l3KKiiY — Maijors, Provosts^ and Builifn of Dublin^ 1229—1447. 4!) 



mayor for the goveinmeut of the oily of Diililin, who should bear fealty to 

 hhn, and be presented to his Justiciar if the King were not in Ireland. 

 He was to hold office for one year, at the end of which the citizens might 

 retain him or elect another. Elections took place yearly on Micliaelmas 

 Day. To the mayor and his colleagues were addressed all writs and 

 mandates as to matters arising within the city limits, or that concerned the 

 revenues of the Crown in the same. Tlie term " provosts " was applied to 

 the mayor's coadjutors during the period 1229 to 1292, from which date they 

 were called " bailifts." 



The early mayors of Dublin were occasionally called on to perform 

 military duties, and in 1316, it is recorded that discovery having been made 

 that Eichard, Earl of Ulster, was instrumental in bringing Bruce and his 

 Scots into Ireland, Eobert de Nottingham, then mayor, with a number of the 

 commons, marched to St. Mary's Abbey, where the Earl was, and they 

 arrested and imprisoned him in the castle of Dublin, where he was kept in 

 close confinement until 1317. In 1402 John Drake, mayor, with a body of 

 citizens, marched out of Dublin against the O'Birnes and other Irish rebels, 

 of whom they are reported to have slain a large number. In 1419, the then 

 mayor, Thomas Gusake, marched with the lord lieutenant to the county 

 of Wicklow, when Castle Kevin was razed. 



Sir John Gilbert specially instances Geoffrey de IMorton, who served as 

 mayor in 1303-4, as exemplifying the energy, activity, and independent 

 movement of traders among the Anglo-Norman settlers here in the early 

 part of the fourteenth century. He was ship-owner, purveyor to Edward I 

 and II, and a collector of murage ; ho also traded to England, Scotland, 

 Ireland, and France. In consideration of then- important services rendered 

 to the Crown, King Henry the Fourth, in 1407, granted to the mayor of 

 Dublin and his successors that they might have a gilded sword borne before 

 them as the mayors of Loudon had. Some particulars gleaned from the 

 ancient deeds already mentioned, with regard to certain of the mayors and 

 bailiffs named in the list, will be found in Notes at the end. 



It is remarkable that so many of the mayors were re-elected, some of 

 them frequently. To Thomas Cusake belongs the honour of headhig the list, 

 as he held the mayoralty on nineteen occasions. His term extended from 

 1390 to 1430, so that he must have reached an advanced age during his later 

 tenures of the post. John le Seriaimt comes next with ten years of oHice 

 (between 1341-1356), and he was elected six consecutive years. John le 

 AVarre follows with eight years, while another John le Seriaunt (who served 

 between 1294 and 1312), and Eobert de Nottingham, were mayors seven 

 times. John le Decer held office six times, and some of the others are found 



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