Garrett Dillon

Garrett (or Gerald) Dillon (c.1640-c.1696) was an Irish judge, politician and soldier, who held the office of Recorder of Dublin. He is mainly remembered today as one of the signatories of the Treaty of Limerick, which he helped to negotiate.

Background

He was born in County Westmeath, the son of Theobald Dillon of Portlick Castle and his wife Marcella Browne. Theobald was the son of Garrett Dillon of Feamore, County Mayo, who was a cousin of Theobald Dillon, 1st Viscount Dillon. The younger Garrett inherited both Feamore and Portlick, and acquired other estates in Westmeath and Mayo: all his estates were forfeited in the 1690s, but his eldest son Theobald recovered at least a portion of them.

Career

He entered Gray's Inn in 1669, and was called to the Irish Bar in 1674. The Roman Catholic King James II of England, who succeeded to the throne in 1685, adopted a policy of appointing as many Catholics as possible to high office. Dillon was described as a "furious Catholic" and was therefore in favour with the King. His rise to high office was rapid: he became King's Counsel and Recorder of Dublin in 1685, and Prime Serjeant in 1687. In the so-called Patriot Parliament of 1689 he sat in the Irish House of Commons as member for Mullingar. On the outbreak of the Williamite War in Ireland, he entered the military service on King James's side and was made a colonel.

The Treaty of Limerick and afterwards

After the defeat of the Jacobite cause, the new King William III of England was anxious to conciliate as many of his former enemies as possible. The result was the Treaty of Limerick, which was strictly speaking two treaties, military and civil. Dillon (who had been dismissed from all his offices) was one of the three lawyers, along with John Brown and Sir Toby Butler, who negotiated the civil articles on behalf of the defeated Jacobite side, although Butler is said to have done most of the work.

The Treaty articles were signed by Dillon and his colleagues on 3 October 1691: the terms were surprisingly generous to the defeated side. In particular the Treaty provided that those Jacobites who swore an oath of loyalty to the new regime who be permitted to retain their lands. Unfortunately for the Jacobites, the Parliament of Ireland was not prepared to abide by the terms of the Treaty, which it regarded as far too generous to the Jacobites. Life for Catholics who had supported King James became increasingly difficult: while his co-signatories, Butler and Brown, were left in peace, Dillon was proscribed and left the country. He joined King James in France, and became a colonel in his regiment in 1693. He died a few years later, greatly mourned, according to Burke, as a man of "integrity, eloquence, learning and worth".

Family

Dillon married firstly in 1677, Susanna Clifford, daughter of Thomas Clifford, and widow of Sir Edward Crofton, first of the Crofton Baronets of the Mote, County Roscommon (who had died in 1675). They had no children, although Susanna had at least one son, Edward, from her first marriage, who succeeded his father as second Baronet.

Sir Edward and his stepfather were political, and perhaps also personal enemies, and Susanna's death sometime before 1689 probably broke any close family tie between the two men. Edward was a convinced supporter of the Glorious Revolution, and for that reason the Patriot Parliament, of which Dillon was a prominent member, attainted his stepson. After the downfall of the Jacobite cause, Edward quickly recovered his lands and had a successful political career. There is no reason to think that he made any move to help his stepfather, nor perhaps could Dillon, after his own conduct in the Patriot Parliament, have expected him to.

Dillon married secondly, before 1690, Mary Hamilton, younger daughter of George Hamilton, 4th Baron Hamilton of Strabane and his wife Elizabeth Fagan, by whom he had several children, including Theobald, his heir.

References

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