Richard de Ferings (died 1306), was the Archbishop of Dublin. Ferings was an official of the archdiocese of Canterbury, in which capacity he won the friendship of Archbishop John Peckham. In 1279 he was present at the Council of Reading. In 1280 he was also for a short time an official of the diocese of Winchester, having been appointed by Peckham during a vacancy of the bishopric; but before long Peckham found him so indispensable that he brought him back to Canterbury, and put Adam of Hales into the post at Winchester. Next year Peckham made him Archdeacon of Canterbury, and in 1284 gave him the rectory of Tunstall, near Sittingbourne, Kent, to be held in commendam with the archdeaconry. Ferings remained archdeacon until 1299, when he was appointed by Pope Boniface VIII to the archbishopric of Dublin. The feuds of the two rival chapters of Christ Church Cathedral and St Patrick's Cathedral had long made the elections to that see constant subjects of disputes. In 1297 William of Hothum, himself a nominee of the pope after a contested election, died soon after his consecration. Early in 1298 the canons of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin elected their Prior, Adam of Belsham, and St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin chose their Dean, Thomas de Chaddesworth, for whom the canons had previously tried to secure the archbishopric in 1295. In their hurry, neither body had secured the royal licence to elect. Both were accordingly summoned to answer for contempt of court, and the temporalities of Christ Church were for a time seized by King Edward I. Ferings's appointment by the pope was consequently not opposed by the king. His consecration was probably abroad, as it is not noticed by the English authorities, though the date is given as 1299 in the 'Annals of Ireland' published with the 'Chartulary of St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin'. It was not, however, until June 1300 that Ferings received from the crown the temporalities of his see, after renunciation of all the words in the bull of appointment which were prejudicial to the royal authority. Ferings spent little of his time in Ireland. His conciliatory temper led him to several attempts to make peace with disappointed candidates and angry chapters. Even before his consecration he had appointed his old rival, Thomas de Chaddesworth, his Vicar General, though he subsequently feared lest the infirmities of age made him unfit for the