Richard de Ledrede
Richard de Ledrede (died 1360/1361), also known as Richard Ledred, was a 14th-century churchman in Ireland who served as Bishop of Ossory. His long tenure as Bishop was marked by bitter controversies and repeated quarrels with his colleagues, both lay and clerical. Richard was probably born between about 1260 and 1270: a report of c.1356 that he was by that date a centenarian is believed to be an exaggeration. His name is thought to relate to Leatherhead in Surrey, England, but this may be misleading: other evidence suggests a family connection with the county of Somerset . A Franciscan of the Order of Friars Minor, he was Bishop of Ossory from May 1317 until his death in 1360/1361. He was known as a "scourge of heresy and witchcraft", and was a central figure in the Kilkenny Witch Trials of 1324 where among the accused were Alice Kyteler and her servant Petronella de Meath. Petronella was burnt at the stake, but Alice contrived to break out of prison and flee the country, almost certainly with the assistance of her brother-in-law Roger Utlagh (or Outlawe), the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, who had always maintained her innocence. The  two men quarreled bitterly about Ledrede's conduct of the Trials: Roger joined with the Seneschal of Kilkenny, Andrew le Poer, and others in having the Bishop imprisoned for a time, and the Bishop after his release in turn tried unsuccessfully to have Roger tried for heresy. This resulted in a humiliating defeat for Ledrede when a Commission of Inquiry, which included most of the magnates of Ireland, both lay and clerical, declared Roger to be a pious and zealous Christian, and cleared him entirely of any suggestion of heresy. Ledrede's last years seem to have been peaceful enough , and were mainly occupied in making improvements to St Canice's Cathedral. Sixty short Latin hymns by him are preserved in the Red Book of Ossory.