Stories of the Four Courts

Year: 2021

  • Irish Barrister Beheaded on Banks of Bosphorus, c.1825

    From the Irish Independent, 17 June 1909: “A SOCIAL BUTTERFLY In the early years of the nineteenth century one of the most popular favourites in Dublin Society was a barrister named William Norcott, whose identity is discreetly veiled under the initial ’N—-‘ by several chroniclers of the period.  He was…

  • Not Putting a Ring on it, 1937

    From the Irish Examiner, 26 November 1937: “JUDGE AND A RING AMUSING CASE AT WEXFORD CIRCUIT COURT QUESTIONS TO WITNESS At Wexford Circuit Court, before Judge Comyn KC, William McC, Wexford, appealed against the decision of the District Court Justice at Wexford, sentencing him to a month’s imprisonment on a…

  • A She-Judge, 1830

    From the Dublin Morning Register, 5 May 1830: “COURT OF KING’S BENCH – (A SHE-JUDGE) At half-past nine o’clock yesterday morning, one of the Court-Keepers’ maids, a plump, arch-looking girl, entered the Court, and ascended the Bench to arrange their Lordships’ inkstands, cushions etc. Having completed all matters of judicial…

  • A Barrister’s Account of the Easter Rising, 1916

    From the Northern Whig, 10 May 1916: “Mr Fred H Mullan, solicitor, Trevor Hill, Newry, has just received a very interesting account from Mr John Cusack, BL, of the Easter Rising in Dublin. Mr Cusack states:- About 12.30 p.m. on Monday I received a telephone message at my house that…

  • The Misfortunes of Judge Linehan’s Criers, 1913-29

    From the Mid-Ulster Mail, 7 June 1913: “Mr Robert Ree, County Court Judge Linehan’s crier, met with an unfortunate accident in Dungannon on the afternoon of the 4th.  It seems that the business of the quarter sessions was adjourned early in the afternoon, and the officials hurried off to the…

  • Relocating the Encumbered Estates Court, 1850-60

    From the Freeman’s Journal, 5 February 1850: “ENCUMBERED ESTATES COURT By one of those blunders peculiar to English government in Ireland the machinery of a vast revolution was set up for the sale of property, and no provision whatever made for the court which was to work the machine.  The…

  • Irish Barrister Escapes Prison, Elopes to France in a Barrel, 1820

    From the Weekly Irish Times, 26 April 1902: “In the early years of the last century, a youthful barrister named Hodgins, just called to the bar, fell in love with a pretty girl he had noticed coming out of a fashionable boarding school in Mary Street. She smiled upon him,…

  • Served up on a Staffordshire Platter: The Four Courts, c.1820

    A blue transfer-printed Staffordshire china platter, with a central scene depicting the Four Courts, c.1820. Perhaps originally part of some barrister’s dining set? Now in New England. Some details below (zoom in closer here). (1) A very early view of Morgan Place at the side of the courts. (2) White-trousered…

  • As It Was: Images of the Inns Quay/Arran Quay Junction, 1753-present

    This fantastic map from the Dublin City Council Digital Archive (minutely zoomable version available to download here) shows the junction of Inns Quay and Arran Quay in 1790, not long before the opening of the Four Courts on the old Inns of Court site close by. The bridge appearing on…

  • A Bear in the Dock, 1875

    From the Freeman’s Journal, 2 April 1875: “A Bear in the Dock Two Frenchmen were charged with causing an obstruction to the public thoroughfare at Pill-Lane, that morning, by exhibiting a dancing bear. The prisoners were placed in the dock, with the bear between them. It was a shaggy, uncouth-looking…

  • Future Judge Brings Legal Proceedings to Recover Dognapped Pet, 1830

    From the Pilot, Wednesday 19 October 1831: “FIDELITY OF A DOG – On Thursday, a servant man of Mr Ball, the barrister, applied before the magistrates of the Head Office, and stated that he had seen a very large sized Newfoundland dog that day, which his master had lost about…

  • Called to the Bar, June 1914

    From the Irish Independent, 11 June 1914: A grainier version of the above photo appears in the Freeman’s Journal of the same day, where the new barristers above are identified as Frederick Jerome Dempsey, Edward James Smyth, Samuel Spedding John, Thomas William Gillilan Johnson Hughes, Denis Bernard Kelly, Oliver L…

  • The Mysterious Folding Doors of the Supreme Court, 1937-73

    From the Evening Echo, 8 January 1973, this wonderful article about the Irish Supreme Court and its former Chief Justices: “For a whole decade – 1923-1932 – the Four Courts building was not in use and the Courts sat in the room in Dublin Castle which now comprise the State…

  • Aristocratic Insolence in the Dublin Police Court, 1830

    From the Freeman’s Journal, 26 May 1830: “DUBLIN POLICE ARISTOCRATICAL INSOLENCE ‘A chiel’s amang ye takin notes And faith he’ll prent it.’ Robert Burns HENRY-STREET POLICE OFFICE, MONDAY. Lord Langford attended before Mr Cole, the sitting magistrate at this office, to substantiate a complaint which he had previously preferred against…

  • As It Was: Images of 145-151 Church Street, 1860 to date

    This beautifully coloured image below, from Dublin City Digital Archive, shows the rear portion of the Law Library Distillery Building, 145-151 Church Street, when it really was a distillery, owned by John Jameson & Co. You can zoom in on it even more closely here. Jameson acquired the site 145-51…

  • Dublin Solicitor Helps Couple Elope, Sends Them Bill of Costs, 1905

    From the Dublin Daily Express, 8 December 1905: “SOLICITOR’S BILL OF COSTS In the King’s Bench Division yesterday, before Mr Justice Boyd, in the case of Hehir v Kelly and another, Mr Carrigan (instructed by Mr Edward McHugh) applied on behalf of the defendants, Denis Kelly and Mary Kelly, otherwise…

  • Solicitor Tarred in South William Street Wine Cellar, 1875

    From the Freeman’s Journal, 27 August 1875: “TARRING A SOLICITOR At the Southern Divisional Police-court yesterday, Joseph Steele, who described himself as a wine merchant, of 16 Summer-hill, summoned Mr Richard Parsons, solicitor, for having assaulted him in the complainant’s place of business at 61 South William Street on the…

  • Inns Quay Before Áras Uí Dhálaigh: Images of the Four Courts Hotel

    Some photos showing a 1960s/70s Inns Quay, from the Dublin City Digital Archive. This one from Dublin City Digital Archive shows the Four Courts Hotel in place of today’s Áras Uí Dhálaigh. William Mooney’s close-up of the hotel in the 1960s. Mr Mooney’s comprehensive photo archive of Dublin is accessible…

  • The Marital Misadventures of a Master of the Rotunda, 1890

    “On Saturday in the Exchequer Division, the application for an attachment sought by a Mr Lynch (plaintiff in an action for criminal conversation, in which Dr Macan, of Merrion Square, and late of the Rotunda Hospital, is defendant) against the editors of the Medical Press and the Evening Mail, came…

  • Former British Intelligence Officer and Would-Be Barrister Drowns at North Wall, 1921

    From the Belfast Telegraph, 11 August 1921: “BELFAST OFFICER’S DEATH. STRANGE AFFAIR IN DUBLIN. BELIEVED HE WAS A MARKED MAN. We regret to announce the death of Mr Frederick W Morrison, a native of Belfast, which took place under sad circumstances through drowning in Dublin. The deceased was a fine specimen of…

  • Barrister’s Vacation Ends in Litigation, 1885

    Adapted from the Irish Times, 25 and 26 March 1885: “The Reverend Henry Peter Higginson brought a motion for final judgment to recover £27 10s from Thomas Hewson BL, who is a member of the Irish Bar, claiming that he had asked Mr Hewson on a visit to Tetbury during…

  • The Square Hall Scandal, 1947

    From the Evening Herald, 9 August 1947: “STRANGE AFFAIR AT FOUR COURTS In the interior of the famous building on Inns Quay there is a corridor leading to the law library. The Library is strictly reserved for the gentlemen of the law, but in the corridor their clients are graciously…

  • The Rush to the Bar, 1840-1841

    From the Warder and Dublin Weekly Mail, 21 November 1840: “The French war, and the other more prominent national mischiefs having been disposed of, and set, we hope, for the term of our natural life, to rest, we naturally turn our eyes upon the minor calamities which threaten our domestic…

  • A Place of Trees: Dublin 7, 1066-1750

    From Country Life, 1903: “Though Ireland is now perhaps the worst wooded country of Europe, it at one time was rich in forests.  Before the invasion of the English, splendid woods were to be found round Eblana, as Dublin was then called.  The fair green of Oxmantown was once covered…

  • Half a Century After Renouncing Monastic Vows, Septuagenarian Barrister Magistrate Marries his Nurse, 1908

    From the Dublin Evening Telegraph, 28 April 1908: “INTERESTING ROMANCE At St Patrick’s Church, Monkstown, at half-past nine o’clock yesterday morning, Mr Thomas J Wall, K.C., 26 Longford Terrace, Monkstown, was married to Miss Gertrude Garland, of Dublin. The ceremony was performed by the Rev Father Eaton, P.P., of Monkstown.…

  • The War of the Motions: Silk Precedence in the Court of Exchequer, 1834-39

    From the Dublin Morning Register, 24 February 1836: “By some strange combination amongst the clients, almost all the law business of the country is brought into the Court of Exchequer, the Common Pleas being perfectly idle, the judges absolute masters of their own time, and being frequently met with at…

  • Mother of Bride Dies of Apoplexy as Officer Groom Exposed as Fraudster, 1857

    From the Carlow Post, 1857: “An extraordinary case just occurred in Kingstown [now Dun Laoghaire] Police Court. It appears that a gentleman who recently held a commission in the 95th Foot was about to be married to a lady in that town. On passing through Birmingham, last week, he purchased…

  • Lord Chancellor’s Mace-Bearer Fined for Assaulting Dublin United Tramways Conductor, 1902

    From the Irish News and Belfast Morning News, 1 July 1902: “SCENE IN A TRAMCAR Today in the Southern Police Court, before Mr Wall KC, a respectable-looking elderly man named Matthew Orr, a crier in the Four Courts, was brought up in custody of Constable 46B, charged at the instance…

  • Laughter at Under-the-Table Police Chase in Rolls Court, 1857

    From the Wexford People, 17 June 1857: “The Master of the Rolls having taken his seat on the bench on Tuesday last, proceeded with the hearing of motions of course. Before they had concluded, Mr Richard Major Hassard, the well-known litigant, who has been for some years past in the…

  • Dublin Solicitor Dies in Lover’s House of Ill-Fame, 1879

    From the Freeman’s Journal, 29 September 1879: On Saturday morning at ten o’clock Richard D Lawless, solicitor, formerly resident in Lower Mount Street, was found dead in his bed, at the house No 4 Mecklenburgh-street.  Deceased sixteen years ago was a member of a respectable and thriving firm of attorneys…

  • Inquest in 158 Church Street After Unexpected Courtship Tragedy, 1858

    From the Weekly Freeman’s Journal, 25 December 1858: “MELANCHOLY DEATH BY DROWNING On Sunday night last one of the most distressing melancholy accidents that could well occur took place by which a respectable young man of the name of Michael Murphy, son of Mr Laurence Murphy, Ironmonger, of Church Street…

  • Irish Barristers and the Dáil Courts, 1920

    From The Weekly Freeman’s Journal, 24 July 1920: “HELPLESS BARRISTERS LEFT STRANDED IN THE FOUR COURTS On Thursday last week, the action of D Coffey, Derrymilleen, Co. Cork, farmer, v Denis P O’Regan, Farransbesbary, Enniskeen, Co. Cork, farmer, was listed for hearing in the Chancery division before Mr Justice Powell.…

  • Mayo Courtship Ends in Substantial Award of Damages, 1925

    From the Evening Herald (Dublin), 13 May 1925 “STRANGE WESTERN WOOING FARMER WHO COURTED BY PROXY MULCTED FOR BREACH COMPACT WITH PARENTS LESSONS ON MELODEON AND A PAIR OF GLOVES MARRIED ANOTHER DEFENDANT UNASHAMED OF HIS CONDUCT A farmer of 42 years, who sent emissaries to arrange a marriage with…

  • ‘Our Judges:’ Critiquing 24 Sitting Irish Judges, 1889-90

    Though the grounds and means of complaint may have changed over time, there is nothing new about criticism of Irish judges. As far back as 1826, one Daniel O’Connell petitioned for the removal of Lord Norbury, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, on the ground that he was 85, afflicted…

  • A Visit to the 1890 Law Library

    In 1890, Irish Society (Dublin) decided, with the help of one ‘A M’Lud,’ to give its readers a day out in the Four Courts. The first part of the ensuing visit, featured here, took us to the Round Hall. Today, we accompany ‘M’Lud,’ a practising barrister, to the original Law…

  • A Day in the Four Courts, 1890

    From Irish Society (Dublin), 8 November 1890: “‘A DAY IN THE FOUR COURTS BY A M’LUD For those who cannot spare time for a corporeal visit to the Temple of Justice, let them come with me now in spirit, and I will be their guide, philosopher, and friend in an…

  • Lord Leitrim’s Hearse Attacked by Mob in Church Street, 1878

    From the Irishman, 13 April 1878: “EXTRAORDINARY SCENE The remains of the late Earl of Leitrim arrived at St Michan’s Cemetery, Church Street, Dublin, about half-past two o’clock.  When the remains came into Church-Street the hearse was surrounded by two or three hundred persons, mostly comprised of the middle and…

  • Judge Gets the Boot on his First Day in Court, 1890

    From the New Ross Standard, 18 January 1890: “Judge Hickson’s first experience of judicial life has been rather perilous, but he exhibited great nerve and self-possession. The practice of throwing slippers after a married couple on their wedding day ‘for luck’ is on the decline, as, however friendly the motive,…

  • Taken by the Fairies, 1840-1924

    From the Freeman’s Journal, 2 February 1924: “At a Special Court in Tullamore, before Mr Flanagan PC, Esther Smith, no fixed address, was remanded in custody on a charge of obtaining £3 and goods by false pretences and threats from Mary Murray, farmer’s wife, Moneyquid, Killeigh. Mary Murray stated that…

  • Much Guarding, Little Action, Scrambling Breakfasts: the Irish Lawyers’ Corps and the Rebellion of 1798

    Despite many parades, and much drilling, the question of what that notable barrister militia company, the Lawyers’ Corps, actually did during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 went unanswered for many years. Indeed, it might never have been resolved at all had the Dublin Daily Express not belatedly managed to unearth…

  • Singing for its Supper: The Choir of Christ Church Pays Homage to the Court of Exchequer, 1851

    From the Belfast News-Letter, 1 December 1851: “In the Court of Exchequer, on Saturday week, the clergymen and choristers from Christ Church Cathedral appeared and performed their accustomed homage, by singing an anthem and saying prayers. At the entrance of the minister and choristers the barons arose and continued standing…

  • The Four Courts as a Sightseeing Destination, 1816-1919

    The interior of the Four Courts might not be the first thing to come to mind when thinking of a tourist destination, but once upon a time it was unmissable for sightseers visiting Dublin. J & W Gregory’s ‘Picture of Dublin’ (1816) describes the ‘new’ Courts of Justice as ‘one grand…

  • Derry Recorder Tests Lady’s Raincoat for Water Ingress, 1929

    From the Derry Journal, 12 April 1929: “TEST IN COURT A LADY’S WATERPROOF INTERESTING DERRY CASE GARMENT RETURNED AFTER EIGHT MONTHS A barrister, two solicitors, the Court Registrar and the Court Caretaker spent fifteen minutes in Derry Courthouse yesterday testing the quality of a waterproof coat, a garment which was…

  • A Barrister’s Privilege Against Physical Retribution for Hurt Feelings, 1821

    From Saunders’s News-Letter, 27 November 1821: “COURT OF COMMON PLEAS On Saturday a conditional order was obtained by Counsellor Blackburne, the plaintiff, against Mr Hines, an attorney, for sending a Gentleman to him in the Hall of the Four Courts, to demand an explanation of account of some misunderstanding between…

  • Leonard McNally, Barrister Lyricist, 1787-9

    Irish barristers often have many unexpected talents – and Leonard McNally BL was no exception. Not only did ‘McNally the Incorruptible’ purport to act as defence counsel for Irish barrister revolutionaries Robert Emmet (above) and the Sheares Brothers while simultaneously informing on them to the authorities, but he was also…

  • Take Off That Ugly Mask: The Problem of Barristers’ Hirsute Appendages, 1866-1896

    From the Irish Times, 12 and 17 November 1863: “SIR – The press has ever been the resort of those who have a grievance to complain of.  I trust therefore, you will give me an opportunity of saying a few words against the custom which has compelled so many members…

  • The Mythical Miss Staveley and the Bamboozled Bar Benevolent Fund, 1927

    From the Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 17 March 1927: “A remarkable story of the perpetration of frauds on many prominent people both in this country and in Ireland was told at Highgate yesterday, when John LM Reddington, alias Edward McLaughlin (59), of 451 Archway Road, Highgate, was charged with…

  • Bride Arrested for Shoplifting on Eve of Wedding, 1826

    From the Dublin Evening Post, 26 August 1826: “A young lady, moving in a respectable situation in life, was on Thursday committed to Newgate, Dublin, on a charge of shop-lifting.  The circumstances of this case are rather curious, and possess in some respect a melancholy interest.  This lady was to…

  • The Dome(s) of the Four Courts, 1785-2020

    The original Record Office designed for the Four Courts site by Thomas Cooley did not include a dome, but Cooley’s early death in 1784 coincided with an official decision to expand his design to include the Irish Four Courts, previously situate at Christchurch. His successor James Gandon achieved this by…

  • QC v JC: Junior Bar Privilege, 1836-1912

    From the Cork Examiner, 17 March 1864: “CORK SPRING ASSIZES (before Mr Justice Keogh) – BAR PRIVILEGE Mary Sullivan was indicted for stealing a letter from the Post-office. Mr Coffey defended the prisoner.  Messrs Clarke QC and Brereton QC, instructed by the Post-office department, prosecuted. Mr Coffey said that he…

  • Barrister’s Son Returns from the Dead, 1896

    From the Cork Constitution, 5 March 1896: “DUBLIN WEDNESDAY To-day the Master of the Rolls had before him a case which brought to light a modern Enoch Arden. In 1866 William Henry Boyle, son of a well-known barrister, emigrated to America, leaving his young wife at home. Fortune did not…

  • In the Footsteps of Kings: Chancery Place, 1224-1916

    Chancery Place, on the eastern side of the Four Courts, was originally a much narrower street known as Mass Lane.  The buildings on its western side sat close against the eastern wing of the Four Courts until they were demolished by the Commissioners of Public Works in the early 19th…

  • Marry a Former Chief Justice of Tobago in Haste, Repent at Leisure, 1840-55

    There were many Irish barristers who took on the task of administering justice on foreign and often inclement shores in such a way as to do credit to their country of origin. Barristers such as John Jefcott, first Judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia, Henry Barnes Gresson, Judge…

  • The Irish Bar and Bench at Home, 1784-1890

    Wilmot Harrison’s 1890 book, ‘Memorable Dublin Houses: A Handy and Descriptive Guide,’ includes much interesting information about town residences of the Irish bar and bench in the early and middle parts of the 19th century. First up is 14 Harcourt Street, home of barrister and raconteur Jonah Barrington, whose memoirs…

  • A Pleading Two-Step, Part 2: The Proper Business of the Junior Bar, 1856-64

    From the Dublin Evening Packet and Correspondent, Saturday 8 March 1856: “IMPORTANT – BAR PRACTICE Judge Ball having during the day proceeded to settle issues in records to be tried in Cork at the ensuing assizes, and Mr Brereton, QC, having appeared for one of the parties, Mr John Leahy…

  • A Rare Bird at the Four Courts, 1888

    From the Irish Times, 24 May 1888: “CHASE AFTER A WILD BIRD IN THE LIFFEY Yesterday, for nearly three hours, the inhabitants, and those who could spare the time, were entertained by a most interesting and exciting chase after a large bird of varied plumage, which was observed in the…

  • A Pleading Two-Step, Part 1: The Dangers of Dispensing With Counsel, 1866

    From the Evening Freeman, 28 July 1866 and the Cork Constitution, 30 July 1866: “Mr Hardy applied to have the defence filed in the case of Tedcastle v Stockholme set aside on the ground that it was informal and embarrassing. Mr O’Driscoll said he held a brief for the defendant,…

  • The Brats of Mountrath Street, 1867-1890

    From the Freeman’s Journal, 27 May 1867: “CHANCERY PLACE AND MOUNTRATH STREET Dear Sir- I beg, through the medium of your influential journal, to call the attention of the authorities to an assemblage of ill-behaved boys and girls that meet nightly at the corner of the above mentioned localities, throwing…

  • The Man of Many Wives, 1884-1895

    From the Illustrated London News, 14 June 1884: “At the Dublin Commission Court, before Mr Justice Lawson, on Saturday, Brian Denis Molloy, son of a magistrate for the County of Mayo, and who, on the death of his father, will become entitled to £1000 per annum, was indicted for bigamy. …

  • The Bar Cricket Club in Season, 1889-1890

    From the Clonmel Chronicle, 10 July 1880: “The members of the Bar of Ireland sometimes unbend the legal mind in the soft excitement of lawn tennis; but when they do, the learned gentlemen have their little frolic in ‘chamber’ as it were, and not in court.  They had what is…

  • Boys’ Night In Ends in Three Months’ Hard Labour for Elderly Barrister, 1892

    From the Derry Journal, 8 June 1892: “At the Petty Sessions, Nenagh, Mr Sadleir Stoney, Barrister at Law and Justice of the Peace for Dublin, who resides at Ballycapple, between Nenagh and Cloughjordan, surrendered to heavy recognisances and was charged with having assaulted Mrs Alice Bunbury, wife of Captain Bunbury,…

  • The ‘Cleansing’ of Bull Lane, 1878

    From the Freeman’s Journal, 1 March 1879: “During the past few months, quietly and unknown to the general public, a work has been in progress in Dublin calculated to materially benefit the city.  By a judicious use of the authority vested in them and a rigid exercise of their legal…

  • Future Supreme Court Judge Unsuccessfully Sued for Negligent Driving, 1924

    From the Dublin Evening Telegraph, 4th and 5th March, 1924: Miss May McConnon, a typist, residing at the Gaelic Hotel, Blackrock, Dundalk, claimed £3000 damages against Mr Cecil Lavery, barrister-at-law, for personal injuries caused, as alleged, by the negligence of the defendant in the management of a motor car near…

  • An Aggrieved Apprentice, 1874

    From the Freeman’s Journal, 16 December 1874: “To the Editor of the Freeman. SIR – Would you kindly insert the following in the interest of the grievances of attorneys’ apprentices.  The facts are briefly these:- In the second week of last month a sessional examination was held at the Four…

  • A Barrister’s Right to Walk Unobstructed, 1893

    From the Cork Constitution, 17 April 1893: “STRANGE CONDUCT OF AN IRISH BARRISTER CHARGED BEFORE THE MAGISTRATES WITH STREET OBSTRUCTION Mr William C Hennessy, barrister-at-law, Tralee, was charged by Constable John Foster with obstructing the footpath on the Grand Parade, at four o’clock on Friday evening.  Mr Hennessy had been…

  • Ormond Quay Prison Break, 1784

    From the Hibernian Journal; or, Chronicle of Liberty, 16 July 1784: “Yesterday in the afternoon, a number of the prisoners, confined in the New Gaol, found means to break into the sewer that communicates from the prison to the Bradogue River, or water course that falls into the Liffey at…

  • A Princess Arrested in the Four Courts, 1864

    From the Waterford Mail, 17 February 1864: “SITTINGS AT NISI PRIUS Wyse v Lewis This was an action brought by Madame Letitia Bonaparte Wyse, widow of the late Thomas Wyse, formerly British ambassador at Greece, against Mr William Lewis, of Messrs Lewis and Howe, solicitors, of Nassau-street, in this city…

  • The Man Who Married His Mother-in-Law, 1904

    From the Belfast Weekly News, 12 May 1904: “The trial of James Thompson for having married his mother-in-law took place on 10th inst, in the Recorder’s Court, Dublin.  Mr Bushe KC, who prosecuted, stated the case for the Crown.  He said in 1896 the prisoner on 2nd June married a…

  • Carlow Solicitor Takes Down Two IRA Men in Career-Ending Gun Battle, 1923

    From the Freeman’s Journal, 19 February 1923: “INDOMITABLE COURAGE RAIDERS FOUGHT BY CARLOW SOLICITOR TABLES TURNED INTRUDERS SHOT: ONE KILLED Sensational to an almost incredible degree is the account that has just come to hand of experiences that befell Mr Edward S Maffett, a Co Carlow solicitor, and his family…

  • Fun on Circuit, 1909

    From the Irish Independent, 2 July 1909: “ON CIRCUIT, by G.O. July is undoubtedly the pleasantest month in the barristers’ working year.  The Circuits are out then, and business is judiciously combined with pleasure.  The old stager, whose hair is whiter than his wig, and to whom briefs are a…

  • His Only Brief, 1896

    From the Weekly Irish Times, 27 June 1896: “HIS ONLY BRIEF ‘QC, MP’ tells a true story infinitely full of pathos.  A fortnight ago a letter reached him in the handwriting of an old college friend, telling a pitiful story of a stranded life.  The writer had been called to…

  • The Goat of Morgan Place, 1881

    From the Freeman’s Journal, 22 April 1882: “ROBBERY FROM THE FOUR COURTS A fish dealer named Ennis was charged by Police Constable 69D with having stolen a goat, the property of Mr Alexander Blyth, Four Courts.  A workman named Michael Higgins, in the employment of the Board of Works, stated…

  • Legal Monkeys Hire Organ-Grinders to Disrupt Judge’s Party, 1846-66

    From the Derry Journal, 28 June 1909: “The recent successful campaign against the street organ-grinders in securing that persons who disliked it should not be annoyed by street music recalls a practical joke played on a learned Judge through the medium of organ-grinders in Dublin.  Mr T.B.C. Smith, who was…

  • No Catholic Testament in the Four Courts, 1919

    From the Weekly Freeman’s Journal, 6 December 1919: “In the King’s Bench Division – Probate, before Mr Justice Kenny, in the matter of the goods of Denis Dwyer, Deceased, the Rev James O’Sullivan, PP, attended, under an order of the Court, in order to give evidence as to his knowledge…

  • Enough to make Curls Stand on End: Fee Recovery and the Junior Bar, 1862-present

    From the Roscommon & Leitrim Gazette, 5 February 1876: “The normal calm of the ‘Coffee-Room,’ that veritable place of ‘refreshers,’ was somewhat disturbed by an occurrence of an unprecedented character, so far as the Four Courts of our days are concerned.  In a very short space of time as many…

  • The Fighting Herb Doctors of Church Street and Parnell Street, 1852

    From the Freeman’s Journal, 4 May 1852: “John McDonnell, of Church-Street, ‘herb doctor’ and ‘professor,’ appeared to sustain a complaint against Michael Gafney, ‘herb doctor and universal practitioner,’ for an alleged violent assault. The complainant professing in this instance to have been assaulted was a low-sized dark visaged young man,…

  • Sligo Jury Turns Water into Whisky, 1860

    From the Belfast News-Letter, 17 March 1860: “A DISTRESSED JURY While the jury empanelled to try the case of Michael Lynot, charged with committing an aggravated assault on Pat Sexton, were locked up considering their verdict, Judge Hayes came into court on Monday night, at ten o’clock, to ascertain whether…

  • State Trial Implodes as Attorney General Challenges Opposing Counsel to Duel, 1844

    From the Sun (London), 1 February 1844: “The Irish State trials were resumed on Tuesday, when Mr Fitzgibbon QC, appearing for Mr Gray, said that the doctrine of conspiracy, as laid down by the Attorney-General, was that it was a combination of two or more persons to do an illegal…

  • To Catch a Thief, 1892

    From the Belfast News-Letter, 3 November 1892: “JUDGE CAPTURES THIEF Judge Boyd distinguished himself by catching a young thief in flagrante delicto. Passing through Kildare Street, his attention was attracted to some newsboys besetting a lady. One boy was on her right, and the other on her left hand. As…

  • Mad Cow Escapade in Chancery Street, 1856

    From the Freeman’s Journal, 19 July 1856: “Mad Cow – Serious Accident A young lad named Dominick Roynane was brought up in custody of Police Constable John Cartin 101D, charged with incautiously driving through the streets, without proper control, a wild and furious cow, to the great danger of the…

  • The Cruel Master, 1778

    A sad story tonight, from Saunders’ News-Letter, 30 January 1778, involving a murder and secret burial in the graveyard of St Michan’s Church next to the Law Library buildings at 158/9 Church Street. “Last week one of those chimney sweepers who employ a number of boys or children, adapted in…

  • Malpractices of the Senior Bar, 1862

    From the King’s County Chronicle, 5 March 1862, an impressive editorial diatribe against the then practice of Irish Queen’s Counsel accepting multiple briefs for the same day while asserting the right to retain all fees paid in advance, even where they failed, as a result, to appear in one or…

  • Swallowing the Evidence, 1839

    From the Dublin Evening Packet and Correspondent, September 1839: “EXTRAORDINARY CASE- SWALLOWING A WATCH A young gentleman, called Rathbane, charged Anne Lynch with having stolen his watch. Complainant said he was passing through Marlborough Street when he was followed by the prisoner, who snatched the watch out of his waistcoat…

  • Irish Free State Prosecuting Barrister Kidnapped, Tarred and Tied to Railings Outside Arbour Hill Prison, 1934

    From the Irish Independent, 8 December 1934: “Mr PJ McEnery, the well-known Dublin barrister, who has appeared for the State in recent cases tried by the Military Tribunal, was the victim of a startling affair last night.  While on his way from the Courts to his home at Killiney, Dublin,…

  • Visiting English Barrister Mistakes Free State Detectives for Gunmen, 1923

    From the Belfast News-Letter, 11 December 1923: “SCENE IN DUBLIN HOTEL – LONDON BARRISTER THOUGHT DETECTIVES WERE GUNMEN Described as a barrister, Frederick Ritters, London, was in the Dublin police courts yesterday charged with obstructing two detectives in the execution of their duty. The two detectives were about to make…

  • Something Wicker This Way Comes: Laughter in Court at Child Noise Nuisance Case, 1853

    From the Evening Freeman, 18 April 1853: “CONSOLIDATED NISI PRIUS COURT – SATURDAY Mangan v Tuthill This was an appeal from a decree of St Sepulchre’s Court for £9. Counsel for Mr Tuthill stated that his client lived in No 6 Rathmines Road, and the appellant in No 5; that…

  • Mr Godley BL in Trouble Again, 1948

    From the Belfast Telegraph, 4 June 1948: “John Godley, 87, was placed on probation for a year at Weston-Super-Mare today, on two charges of attempting to obtain money by false pretences. Superintendent Baker said since 1934 practically all Godley’s income had been derived from writing begging letters. ‘He made a…

  • The Marrying Kind, or, Mr Godley BL and the Two Wives, December 1903

    From the Belfast News-Letter, 4 December 1903: “At the Commission Court last evening, before Mr Justice Kenny, the jury found John Godley, Barrister-at-Law and Alice Lilian Pritchard, trading as Leigh, Moore & Co, 6 Westland Row, Dublin, guilty of obtaining money by false pretences by means of cheques.  They strongly recommended…

  • Mr Godley BL and the Bounced Cheque, October 1903

    From the Northern Whig, Saturday 31 October 1903: “Yesterday in the Southern Police Court, before Mr Swifte, Mr John Godley, Barrister-at-Law, and Miss (or Mrs) Lilian Moore, otherwise Pritchard, otherwise Mrs L Moore, carrying on business at 6 Westland Row, appeared on remand to answer a summons to show cause…

  • Wife of John Godley BL Catches Fire at Leeson Street Party, 1888

    From the Waterford Standard, 18 February 1888: “An accident which might have had a fatal termination to a young lady well known in Dublin Society took place on Friday night at a ball given by Mr Molloy QC in Leeson-Street.  As one of the earliest dances of the evening was progressing,…

  • Mr Dunn BL Back in Town, 1839-40

    From the Leeds Intelligencer, 29 December 1838: “MR DUNN AGAIN AND MISS BURDETT COUTTS At Bow-Street, on Monday, Miss Angelina Burdett-Coutts, accompanied by her father, Sir F Burdett, and attended by Mr Parkinson and Mr Humphries, solicitors, appeared before Sir F Roe to proffer a charge of annoying and insulting…

  • Mr Dunn BL in Prison for Love, October 1838

    From the Tuam Herald and the Sheffield Independent, 13 October 1838: “The Irish Gentleman (Mr Dunn, the Irish Barrister) alluded to in our paper a few weeks ago, is now at Knaresboro’ in the custody of a police officer from London, on the charge of annoying a certain rich young…

  • Mr Dunn BL in Love Again, 1838

    From an unnamed London journal, as recounted in the Southern Reporter and Cork Commercial Courier, 25 September 1838, this update on the continued romantic endeavours of Irish barrister Richard Dunn, last heard of on the way to Kilmainham Gaol two years earlier, after an unsuccessful attempt to win the hand…

  • Judicial Coach Hijacked by Helpful Ennis Local, 1902

    From the Westminster Gazette, 10 April 1902: “The Ennis representative of the Freeman’s Journal tells a delightful story of young Ireland.  At Ennis the Assizes were held by Lord Chief Justice O’Brien and Mr Justice Johnson.  At the Courthouse door there drew up in the usual course the High Sheriff’s…

  • The Law and the ‘Flu, 1918-22

    The Spanish ‘flu arrived in Ireland in the summer of 1918, possibly in Belfast.   The Belfast News-Letter of 10 July 1918 reported the death of Bernard Hughes BL, a North-East Circuit barrister of eight years vintage, after a severe attack of influenza.   Mr Hughes, from a bakery family, was described…

  • Mr Dunn BL in Love, 1836

    From the Warder and Dublin Weekly Mail, 30 July 1836: “INVESTIGATION AT KINGSTOWN Yesterday an investigation was entered into by magistrates of the Blackrock petty sessions in Kingstown, relative to the alleged misconduct of Mr Richard Dunne (more commonly spelt Dunn), a barrister, residing at N.1 Clare Street, Dublin, against…

  • Beneath the East Wing: The Inns Quay Infirmary, 1728-89

    The above image shows the site of the Four Courts as surveyed by John Roque in 1756, when it was still owned by the Benchers of the King’s Inns. You can see what is left of the old Priory/King’s Inns buildings on the far left. Much of the rest of…

  • Teenager Hoaxes Thirteen Belfast Solicitors, 1925

    From the Weekly Telegraph, September 5, 1925: “Unlucky Thirteen – Belfast Solicitors Hoaxed An extraordinary hoax has been carried out on at least thirteen Belfast solicitors, as a result of which a person about whom the police are now enquiring, is believed to be richer to the extent of about…

  • Irish Barrister’s Wife Linked to International Man of Mystery, 1926

    From the Evening Herald, 13 April 1926: “A music hall star well known 35 years ago as ‘Bonnie Kate Harvey’ and now Mrs Kate Macaulay, wife of an Irish barrister, brought an action in the King’s Bench, London, claiming damages for defamation in respect of a story in which it…

  • Early Irish Bar Strike, c.1790

    From the Irish Industrial Journal, 4 September 1850: “REBELLION OF THE IRISH BAR – Lord Clonmel, upon occasion, in the Court of King’s Bench, used rough language to Mr Hacket, a gentleman of the Bar, the members of which profession considered themselves as all assailed in the the person of…

  • Let off for Lunch: Pioneering Women Jurors, 1921

    In 1921, Irish women became eligible for jury service on civil and criminal trials. This article by Anna Joyce from the Freeman’s Journal of 9 February 1921 brings us back in time to the very first High Court trial involving women jurors: “Some people suffer from boredom to an excessive…

  • Judge Calls Women’s Fashion the Ruin of the Country, 1895

    From the Sheffield Daily Telegraph , 5 January 1894: “The Kilrush correspondent of the ‘Freeman’s Journal’ says: ‘At the Quarter Sessions here yesterday a milliner brought an action against a pension for goods supplied to his daughter, who is now in America.  His Honour Judge Kelly said women were the…

  • The (Would-be) Serial Killer of Church Street, 1861

    From the Belfast Morning News, 2 January 1861: “Joseph Dwyer is now in custody on a charge of having made one of the most daring and diabolical attempts to deprive a fellow-creature of life, for the mere purpose of pecuniary gain, that perhaps the world ever heard of. A young…

  • Irish Barristers and their Fees, 1866

    From the Dublin Evening Mail, 24 October 1866: “A gentleman who signs himself ‘A Stuff Gown,’ states in a letter addressed to a Dublin contemporary… that ‘bar etiquette requires that barristers shall not accept briefs unless they get the fees with them, and that gentlemen who do otherwise violate, in…

  • Tragic Tipstaff Death in Phoenix Park, 1905

    From the Irish News and Belfast Morning News, 9 June 1905, this sad account of the death of Mr Robert Pierson, tipstaff/crier to the Recorder of Dublin: “Yesterday at the Dublin City Commission, before the Lord Chief Justice and a jury, James Doolan, publican, Watling Street, was charged with the…

  • The Registrar who Knew Joyce, 1937

    From the Irish Press, 19 October 1937 (photo above): “The ceremony of opening the new revolving doors at the Chancery Place entrance to the High Court was performed by Mr CP Curran, Senior Registrar, in the absence of the Master of the High Court yesterday. The doors are the first…

  • Round Hall Wrestle After Perceived Insult to Barrister’s Mother, 1893

    From the Belfast News-Letter, 25 January 1893: “Dublin, Tuesday – Mr Pierce De Lacey Mahony, Parnellite candidate for North Meath, a picturesque, handsome, tall, sparely-built man, with Shakespearian cast of countenance, fine dark eyes and hair turning grey, assailed, Mr Matthew J Kenny, MP, of the North=West Bar, a tall,…

  • A Noise Sensitive Judge at the Cork Assizes, 1864

    From the Belfast Weekly News, 6 August 1864: JUDGE BALL KEEPING ORDER The learned judge, who is now in Cork, continues to maintain discipline with the region of a judicial martinet… At the sitting of the Court on Thursday, his lordship, addressing Sub-Inspector Channel, said:- The noise that has been…

  • Barrister Sentenced to Six Months’ Hard Labour for Stealing Books from Trinity College Library, 1840

    From the Warder and Dublin Weekly Mail, 18 April 1840: “CONVICTION OF A BARRISTER FOR FELONY. Robert Harman, a barrister, was indicted for stealing a number of books from Trinity College Library, the property of the University. The prisoner, when placed at the bar, trembled from head to foot, and…

  • No False Telegram, 1928

    From the Nottingham Journal, 11 September 1928: ‘An Irish solicitor, Mr NC Caruth, of Ballymona (Co Antrim) left a curious request in his will just proved. He directed that if any of his sons were abroad at the time of his death no false telegram shall be sent announcing his…