Lord Chief Justice of Ireland

The Court of King's Bench (or Court of Queen's Bench during the reign of a Queen) was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England. The Lord Chief Justice was the most senior judge in the court, and the second most senior Irish judge under English rule and later when Ireland became part of the United Kingdom. Additionally, for a brief period between 1922 and 1924, the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland was the most senior judge in the Irish Free State.

The Four Courts
The headquarters of the Irish judicial system since 1804. The Court of King's Bench was one of the original four courts that sat there.

History of the position

The office was created during the Lordship of Ireland (1171–1536) and continued in existence under the Kingdom of Ireland (1536–1800) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Prior to the Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Ireland) 1877, the Lord Chief Justice presided over the Court of King's/Queen's Bench, and as such ranked foremost amongst the judges sitting at common law. After 1877, the Lord Chief Justice assumed the presidency of the Queen's Bench Division of the new High Court of Justice, which sat permanently in the Four Courts in Dublin.

Thomas Lefroy, later Lord Chief Justice of Ireland (LCJ 1852–1866), was used by Jane Austen as the model for her Pride and Prejudice character Mr. Darcy. Lefroy and Austen had had a romance in their youths. Other prominent Lord Chief Justices of Ireland include Lord Whiteside (LCJ 1866–1876), who as a Queen's Counsel had defended Irish nationalist leader Daniel O'Connell in court, Gerald FitzGerald, 3rd Earl of Desmond, Hugh de Lacy, Risteárd de Tiúit, John Doherty, Thomas Marlay, James Ley, Peter O'Brien, and James Henry Mussen Campbell, 1st Baron Glenavy (LCJ 1916–1918, later Chairman of Seanad Éireann and grandfather of the satirist Patrick Campbell). One Lord Chief Justice, Lord Kilwarden, was killed by a crowd during Robert Emmet's 1803 rebellion.

Abolition of the position

The abolition of the position of Lord Chief Justice of Ireland was originally envisaged in a draft of the Government of Ireland Bill 1920. The Bill originally proposed that the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland would become the Lord Chief Justice of Southern Ireland. However, the then incumbent, The Rt. Hon. Sir Thomas Molony, 1st Bt., vigorously lobbied for the right to continue to hold the title even after the Bill was passed. Ultimately, his arguments were at least in part accepted: The Act, in its transitional provisions, provided that while he would in effect be the first Lord Chief Justice of Southern Ireland, his title remained that of Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, although this was a transitional provision and was not a right to be enjoyed by his successors.[1]

Subsequently, the highest ranking judicial posting in Ireland, that of Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was abolished in December 1922.[2] This left the office of the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland as the most senior judge in the Irish Free State but not for very long. The Constitution of the Irish Free State adopted in December 1922 clearly envisaged the early establishment of new courts for the nascent state and the abolition of the position of the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland.[3] However, this only took place when the Courts of Justice Act 1924 was finally adopted. Under that Act, the position of the Chief Justice of the Irish Free State superseded the position of Lord Chief Justice of Ireland as the highest judicial office in the Irish Free State.[4]

List of holders

Date	Name	Notes	Left Office
1324-7	Nicholas Fastolf, knight	(1st term)
1327-8	Henry de Hambury	From Hanbury, Worcestershire
1328-30	Nicholas Fastolf, knight	(2nd term)
1330-1	Elias de Asshebournham, knight	(1st term)
1331-2	Peter Tilliol, knight
1332-3	Thomas Louth	From Louth, Lincolnshire (1st term)
1333-4	Robert de Scardeburgh	("but probably did not act")
1334-7	Thomas Louth	(2nd term)
1337	Elias de Asshebournham, knight	(2nd term)
1337	Thomas Louth	(3rd term)
1337-8	Elias de Asshebournham, knight	(3rd term)
1338	Thomas Louth	(4th term)
1338-41	Elias de Asshebournham	(4th term)
1341-4	Thomas de Dent	Patronymic derived from Dent, Yorkshire
1344-5	Robert de Scardeburgh	From Scarborough, North Yorkshire (only substantive term)
1345-6	John le Hunt
1346	Henry de Motlowe, knight	Possibly connected to Mobberley or Motburlege, Chesire
1346-51	John de Rednesse	From Reedness, Yorkshire (1st term)
1351-4	Godfrey de Foljambe, knight
1354-6	John de Rednesse	(2nd term)
1356	Richard de Wirkeley	Prior of the Order of Hospitallers in Ireland - possibly connected to Wakefield, Yorkshire
1356-9	John de Rednesse	(3rd term)
1359	William le Petit
1359-61	John de Rednesse	(4th term)
1361-3	William de Notton, knight	From Notton, Yorkshire
1363-5	Richard White
1365-7	Thomas de la Dale, knight
1367-70	John Keppock, or Keppok	(1st term)
1370-2	William de Skipwith, knight	Family originally from Skipwith, Yorkshire
1372–82	John Keppock, or Keppok	(2nd term)
1382	Sir Thomas Mortimer, knight	Family originally from Mortemer, Seine-Maritime, Normandy
1384	John de Sotheron
1385	John Penros
1386	Edmund de Clay	From the common pleas[5][6]
1388, 10 July	Richard Plunkett
1388, 23 September	Peter Rowe	(1st term)
1395	William Hankford	From Hankford in the parish of Bulkworthy, Devon
1396	William Tynbegh, clerk	Family originally from Tenby, Pembrokeshire
1397	Peter Rowe	(2nd term)
1397	Stephen de Bray	(1st term) From the common pleas - family possibly from Bray, County Wicklow
1404	Richard Rede
1406	Stephen de Bray	(2nd term)
1426	Henry Fortescue
1429	Stephen de Bray	(3rd term)
1435	Christopher Bernevall, or Barnewall	2nd justice
1437	William Boys
1437	Christopher Bernevall, or Barnewall	(2nd term)
1446	Richard Bye
1447	Robert Plunket
1447	Sir James Alleyn
1457	Nicholas Barnewall	(1st term)
1461	Sir Thomas Fitz-Christopher Plunket	(1st term)
1461	Nicholas Barnewall	(2nd term)
1463 (or before)	Sir Thomas Fitz-Christopher Plunket	(2nd term)
1468	John Chevir
1474	Philip Bermingham	(d 1490, buried St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin)
1490	Thomas Cusacke
1494	Thomas Bowring
1496	John Topcliffe	From the Exchequer
1513	Patrick Bermingham
1521	Patrick Bermingham	By a new patent
1533	Sir Bartholomew Dillon, knight	2nd justice, from the Exchequer	Died same year[7]
1534	Patrick Finglas	From the Exchequer
1535	Sir Gerald Aylmer	From the Exchequer[8]
1559	John Plunket
1562	John Plunket	By a new patent
1583	James Dowdall
1586	Robert Gardiner	Serjeant-at-law in England
1604	Sir James Ley	Afterwards Earl of Marlborough: resigned
1608	Sir Humphrey Winch, knight	Chief Baron; from the Exchequer	Made a Justice of the Common Pleas of England
1612	Sir John Denham, knight	Chief Baron, from the Exchequer
1617	Sir William Jones, knight	Serjeant-at-law
1620	Sir George Shurley, or Shirley, knight	Serjeant-at-law (d.1647)[9]
1655	Richard Pepys	Under the Protectorate – died 2 January 1659
1659	John Santhey	19 Jan pro tem on Pepys' death[10]
1659	William Basill	Attorney general; 24 Jan
1660	Sir James Barry, knight	Afterwards Lord Santry
1673	Sir John Povey, knight	From the Exchequer
1679	Sir Robert Booth, knight		Died the next year
1680	Sir William Davys, knight	Prime serjeant
1687	Thomas Nugent		Removed
1690	Sir Richard Reynell, 1st Baronet		Dismissed
1695	Sir Richard Pyne	Chief Justice of the Common Pleas
1709	Alan Brodrick		Removed
1711	Sir Richard Cox, knight and baronet		Removed
1714	William Whitshed		Removed to the Common Pleas
1727	John Rogerson	Previously attorney general	Died in office 1741
1741	Thomas Marlay	Previously Chief Baron of the Exchequer	Retired 1751
1751	St George Caulfeild	Previously attorney general	Retired 1760
1760	Warden Flood	Previously attorney general	Died in office 1764
1764	John Gore, later Lord Annaly	Previously solicitor general; 24 Aug	Died in office 1784
1784	John Scott	Previously Prime serjeant; Created Lord Earlsfort, afterwards Viscount and Earl of Clonmell; 29 Apr	Died in office 1798
1798	Arthur Wolfe, Lord Kilwarden	Previously attorney-general; 13 June	Murdered 23 July 1803
1803	William Downes	Previously a judge of the Court of King's Bench; afterward 1st Baron Downes; 12 Sep	Retired 1822
1822	Charles Kendal Bushe	Previously solicitor general from 1805; 14 Feb	Retired 1841
1841	Edward Pennefather	Previously solicitor general; 10 Nov	Retired 1846
1846	Francis Blackburne	Previously Master of the Rolls; 21 Jan	Became Lord Chancellor 1852
1852	Thomas Langlois Lefroy	Previously a Baron of the Exchequer	Retired 1866
1866	James Whiteside	Former attorney-general	Died in office 1876
1877	George Augustus Chichester May	Previously attorney-general	Retired 1887
1887	Michael Morris	Previously Chief Justice of the Common Pleas	Became Lord of Appeal in Ordinary 1889
1889	Peter O'Brien	Previously attorney-general	Retired 1913
1913	Richard Robert Cherry	Previously a Lord Justice of Appeal	Retired 1916
1916	James Henry Mussen Campbell	Previously attorney-general	Became Lord Chancellor 1918
1918	Thomas Molony	Previously a Lord Justice of Appeal	Position abolished

Sources

• List from Liber Munerum Publicorum Hiberniae, by Rowley Lascelles, copied in Haydn's Book of Dignities
• Names from 1852 onwards from The Oxford Companion to Law, ed David M. Walker, 1980
• Francis Elrington Ball The Judges in Ireland 1221–1921 2 Vols (John Murray London 1926)

References

1. For a thorough account, see: W.N. Osborough, Studies in Irish Legal History, Four Courts Press 1999, pp 318–326.
2. Schedule II, Part II, Irish Free State Consequential Provisions Act 1922, a United Kingdom statute.
3. Article 75, Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) Act 1922.
4. Section 5, Courts of Justice Act 1924.
5. For holders of the office of Lord Chief Justice, the period 1383–86 seems to have been one of great confusion, and it is not clear whether all those nominated actually took up the position – see Ball The Judges in Ireland .
6. Haydn's Book of Dignities says that "John de Shriggeley, from the Exchequer" served at this point, but Elrington Ball's 'Judges in Ireland', P157 does not mention him
7. Date from Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland 1221–1921 John Murray London 1926, P191 – although Haydn's Book of Dignities says that he took office in 1532
8. Date from Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland 1221–1921 John Murray London 1926, P156 – although Haydn's Book of Dignities says that he took office in 1546
9. date from Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland 1221–1921 (London 1926), p.328 – although Haydn's Book of Dignities says that he took office in 1619
10. Robert Dunlop, 'Ireland under the Commonwealth' Vol 2, P 470n

Further reading

• Daire Hogan, R.R. Cherry, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, 1914–16

External links

• Lord Chief Justice O'Brien anecdotes
• Tim Healy, QC, MP Anecdotes about Lord Chief Justice O'Brien
• Order of the Governor-General of the Irish Free State concerning the substitution of 'Saorstát Éireann' for 'Southern Ireland'
• Text about Sir Richard Cox, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland
• 'Ireland's Millennia: RTÉ biography of James Campbell, 1st Baron Glenavy, LCJ 1916–1918
• Part of the process of changing laws to replace 'Lord Chief Justice of Ireland' with 'Chief Justice of Ireland'