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{{Short description|Former senior judge role in Ireland}}{{Distinguish|Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas}}{{Use Hiberno-English|date=July 2022}}{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}(File:fourcourtsquays.JPG|thumb|200px|The Four CourtsThe headquarters of the Irish judicial system since 1804. The Court of King's Bench was one of the original four courts that sat there.)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.

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.For a thorough account, see: W.N. Osborough, Studies in Irish Legal History, Four Courts Press 1999, pp 318–326.Subsequently, the highest-ranking judicial posting in Ireland, that of Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was abolished in December 1922.Schedule II, Part II, Irish Free State Consequential Provisions Act 1922, a United Kingdom statute. 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.Article 75, Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) Act 1922. 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.Section 5, Courts of Justice Act 1924.In what became Northern Ireland, the position was superseded by the position of Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland.WEB,weblink Constitutional Reform Act 2005, 2 September 2021, 28 September 2019,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20190928054926weblink">weblink live,

List of holders

{|class="wikitable sortable"!Date!!Name!!Notes!!Left Office

	Nicholas Fastolf, knight	(1st term)

	Henry de Hambury	From Hanbury, Worcestershire

	Nicholas Fastolf, knight	(2nd term)

	Elias de Asshebournham, knight	(1st term)

	Peter Tilliol, knight	Born at Scaleby Castle, Cumberland

	Thomas Louth	From Louth, Lincolnshire (1st term)

	Robert de Scardeburgh	("but probably did not act")

	Thomas Louth	(2nd term)

	Elias de Asshebournham, knight	(2nd term)

	Thomas Louth	(3rd term)

	Elias de Asshebournham, knight	(3rd term)

	Thomas Louth	(4th term)

	Elias de Asshebournham	(4th term)

	Thomas de Dent	Patronymic derived from Dent, Yorkshire

	Robert de Scardeburgh	From Scarborough, North Yorkshire (only substantive term)

	John le Hunt	Born in Fenny Stratford, Buckinghamshire

	Henry de Motlowe, knight	Possibly connected to Mobberley or Motburlege, Chesire

	John de Rednesse	From Reedness, Yorkshire (1st term)

	Godfrey de Foljambe, knight	Born in Tideswell, Derbyshire

	John de Rednesse	(2nd term)

	Richard de Wirkeley	Prior of the Order of Hospitallers in Ireland - possibly connected to Wakefield, Yorkshire

	John de Rednesse	(3rd term)

	William le Petit

	John de Rednesse	(4th term)

	William de Notton, knight	From Notton, Yorkshire

	Richard White (Irish judge)	>|From Clongill, County Meath

	Thomas de la Dale, knight	Born in Little Barford, Bedfordshire

	John Keppock, or Keppok	(1st term)

	William de Skipwith, knight	Family originally from Skipwith, Yorkshire

	John Keppock, or Keppok	(2nd term)

	Sir Thomas Mortimer, knight	Family originally from Mortemer, Seine-Maritime, Normandy

	John de Sotheron	Born at Great Mitton, Lancashire

	John Penros	Born in Escalls, Cornwall

	Edmund de Clay	From the common pleasFor 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 .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

	Richard Plunkett	Of a leading Anglo-Irish family with branches in County Meath and County Louth

	Peter Rowe (Irish judge)	>|(1st term)

	William Hankford	From Hankford in the parish of Bulkworthy, Devon

	William Tynbegh, clerk	Family originally from Tenby, Pembrokeshire

	Peter Rowe (Irish judge)	>|(2nd term)

	Stephen de Bray	(1st term) From the common pleas - family possibly from Bray, County Wicklow

	Richard Rede	From the Exchequer

	Stephen de Bray	(2nd term)

	Henry Fortescue (Lord Chief Justice)	>|

	Stephen de Bray	(3rd term)

	Christopher Bernevall, or Barnewall	2nd justice

	William Boys

	Christopher Bernevall, or Barnewall	(2nd term)

	Richard Bye

	Robert Plunket (judge)	>|

	Sir James Alleyn

	Nicholas Barnewall (Irish judge)	>|(1st term)

	Sir Thomas Fitz-Christopher Plunket	(1st term)

	Nicholas Barnewall (Irish judge)	>|(2nd term)

	Sir Thomas Fitz-Christopher Plunket	(2nd term)

	John Chevir	From Kilkenny. Former Master of the Rolls in Ireland.

	Philip Bermingham	(d 1490, buried St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin)

	Thomas Cusacke

	Thomas Bowring	Family from Bowringsleigh, Devon

	John Topcliffe	From the Exchequer

	Patrick Bermingham

	Patrick Bermingham	By a new patent

	Sir Bartholomew Dillon, knight	2nd justice, from the Exchequer	Died same yearDate 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

	Patrick Finglas	From the Exchequer

	Gerald Aylmer (Irish judge)	>|From the ExchequerDate 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

	John Plunket (judge)	>|

	John Plunket (judge)	>|By a new patent

	James Dowdall (Chief Justice)	>|

	Robert Gardiner (Chief Justice)	>|Serjeant-at-law in England

	James Ley, 1st Earl of Marlborough	>|Afterwards Earl of Marlborough: resigned

	Sir Humphrey Winch, knight	Chief Baron; from the Exchequer	Made a Justice of the Common Pleas of England

	Sir John Denham (judge)	, knight>|Chief Baron, from the Exchequer

	William Jones (judge)	, knight>|Serjeant-at-law

	Sir George Shurley, or Shirley, knight	Serjeant-at-law (d.1647)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

	Richard Pepys	Under the Protectorate – died 2 January 1659

	John Santhey	19 Jan pro tem on Pepys' deathRobert Dunlop, 'Ireland under the Commonwealth' Vol 2, P 470n

	William Basill	Attorney general; 24 Jan

	James Barry, 1st Baron Barry of Santry	, knight>|Afterwards Lord Santry

	Sir John Povey, knight	From the Exchequer

	Robert Booth (judge)	, knight>	|Died the next year

	Sir William Davys, knight	Prime serjeant

	Thomas Nugent (chief justice of Ireland)	>	|Removed

	Sir Richard Reynell, 1st Baronet		Dismissed

	Sir Richard Pyne	Chief Justice of the Common Pleas

	Alan Brodrick, 1st Viscount Midleton	>	|Removed

	Sir Richard Cox, 1st Baronet	, knight and baronet>	|Removed

	William Whitshed		Removed to the Common Pleas

	John Rogerson (1676–1741)	>	Attorney-General for Ireland>attorney general	Died in office 1741

	Thomas Marlay (judge)	>	|Retired 1751

	St George Caulfeild	Previously attorney general	Retired 1760

	Warden Flood	Previously attorney general	Died in office 1764

	John Gore, 1st Baron Annaly	, later Lord Annaly>	Solicitor-General for Ireland>solicitor general; 24 Aug	Died in office 1784

	John Scott, 1st Earl of Clonmell	>	Earl of Clonmell; 29 Apr>|Died in office 1798

	Arthur Wolfe, 1st Viscount Kilwarden	>	|Murdered 23 July 1803

	William Downes, 1st Baron Downes	>	Baron Downes; 12 Sep>|Retired 1822

	Charles Kendal Bushe	Previously solicitor general from 1805; 14 Feb	Retired 1841

	Edward Pennefather	Previously solicitor general; 10 Nov	Retired 1846

	Francis Blackburne	Previously Master of the Rolls; 21 Jan	Became Lord Chancellor 1852

	Thomas Langlois Lefroy	Previously a Baron of the Exchequer	Retired 1866

	James Whiteside	Former attorney-general	Died in office 1876

	George Augustus Chichester May	Previously attorney-general	Retired 1887

	Michael Morris, 1st Baron Killanin	>	|Became Lord of Appeal in Ordinary 1889

	Peter O'Brien, 1st Baron O'Brien	>	|Retired 1913

	Richard Robert Cherry	Previously a Lord Justice of Appeal	Retired 1916

	James Campbell, 1st Baron Glenavy	>	|Became Lord Chancellor 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

{{reflist|2}}

Further reading

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

External links

• Lord Chief Justice O'Brien anecdotes
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070926235657weblink">Tim Healy, QC, MP Anecdotes about Lord Chief Justice O'Brien
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20041206235134weblink">Order of the Governor-General of the Irish Free State concerning the substitution of 'Saorstát Éireann' for 'Southern Ireland'
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20031218001914weblink">Text about Sir Richard Cox, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20031231160108weblink">'Ireland's Millennia: RTÉ biography of James Campbell, 1st Baron Glenavy, LCJ 1916–1918
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20050326021710weblink">Part of the process of changing laws to replace 'Lord Chief Justice of Ireland' with 'Chief Justice of Ireland'

{{Irish courts pre-1922}}{{Chief Justices of British overseas territories}}