Court of Appeal in Ireland

This article is about the 1877–1924 court. For the current appellate court, see Court of Appeal (Ireland).

Court of Appeal in Ireland

Established| 1877
Dissolved| 1924
Jurisdiction| Ireland, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Location| Four Courts, Dublin
Authorised by| Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Ireland) 1877
Appeals to| House of Lords
Lord Chancellor of Ireland
Lord Chief Justice of Ireland

The Court of Appeal in Ireland was created by the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland under the Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Ireland) 1877 as the final appellate court within Ireland, then under British rule. A last appeal from this court could be taken to the House of Lords in London.

## Personnel

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The Lord Chancellor of Ireland was President of the Court of Appeal. As in England, the full-time judges had the title Lord Justice of Appeal. Other senior judges such as the Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer, sat as additional judges of appeal when required.

The following judges held the title of Lord Justice of the Court of Appeal in Ireland from the Court's creation in 1878 to the abolition of the pre-Independence Courts in 1924.[1]

Year appointed  | Name  | Year left office  | Reason for leaving office

|
|
|

1878[a] | Jonathan Christian | 1878  | Retirement
1878  | Rickard Deasy | 1883  | Death
1878  | Gerald FitzGibbon | 1909  | Death
1883  | Charles Robert Barry | 1897  | Death
1885  | John Naish | 1886  | Re-appointment as Lord Chancellor of Ireland[2]
1886  | John Naish | 1890  | Death[2]
1895  | Samuel Walker | 1905  | Re-appointment as Lord Chancellor of Ireland[3]
1897  | Hugh Holmes | 1913  | Retirement
1909  | Richard Cherry | 1914  | Appointment as Lord Chief Justice of Ireland
1913  | John Moriarty | 1915  | Death
1915  | Stephen Ronan | 1924  | Retirement
1915  | Thomas Molony | 1918  | Appointment as Lord Chief Justice of Ireland
1918  | James O'Connor | 1924  | Retirement

## Partition

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The Court of Appeal in Ireland was replaced by separate Courts of Appeal in Northern and Southern Ireland, along with a High Court of Appeal for Ireland, hearing appeals from both, under the United Kingdom's Government of Ireland Act 1920. The High Court of Appeal for Ireland was short-lived, and only heard a handful of cases before being abolished under the Irish Free State (Consequential Provisions) Act 1922.

## Abolition

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In the Irish Free State, the Courts of Justice Act 1924 replaced the Court of Appeal in Southern Ireland with a Supreme Court of Justice under the Constitution of the Irish Free State, and a Court of Criminal Appeal to hear criminal appeals that would have been heard by the Court of Appeal's Criminal Division.

Final appellate jurisdiction was transferred from the House of Lords to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council \- which was then abolished in 1933 by the Constitution (Amendment No. 22) Act 1933.

A Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland was re-created under the Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978.

## Reputation

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During the first three decades of its existence, the reputation of the Court of Appeal was very high, probably higher than that of any other tribunal in Irish legal history. Maurice Healy, writing in 1939, thought that the Court as it was constituted in the early 1900s "could compare with any college of justice in history".[4] V.T.H. Delaney, writing in 1960, believed that all Irish barristers would choose the old Court of Appeal as representing the Irish judiciary at their best.[5] This reputation depended largely on the quality of the individual judges: Christopher Palles is still often called "the greatest of Irish judges", and Gerald FitzGibbon, Hugh Holmes and Lord Ashbourne were his intellectual equals.[6] Unfortunately, when these men were gone, there was a problem in finding replacements of equal calibre, and from about 1916, after the death of Fitzgibbon (in 1909), and the retirement of Holmes (in 1913) and Palles (in 1916), the reputation of the Court declined. In its last years, according to Healy, the judges were notable only for their constant quarrelling among themselves,[7] and in 1924 the new Irish Free State forcibly retired them all.

## Notes

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1. ^ Previously served as Lord Justice of Appeal in Chancery in Ireland

## References

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1. ^ Delaney, V. T. H. "Christopher Palles" Dublin, Allen Figgis and Co. (1960) Appendix 1
2. ^ a b Dictionary of Irish Biography - John Naish
3. ^ Dictionary of Irish Biography - Samuel Walker
4. ^ Healy, Maurice The Old Munster Circuit Mercier Press Cork p.27
5. ^ Deaney, V.T.H. Christopher Palles Alan Figgis and Co. 1960 p.158
6. ^ Delaney p. 158
7. ^ Healy, pp.188-190

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Irish Courts before 1922

Overview|

* Four Courts
* Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Ireland) 1877

Courts to 1877
with presiding judges|

* Court of Chancery (Lord Chancellor)
* Court of King's Bench (Lord Chief Justice)
* Court of Common Pleas (Chief Justice of the Common Pleas)
* Court of Exchequer (Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer)

Courts 1877–1922
with presiding judges|

* Court of Appeal (Lord Chancellor)
* High Court of Justice (Lord Chief Justice)

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