Michael Ward (Irish politician)
Michael Ward (1683 – 21 February 1759) was an Irish politician and judge. He was the second but only surviving son of Bernard Ward of Castle Ward, County Down, and his wife Mary Ward, daughter of Richard Ward of Newport, Shropshire and sister of Michael Ward (died 1681), who was very briefly Bishop of Derry. His father was killed in a duel in 1690, when serving as High Sheriff of Down, by Jocelyn Hamilton of Clanbrassil, who was fatally wounded in return. Michael matriculated from Trinity College Dublin in 1699 and entered the Inner Temple in 1700. He was called to the Irish Bar in 1703. Ward entered the Irish House of Commons for County Down in 1713. In 1715 and 1727, he stood also for Bangor, (both constituencies had long been controlled by his wife's family, the Hamiltons), but chose to sit for Down both times. In the latter year Ward was appointed a Justice of the Court of King's Bench (Ireland), an office he held until 1758, although increasing ill-health made it impossible for him to sit on the Bench in his last years. He transformed Killough into a port and built a road to Castle Ward, the