John Stephen Dwyer, Esq. (died 1878) was a 19th century Justice of the Peace

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

 from an aristocratic County Tipperary

County Tipperary

County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...

 family. He is described in his obituary from the 27 May 1878 Nenagh Guardian

Nenagh Guardian

The Guardian is a weekly local newspaper that circulates in North Tipperary, Ireland. The newspaper is based in Nenagh, County Tipperary but is printed by the Limerick Leader in Limerick...

:

One of our best known local gentry has just paid the debt of nature at the age of 72 years. John Stephen Dwyer, Esq., J.P. Castleconnell

Castleconnell

Castleconnell is a scenic village on the banks of the River Shannon, some from Limerick city and within a few minutes walk of the boundaries with counties Clare and Tipperary....

, possessed a rare combination of social and excellent qualities. He was son of John Dwyer, esq., famous as Lord Chancellor Clare

John FitzGibbon, 1st Earl of Clare

John FitzGibbon, 1st Earl of Clare PC , later known as Earl of Clare or Lord Clare, was Attorney-General for Ireland in 1783, then Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1789, in which capacity he was first promoted to the Irish peerage.He was a controversial figure in Irish history, being described...

's Secretary. In his younger days he had a profusion of jet black hair, which gave him the nickname of "Black Jack". Mr Dwyer was in Nenagh

Nenagh

Nenagh is the county town of North Tipperary in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of North Tipperary and in 2011 it had a recorded population of 7,995. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Ormond Lower...

 in 1858 during the North Tipperary Militia Mutiny, and was hit in the ankle by a stray bullet. He was descended from a brother of O'Dwyer, the last chief of Kilnamanagh, whose praises are sung in "Sean O'Duibhir a Gleanna". He was nephew of General Dwyer of Ballyquirke Castle near Borrisokane

Borrisokane

Borrisokane is a town in North Tipperary, Ireland. In 2006 it had a population of approximately 1,145. It is situated on the N52/N65 National secondary road between Nenagh and Portumna and the N52 between Nenagh and Birr. It is close to Lough Derg which is only 12 km to the west. It is a...

. He was a brother of Rev. P. Dwyer, Rector of Drumcliffe

Drumcliffe

Drumcliffe, officially Drumcliff , is a village in County Sligo, Ireland. It is 8 km north of Sligo town on the N15 road between Ben Bulben and the sea.-History:...

, Ennis

Ennis

Ennis is the county town of Clare in Ireland. Situated on the River Fergus, it lies north of Limerick and south of Galway. Its name is a shortening of the original ....

, who is writing a history of the Diocese of Killaloe

Diocese of Killaloe

The Diocese of Killaloe may refer either to a Roman Catholic or a Church of Ireland diocese, in Ireland.-Roman Catholic diocese:The Diocese of Killaloe is the second largest Roman Catholic diocese in Ireland....

.

This branch of the family is mentioned by Sir Michael O'Dwyer, in The O'Dwyers of Kilnamanagh, "Chapter XIX - The O'Dwyers in Ireland, 1691-1803", but he says the O'Dwyer genealogies are lost and specific lines of descent from the chiefs are speculative.