Thomas Rochfort was a distinguished Irish judge and cleric who held the offices of Solicitor General for Ireland, Master of the Rolls in Ireland

Master of the Rolls in Ireland

The office of Master of the Rolls in Ireland originated in the office of the keeper of the Rolls in the Irish Chancery and became an office granted by letters patent in 1333. It was abolished in 1924....

, and Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin

St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin

Saint Patrick's Cathedral , or more formally, the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Patrick is a cathedral of the Church of Ireland in Dublin, Ireland which was founded in 1191. The Church has designated it as The National Cathedral of Ireland...

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He was born at Killadoon, near Celbridge

Celbridge

Celbridge is a town and townland on the River Liffey in County Kildare, Ireland. It is west of Dublin. As a town within the Dublin Metropolitan Area and the Greater Dublin Area, it is located at the intersection of the R403 and R405 regional roads....

, County Kildare

County Kildare

County Kildare is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county...

, second son of Roger Rochfort, Lord of the Manor of Killadoon, and Catherine Read. The Rochfort family had come to Ireland around 1243; Roger was descended from Sir Milo de Rochfort,who held lands in Kildare in 1309. Roger's elder brother Robert was the ancestor of another distinguished judge Robert Rochfort

Robert Rochfort

Robert Rochfort was attorney-general, judge and speaker of the Irish House of Commons.Rochfort was probably born on 9 December 1652. He was the second son of Lieutenant-Colonel James "Prime-Iron " Rochfort , a Cromwellian soldier, and Thomasina Pigot...

, Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer under Queen Anne

Queen Anne

"Queen Anne" generally refers to Anne, Queen of Great Britain , Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1702, and of Great Britain from 1707.Queen Anne may also refer to:-Uses relating to Queen Anne of Great Britain:...

, whose descendants gained the title Earl of Belvedere

Earl of Belvedere

The title Earl of Belvedere was created in 1756 in the Peerage of Ireland. The associated titles were Baron Bellfield and Viscount Bellfield...

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Little is known of Thomas before 1502, when he became Precentor

Precentor

A precentor is a person who helps facilitate worship. The details vary depending on the religion, denomination, and era in question. The Latin derivation is "præcentor", from cantor, meaning "the one who sings before" ....

 of St. Patrick's Cathedral, and Dean in 1505. Most unusually for a cleric he became Serjeant-at-law

Serjeant-at-law

The Serjeants-at-Law was an order of barristers at the English bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law , or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are writs dating to 1300 which identify them as descended from figures in France prior to the Norman Conquest...

 and Solicitor General in 1511; subsequently he became clerk of the Court of Chancery

Court of Chancery

The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid the slow pace of change and possible harshness of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equity, including trusts, land law, the administration of the estates of...

, and then Master of the Rolls. As often in this period the exact dates he held office are uncertain, but he was certainly Master in 1520, and was superseded the following year. He remained Dean until his death in June 1522.

Hart describes his career as unique in his time in being the only cleric who held judicial office other than as Lord Chancellor.