210 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



Till the coming of Eichard II to Ireland the majority of Chief Governors 

 were styled Justiciars ; but from that time they were mostly King's 

 Lieutenants, and generally exercised their oiSce by deputy. 



(c) Gustos. 



This term or style is involved in a certain amount of obscurity, and I 

 must be pardoned if I dwell on it at some length. 



The Chief Governor was invested with the custody of the laud and its 

 castles as well as with the office of Justiciar. When the Chief Governor 

 was a King's Lieutenant or a Justiciar, he held the custody of the land ; but 

 when they were both acting together, it was always the former who held 

 such custody. The custody of the laud was the matter of most importance, 

 and was consequently given to the higher official ; but somebody had to hold 

 it. When in 1331 "William de Burgh was King's Lieutenant, acting with 

 Antony de Lucy as Justiciar, and was recalled to England, the custody of the 

 land was handed over to de Lucy by the King. To prevent the land being 

 left without a custodian, it was enacted by the Statute FitzEmpress (recited 

 in the Act 2-3 Eic. Ill, c. 8) that in the case of the office of Chief Governor 

 being void through death, surrender, or departure of a Chief Governor or his 

 Deputy, the Council should appoint someone in his place to hold the land till 

 the King should think fit either to confirm the appointment or choose 

 someone else to fill the post. 



'i'his officer was called the " Custos," because he had the custody of the 

 land ; but he was also nominated to exercise the office of Justiciar. 



Out of the fifteen cases of appointment of a Custos which I have found, 

 eight of them were by the Council on the death or departure of a Chief 

 Governor, and are easily understood under the above statute. They resemble 

 the appointment of a Custos over the temporalities of a See on the death of a 

 Bishop. Five appointments of a Custos were made by the King ; and in 

 four of these cases they were of a temporary nature and of short duration ; 

 but the fifth, that of Thomas de Charlton, Bishop of Hereford in 1338, lasted 

 for nearly two years ; and the only reason I can think of as to why the King 

 only appointed him a Custos instead of making him a Justiciar is that he 

 only intended the appointment to be temporary, but tliat circumstances 

 prevented him making a permanent appointment sooner than he did. The 

 remaining cases, those of Edmund le Botiller in 1304-5 and 1312-14, 

 present a difficulty. Wliy was Edmund le Botiller appointed Custos in 1304 

 instead of Deputy, as Wogan remained Justiciar all the tirae, and writs were 

 directed to him as such to try certain cases, which were tried by Botiller in 

 his absence ? The same difficulty meets us in his appointment as Custos 



