Lord Chief Justice of Ireland - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Lord Chief Justice of Ireland was the second most senior Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

judge under English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

rule and later when Ireland became part of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. 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

Irish Free State

The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...

History of the Position

The Annals of the Four Masters

Annals of the Four Masters

The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland or the Annals of the Four Masters are a chronicle of medieval Irish history...

dates the appointment of a John, Bishop of Norwich

Bishop of Norwich

The Bishop of Norwich is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers most of the County of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. The see is in the City of Norwich where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided...

, as Lord Justice over Ireland to 1208. The office under its full title was created during the Lordship of Ireland

Lordship of Ireland

The Lordship of Ireland refers to that part of Ireland that was under the rule of the king of England, styled Lord of Ireland, between 1177 and 1541. It was created in the wake of the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169–71 and was succeeded by the Kingdom of Ireland...

(1171-1536) and continued in existence under the Kingdom of Ireland

Kingdom of Ireland

The Kingdom of Ireland refers to the country of Ireland in the period between the proclamation of Henry VIII as King of Ireland by the Crown of Ireland Act 1542 and the Act of Union in 1800. It replaced the Lordship of Ireland, which had been created in 1171...

(1536–1800) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

. Prior to the Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Ireland) 1877

Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Ireland) 1877

The Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1877 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that brought about a major reorganisation of the senior courts in Ireland.-Provisions:...

, 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

Four Courts

The Four Courts in Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's main courts building. The Four Courts are the location of the Supreme Court, the High Court and the Dublin Circuit Court. The building until 2010 also formerly was the location for the Central Criminal Court.-Gandon's Building:Work based on...

in Dublin.

Thomas Lefroy, later Lord Chief Justice of Ireland (LCJ 1852-1866), was used by Jane Austen

Jane Austen

Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...

as the model for her Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice is a novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1813. The story follows the main character Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of early 19th-century England...

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

Queen's Counsel

Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...

had defended Irish nationalist leader Daniel O'Connell

Daniel O'Connell

Daniel O'Connell Daniel O'Connell Daniel O'Connell (6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847; often referred to as The Liberator, or The Emancipator, was an Irish political leader in the first half of the 19th century...

in court, Gearoid Iarla Fitzgerald, (the Third Earl of Desmond), Hugh de Lacy, Risteárd de Tiúit

Risteárd de Tiúit

Risteárd de Tiúit was a member of Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke's Irish invasion force, and Lord Chief Justice of Ireland...

, John Dougherty and Thomas Marlay

Thomas Marlay

Thomas Marlay was an Irish judge, remembered now as the builder of Celbridge Abbey and as the grandfather of the statesman Henry Grattan....

, James Ley and Peter O'Bryan. James Henry Mussen Campbell, 1st Baron Glenavy

James Campbell, 1st Baron Glenavy

James Henry Mussen Campbell, 1st Baron Glenavy PC was an Irish lawyer, politician in the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and later in the Oireachtas of the Irish Free State...

(LCJ 1916-1918, later Chairman of Seanad Éireann

Seanad Éireann

Seanad Éireann is the upper house of the Oireachtas , which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann . It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its members Senators or Seanadóirí . Unlike Dáil Éireann, it is not directly elected but consists of a mixture of members chosen by...

and grandfather of the satirist Patrick Campbell

Patrick Campbell, 3rd Baron Glenavy

Patrick Gordon Campbell, 3rd Baron Glenavy , known as Patrick Campbell, was an Irish journalist, humorist and television personality....

). One Lord Chief Justice, Lord Kilwarden, was killed by a crowd during Robert Emmet

Robert Emmet

Robert Emmet was an Irish nationalist and Republican, orator and rebel leader born in Dublin, Ireland...

'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

Thomas Molony

Sir Thomas Molony, 1st Baronet PC, QC was the last Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. He was also the only Judge to hold the position of Lord Chief Justice of Southern Ireland although he did not hold that position under that title....

, 1st Bt.

Baronet

A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...

, 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.

Subsequently, the highest ranking judicial posting in Ireland, that of Lord Chancellor of Ireland

Lord Chancellor of Ireland

The office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801 it was also the highest political office of the Irish Parliament.-13th century:...

, was abolished in December 1922. This left the office of the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland as the most senior judge in the Irish Free State

Irish Free State

but not for very long. The Constitution of the Irish Free State

Constitution of the Irish Free State

The Constitution of the Irish Free State was the first constitution of the independent Irish state. It was enacted with the adoption of the Constitution of the Irish Free State Act 1922, of which it formed a part...

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. 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.

External links

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