also the author of an influential "Breviat", or tract, called Of the Getting of Ireland, and of the Decay of the same, concerning the decline of English power in Ireland. Little is known of his parentage, but Francis Elrington Ball states that he came from a long established family who lived in and took their surname from Finglas, County Dublin. He later held estates at Piercetown, near Dunboyne, County Meath, and at Westphailstown in County Dublin. He was at Lincoln's Inn 1503-6 and became Serjeant in 1509. He was considered one of the ablest lawyers of his time, and also a gifted writer.
He wrote A Breviat of the getting of Ireland, and of the Decaie of the same. An original manuscript of this work is in the Public Records Office It is described in the calendar as "An Historical Dissertation on the Conquest of Ireland, the decay of that land, and measures proposed to remedy the grievances thereof arising from the oppressions of the Irish nobility". The measures proposed included the settlement of the province of Leinster by "English lords and gentlemen", the securing of castles and other strongholds, and more controversially, the suppression of all monasteries, which he regarded as potential centres of rebellion. He did not urge the expulsion of the native Irish people, arguing that they would be a useful element in society if properly governed. The "Breviat" probably built on an earlier treatise, "The Decay of Ireland", by Sir William Darcy, the long-serving Vice-Treasurer of Ireland. Finglas was regarded by the English Crown as one of the principal supporters of English rule in Ireland; in 1520 the Lord Deputy of Ireland, the Earl of Surrey, praised him to Cardinal Wolsey as one of "the best willed and most diligent to do the King's Grace true and faithful service of all the learned men of this land."
Family
He married Isabella Golding, daughter of Robert Golding of Churchtown, Dublin. They had at least three children: Thomas, Patrick and Genet. Thomas in 1532 was described as "capite" of Westphailstown, and was given permission to make a sub-lease of his lands to the Rector of Howth. He married Anne Cusack, daughter of John Cusack of Cussington, and sister of Sir Thomas Cusack, later Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and had issue. Genet married Sir Thomas Fitzwilliam and had four children, including Richard, the eldest son and heir. Their grandchildren included Thomas FitzWilliam, 1st Viscount FitzWilliam. Later descendants included a second Genet Finglas, who married firstly John Bathe, Attorney General for Ireland, secondly the distinguished soldier Sir William Warren, and thirdly Terence O'Dempsey, 1st Viscount Clanmalier. She was the daughter of Patrick Finglas of Westphailstown, who was probably the younger son of the judge.
