Alan Cooke

Alan Cooke (died after 1647) was a distinguished civilian lawyer and politician of the seventeenth century. Born in England, he spent many years in Ireland as the surrogate judge of the Irish Court of Admiralty. He also sat in the Irish House of Commons in two Parliaments, and for a time he was a figure of some political importance. Little is known of his life before 1628. He was always referred to as Dr. Cooke, which suggests that he had a doctorate in civil law. He also had the nickname "Alan Pouke", whose meaning is lost. Judge By 1628 he was in Dublin, acting as surrogate to the Irish Admiralty judge, who was also the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Adam Loftus, 1st Viscount Loftus. The English Crown thought very highly of Cooke, calling him a lawyer "not inferior to any other in his profession of the civil law", and a man who had given "special service to his Majesty" in the Court of Admiralty. It was strongly suggested that he should be made the full-time judge of the Court of Admiralty, rather than remain as deputy to Lord Chancellor Loftus. After Loftus's downfall and disgrace in 1638, the Crown instead left his place in the Court of Admiralty vacant. Cooke on his own petition was appointed the permanent Admiralty judge for the province of Leinster in the same year, a position he held till 1647. He also became a Master in the Court of Chancery (Ireland).