Wood — The Court of Castle Chamber or Star Chamber of Ireland. 155 



were made for their diligence in the Castle Chamber. 1 In 1566 the new 

 Lord Deputy, Sir H. Sydney, wrote to Cecil that the Earl of Sussex had been 

 of opinion that no great effect had followed the erection of the Court, yet 

 " Nevertheless I finde y* a Court y s necessary and of a great consequence 

 here, as I must both allowe and greatly cofftend the erection, and also desier 

 you that y 4 may be furder established by sending me hither the orders of 

 the Starre Chamber, especially that which is to be observed by the Gierke 

 and the order of the processes and the forme of the seal thereunto belonging 

 together w 4 such authority as the Clerke hath there for the accepting of 

 recognizances and cancelling of bonds, whereof yf advertisement might 

 cofhence before the next terme, that Court suld be fully established, w ch 

 being yet in his infancy was worth to the Queene this last terme [torn] 

 abought an hundredth pounds." 2 A draft Commission was made out, and 

 corrected and approved of by the Lord Deputy ; but I cannot find any 

 enrolment of the Commission. Such as it was, it was still found to contain 

 some imperfections. For instance, the Privy Council discovered that it gave 

 no authority to the Lord Keeper, in the absence of the Lord Chancellor, to 

 issue decrees or impose fines for offences. Accordingly the Lord Deputy and 

 Privy Council, in 1580-1, applied for a new Commission to remedy the 

 acknowledged defects of the old one. This was issued, and is interesting as 

 being the first Commission for this Court of which we find any enrolment. 3 

 It was directed to the Lord Deputy, Lord Chancellor, Lord Treasurer, Chief 

 Justice of the high bench, the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, Chief Baron 

 of the Exchequer, and the Master of the Polls (of whom the first three were to 

 be of the quorum), " with power to call as associates unto them such and so many 

 of the lords spiritual and temporal and such of our Privy Council or Justices 

 of any our Benches ... as they or any of them . . . shall think meet to sit 

 and join with them." The Court was designated " a particular Court to be 

 holden within our Castle at our City of Dublin or in such other place where 

 the ordinary term shall be kept, in that our realm, and that the same our 

 Court shall be called the Castle Chamber of our said realme of Ireland." It 

 was also laid down that the Court was to sit every Wednesday and Friday 

 during term time. To this Commission was appended a note of all such 

 causes as the Star Chamber at Westminster determined, " with all manner 

 and form of the proceeding as well by process as otherwise." 



We hear of no fresh Commissions during the remainder of the reign of 



1 See Fiants, Elizabeth, Nos. 652-4. 



2 Cal. State Papers (Ireland), 1509-73, p. 290. 



3 Pat. Rolls (Eng.), Eliz. (Misc.) No. 160G. 



