Goold (Gould), Thomas (1765–1846), lawyer and master of the court of chancery, was born in Cork city, son of John Goold, soldier, of Limerick, and Mary Anne Goold (née Quin). Educated locally, he entered TCD (1781), graduating BA (1786) and MA (1791). Having decided on a career in the law, he entered Lincoln's Inn (1781), and was called to the Irish bar (1791). The death of his father had given him a large inheritance of £10,000, and he was determined to enjoy it. He spent most of it entertaining friends, and on singing, dancing, and fencing lessons. According to popular tradition, he was friendly with leading opposition politicians such as Henry Grattan (qv), William Saurin (qv), and William Plunket (qv), all of whom attended his parties in the 1780s. He was described as ‘the admirable Crichton, flirting for half a day in Sackville Street with all his heart, and then giving half his heart and half his head to study’ (quoted in Elliott, 36). In the roman-à-clef, Belmont Castle, written by Wolfe Tone (qv) and his friends in 1788, he is caricatured as foppish, rich, and irresponsible. Embarking on the grand tour in 1788, he visited Paris during the French revolution but was alarmed by what he witnessed. He returned to Ireland in 1791 to discover that his inheritance had been exhausted.
Dedicating himself to the law, he rose rapidly at the bar and his court appearances were always popular with the public. In 1791 he wrote a pamphlet defending Reflections on the revolution in France, by Edmund Burke (qv), from its critics, which earned him Burke's gratitude. In early 1795 he was invited to Beaconsfield, where Burke gave him a written introduction to Lord Fitzwilliam (qv), the lord lieutenant of Ireland. Goold came to prominence on 9 December 1798 when he made a speech at the meeting of the Irish bar criticising the planned legislative union. He followed this with one of the finest pamphlets against the measure, An address to the people of Ireland on the subject of the proposed union (1799), in which he attacked ‘the encroachment of the great nation’ (Address, 18). The pamphlet was so popular it went through five editions and was notable for being the first to challenge the principle of empire, with Goold arguing that it was a burden, the ‘single sacrilegious word’ that stood between the Irish people and their rights (ibid., 87). Deciding to enter parliament to oppose the measure, he took his seat as MP for Kilbeggan, Co. Westmeath, on 5 February 1800. In his maiden speech (14 February) he directed his words to the Irish nation and continued his attack on the code of empire, declaring that it ‘has deluged the world with blood and never was achieved but by the downfall of the liberties of mankind’ (Goold, Speech, 38). Despite his efforts, the bill passed inexorably through the commons and in May Goold lamented the absence of any popular feeling against the union in the country. This courageous stand marked the zenith of his public career. Returning to the law, he served on the nisi prius court and built a large and lucrative practice. He was appointed a king's serjeant in 1830, and in recognition of his years of service he was named a master of the court of chancery (1832). Goold died 16 July 1846 at Lissadell, Co. Sligo.
He married Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. Brinsley Nixon of Painstown, Co. Meath. They had three sons and three daughters, one of whom married Edward Richard Windham-Quin (qv), subsequently 3rd earl of Dunraven. Henry Grattan once declared that he would ‘stake his existence’ on Goold's integrity, insisting that ‘if he is not to be trusted, I know not who is to be trusted’ (Curran, 207).