Background
He was born in Kilkenny: the Outlawe or Utlagh family were prominent merchants of the city.
He was born in Kilkenny: the Outlawe or Utlagh family were prominent merchants of the city.
Roger joined the order of the Hospitallers and served with the English army against the Scots, where he is said to have given good service to the Crown. He became Prior of Kilmainham in 1317 or 1318: as such he was entitled to sit in Parliament, where he soon acquired a reputation as an able statesman. He was appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1321 and served till 1325.
Between 1320 and his death in 1341 he frequently acted as Justiciar or Deputy Justiciar.
At the same time he was fully involved in the affairs of the priory of Kilmainham and is said to have done much to increase its revenues. He died at the order"s house in County Limerick, which gave its name to present-day Hospital.
In 1324, while Lord Chancellor, Roger became both personally and politically involved in the In the circumstances the Bishop"s request that the Chancellor should arrest his own family was a strange one. Roger "not so credulous as others, or willing to befriend his relatives" advised that forty days must elapse before an arrest could be made.
When the Bishop resisted persuasion to drop the case he was arrested himself, almost certainly with the Chancellor"s connivance, and imprisoned for seventeen days.
Undeterred by his imprisonment, Ledrede on his release made a second request that Roger arrest the suspects. At the same time he ignored a summons from the Chancellor to appear and justify putting his diocese under an interdict. Despite Roger"s efforts the Bishop persuaded the Justiciar of Ireland, John Darcy, to hold a full trial.
Roger is said to have been present but any efforts he made to secure acquittals were in vain: all the accused were found guilty.
Ledrede now decided to attack the Chancellor himself and in 1328 accused him of heresy. This was a mistake: Roger was a trusted servant of the Crown and generally respected, and no-one except Ledrede believed that he was guilty of anything but a desire to help his family.
Roger sensibly insisted on a full inquiry: a Commission was appointed which invited witnesses to appear and make any charges they wished. Roger celebrated his vindication with a public banquet.
O"Flanagan praises Roger as a man of great learning and ability and a gifted statesman, and notes that despite the attack on his character by Bishop Ledrede, he emerged from the Kilkenny trials with his career undamaged and his reputation even higher than before.
