Alan Brodrick, 1st Viscount Midleton

Alan Brodrick, 1st Viscount Midleton (c. 1656 – 29 August 1728) was an Irish lawyer and politician.

He was the second son of Sir St John Brodrick of Ballyannan, near Midleton in County Cork, who had had received large land grants during the Protectorate. The family thus had much to lose if the land issue in Ireland was settled to the satisfaction of dispossessed Catholics.

He was educated at Magdalen College and the Middle Temple, being called to the English bar in 1678. Brodrick and his relatives fled Ireland during the Glorious Revolution. They were attainted under the rule of King James II in Ireland. In exile in England, Brodrick argued for a speedy reconquest.

In 1690 he returned to Dublin and was given the legal office of Second Serjeant. He also became Recorder of Cork. As a prominent Whig supporter of the outcome of the Glorious Revolution he was not always in agreement with court policies in Ireland, which he considered too lenient on the Jacobites. Despite this he often held Irish government offices and aspired to manage the Irish Parliament for English ministers. He represented Cork in the Irish Parliament, which met in 1692. He was a vocal opponent of court policies, until a new Whig Lord Deputy of Ireland decided to appoint him Solicitor-General for Ireland. He promoted penal laws against Catholics, whilst also supporting greater powers for the Irish Parliament.

He was Speaker of the Irish House of Commons from 21 September 1703. After promoting resolutions critical of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland he lost his post as Solicitor-General in 1704. He was Attorney-General for Ireland 1707–1709. He became Chief Justice of Ireland 1710–1711 and was replaced as Speaker on 19 May 1710, but again held the office in the next Parliament 25 November 1713–1 August 1714. He was appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1714 and was ennobled in the Peerage of Ireland in 1715, as the 1st Baron Brodrick. He was advanced to the rank of 1st Viscount Midleton in 1717.

Midleton feuded with his successor as Speaker William Conolly, as they were rivals to be the leading figure in Irish politics. Despite intrigues in England (where he was Member of the British Parliament for Midhurst 1717–1728), Midleton lost out and resigned as Lord Chancellor in 1725.

He led the opposition in the next session of the Irish Parliament, but then let others take the lead.

References

* "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography"
*Rayment