John Giffard (judge)

John Giffard (died after 1396) was an English born-lawyer and cleric of the late fourteenth century, who served for a brief time as Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas.

Little is known of his life before 1377, when he appeared in Ireland as a Crown official. He is known to have travelled through Ireland on official business, which took him to Ulster in 1383. He was presented to a living in the diocese of Cloyne in 1382 and to another living at Church Lawford, Warwickshire in 1386.

He was appointed Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland) in 1396 but Elrington Ball tells us that he was removed from office only a few days later, for reasons which are not known.

References

• Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921 John Murray London 1926