James Bernard Clinch (1771-1834) was a professor, lawyer and pamphleteer. On the recommendation of politician and writer Edmund Burke he was appointed as one of the first professors at the newly established St. Patrick's College, Maynooth in 1795 first as chair of Humanity, then in 1798 as Professor of Rhetoric, resigning in 1802. In 1795 he was one of the four professors present in Maynooth the others being Rev. Maurice Aherne, Rev. Pierre-Justin Delort, and Rev. John Chetwode Eustace (Rhetoric).