Some years after his death the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Sir Henry Sidney, described Luke in disparaging terms as a man who was "but second justice of one of the Benches...... of mean family.......born to nothing." [4]" This attack was in the course of an attempt to damage the career of Luke's son Richard, who was one of Sidney's bitterest enemies, and there is no reason to think that his low opinion of Luke was widely shared. Nor would the grandson of Baron Howth be regarded by most people as being of "mean family".