Did you know that the Irish Bar once held a Golf Sweepstake on the first day of the Christmas vacation, in which members of the judiciary participated?
The Social Review of 6 January 1894 contains details of a Christmas Golf Sweepstake, played at the Royal Dublin Golf Club, Dollymount, Dublin, on 23 December 1893. It describes the event as a “foursome” match with pairs drawn by lot from those members of the Club who were also members, past and present, of the Irish Bar, handicapped according to the club handicaps of the respective players.
Eight pairs were drawn; the match was won easily by Judge Shaw and Mr J.M. Dickson, who were placed at scratch. Other players included Judge Orr, J.H. Campbell QC, E.H. Johns, H. Stokes, S.L. Brown, A.H. Bates, G. Wright, W.F. Bailey, J.H. Russell and G.C. Greene.
The Irish Bar also used to play annually against the English Bar. The Belfast Telegraph of 27 February 1904 gloated over the fact that, in contrast to Irish barristers, the Scottish Bar had to date failed to engage the English Bar in tournament. The article notes the popularity of golf among the legal profession.
The Irish Bar’s greatest golf moment was probably at Lytham and St Anne’s, in April 1911, when it decisively defeated an English bar team including Mr Justice Lush, who lost to Ireland’s D.M. Wilson. As the below photograph from the Bystander of 22 April 1911 shows, his loss was not due to lack of concentrated attention!
A note below the Bystander photograph reads:
“After his elevation to the Judicial Bench, a judge still remains a member of the Bar. This explains why Mr Justice Lush, an enthusiastic golfer, was able to play for the English Bar in their annual match with the Irish Bar on the Lytham and St Anne’s course…”
The same reasoning was presumably applied to allow Irish judges to join in the Irish Bar Christmas Golf Sweepstake!
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