Darcy, Patrick

Darcy, Patrick (1598–1668), a Galway Catholic, the most important constitutional lawyer of the 17th century. Educated at the Middle Temple in London, Darcy established a lucrative practice representing a wide range of clients, including the earls of Clanricard, Ormond, and Cork (see boyle). Blooded politically in Wentworth's parliament, he became a formidable opponent of the lord deputy as a legal representative and political agent of Galway landowners threatened with confiscation. Imprisonment and debarral ended his campaign.

In the tumultuous 1641 parliament Darcy presented a detailed treatise, known as the ‘Argument’, defending the legislative independence of the Irish parliament. After the rising of 1641 he tried to keep the parliament in being; when the Dublin government prorogued it, he suggested the Confederate Catholic model and subsequently helped draft its constitution. The confederation published his Argument in 1643 and a Declaration along similar lines in 1644. Serving on the confederate supreme council and in the peace negotiations with Ormond, Darcy proved a moderate conciliator. He survived Cromwellian rule to resume his legal career but not his lands. William Molyneux, and later the American colonists, used Darcy's writings to advocate the rights of colonial legislatures vis‐à‐vis Westminster.

Hiram Morgan