born 1459, Southwark?, near London, Eng.
died October 1521, Westenhanger, Kent
English soldier and administrator.
A supporter of Henry Tudor (later Henry VII ), he served as the king's lord deputy of Ireland (1494–95), where he enacted legislative measures ("Poynings' Laws") that applied all English public laws to Ireland and required every act of the Irish parliament to be approved by the king and privy council.