John Fitzgeoffrey

John FitzGeoffrey, Lord of Shere and Justiciar of Ireland (1205? – 23 November 1258) was an English nobleman and Crown official. John FitzGeoffrey was born in Shere, Surrey, son of Geoffrey Fitz Peter, 1st Earl of Essex and Aveline de Clare, daughter of Roger de Clare, 2nd Earl of Hertford and his wife, Maud de Saint-Hilaire. Justiciar of Ireland He was appointed Justiciar of Ireland, serving from 1245 to 1255. He proved to be a strong, energetic and capable viceroy. The fact that an unusual number of Anglo-Norman lordships at the time were held by minors gave him an opportunity to assert the royal authority more forcefully than previous viceroys, especially in Ulster and Connacht. His interest in Irish affairs was no doubt partly due to his own large landholdings in Ireland, acquired by his marriage to Isabel Bigod, whose mother Maud Marshal was a great Anglo-Irish heiress. He held an assize in Ulster in 1247–8, during which he reorganised the government of the province. He built a bridge over the River Bann at Coleraine, and a fort nearby. He was determined to subdue the powerful Northern Uí Néill dynasties and had some success in doing so.