John Derricke (fl. 1578–1581) was the writer and artist of The Image of Irelande, with a Discoverie of Woodkarne, a 1581 book documenting Sir Henry Sidney's campaigns in Ireland as Queen Elizabeth I's Lord Deputy. He was probably the same John Derick who was appointed customer of Drogheda port, responsible for collecting custom duty on wine imported into Ireland, in 1569, when Sidney was granted the right to collect this duty by the Irish parliament.[1]
The book's dedication to Sir Philip Sidney was signed at Dublin on 16 June 1578,[1] indicating that Derricke completed the composition of the book in Ireland, and was almost certainly an eyewitness to the events he depicts. Katherine Duncan-Jones connects Derricke's dedication to an assumption that Sir Philip would succeed Sir Henry, his father, as Lord Deputy.[2] It is likely he returned to England with Sidney in 1578, and that his illustrations were engraved between then and 1581, when the book was published in London by John Day. Two of the plates are signed "ID", thus presumably engraved by Derricke himself, and four by "FD", perhaps a member of his family.[1]