Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Bermingham, Patrick
BERMINGHAM, PATRICK (d. 1532) judge, was a native of Ireland, and succeed to the estates of his brother John in that country in 1483. He was appointed chief justice of the king's bench in Ireland on 2 Dec. 1513 (Pat. 5 Hen. VIII, pt. ii. m. 4), an office which he held until his death. In 1521 his patent of office, which was during pleasure, was renewed, and at the same time he obtained license to leave Ireland when he pleased. In this year he also received a grant of the chancellorship of the green wax of the exchequer in Ireland, in succession to Nicholas St. Lawrence, Lord Howth. In 1520 and following years his signature as one of the council is appended to the letters from the Earl of Surrey and Earl of Ormond, the king's deputies in Ireland; and at a later period (in 1528), when the Earl of Kildare, then deputy, had been sent for to England, and the country was disturbed by the rebellion of the Earl of Desmond and O'Conor, the responsibility of preserving order rested principally with him and Hugh Inge, archbishop of Dublin.
His death must have occurred late in 1532, as both his offices were filled up in January 1533, the judgeship being given to Sir Bartholomew Dillon, and the chancellorship of the green wax to Thomas Cusake. He left one son, William, who married Margaret, the daughter of Thomas St. Lawrence, justice of the King's Bench in Ireland in the reigns of Henry VlII, Edward VI, and Mary.
[Calendar of State Papers of Henry VIII, vols. i. iii. iv. vi.; Lodge's Peerage of Ireland, iii. 188; Pat. 1 Edw. V, m. 7.]