High Court of Justice in Ireland


The High Court of Justice in Ireland was the court created by the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1877 to replace the existing court structure in Ireland. Its creation mirrored the reform of the courts of England and Wales five years earlier under the Judicature Acts. The Act created a Supreme Court of Judicature, consisting of a High Court of Justice and a Court of Appeal.

Establishment

The High Court was created by the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1877, through the amalgamation of a number of courts. Most importantly, the three superior common-law courts and the Court of Chancery were merged into the new court. Also merged into it were the courts of Landed Estates, Probate, Matrimonial Causes, Admiralty, and Bankruptcy. However, the right of appeal from Ireland to the House of Lords in England was preserved.
An important consequence of the amalgamation of the superior common-law courts with the court of equity was that, for the first time, the previously separate systems of common law and equity were merged.
The structure of the abolished courts was reflected in the divisions created for the new High Court. These proved to be unnecessarily complex, and the opportunity presented by the death, retirement, and transfer of a number of the judges was taken in order to simplify the organisation of the divisions, so that by 1897 there were only two: Chancery, and the Queen's Bench.
Of the existing office holders, the Lord Chancellor of Ireland presided in the new Court of Appeal. The Master of the Rolls in Ireland and the Vice-Chancellor moved to the Chancery Division; the latter office was abolished in 1904. The Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas retained his rank until 1887 when the incumbent became Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. Christopher Palles, the last Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer remained in office until 1916, acting as a judge both of the King's Bench Division and of the Court of Appeal.

Partition

The Government of Ireland Act 1920 abolished the Supreme Court of Judicature created by the 1877 Act. It split the High Court into separate courts for Northern and Southern Ireland; judges of the former court became judges in Southern Ireland unless they chose otherwise. The Court of Appeal was also split into separate courts with a new overarching High Court of Appeal for Ireland; the latter court sat on a few occasions but was abolished in 1922 in consequence of the establishment of the Irish Free State.

Judges

The following judges held the title of Judge of the High Court of Justice in Ireland from the Court's creation in 1878 to the abolition of the pre-Independence Courts in 1924.
Year appointedNameDivisionYear left officeReason for leaving office
1878William KeoghCommon Pleas Division1878Death
1878James O'BrienQueen's Bench Division1882Death
1878Francis Alexander FitzGeraldExchequer Division1882Resigned
1878John FitzGeraldQueen's Bench Division1882Appointed as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
1878Robert WarrenProbate and Matrimonial Division1897Death
1878James Anthony LawsonCommon Pleas Division1882Transferred to the Queen's Bench Division
1878Stephen Woulfe FlanaganChancery Division1885Retired
1878Charles Robert BarryQueen's Bench Division1897Death
1878Richard DowseExchequer Division1890Death
1878Henry OrmsbyChancery Division1885Retired
1878Michael HarrisonCommon Pleas Division1888Transferred to the Queen's Bench Division
1881John O'HaganJudicial Commissioner of the Irish Land Commission1890Death
1881Edward Falconer LittonJudicial Commissioner of the Irish Land Commission1890Death
1882James Anthony LawsonQueen's Bench Division1887Death
1882William O'BrienCommon Pleas Division1883Transferred to the Queen's Bench Division
1882William Drennan AndrewsExchequer Division1897Transferred to the Queen's Bench Division
1883William Moore JohnsonQueen's Bench Division1909Retired
1883William O'BrienQueen's Bench Division1899Death
1883James MurphyCommon Pleas Division1888Transferred to the Queen's Bench Division
1885John MonroeChancery Division1896Resignation
1887Hugh HolmesCommon Pleas Division1888Transferred to the Queen's Bench Division
1888James MurphyQueen's Bench Division1892Transferred to the Exchequer Division
1888Hugh HolmesQueen's Bench Division1897promoted to be a Lord Justice of Appeal
1888John George GibsonQueen's Bench Division1921Retired
1890Edmund Thomas BewleyJudicial Commissioner of the Irish Land Commission1898Retired
1892Dodgson Hamilton MaddenQueen's Bench Division1919Retired
1896John RossChancery Division1921Appointed as Lord Chancellor for Ireland
1897Walter BoydQueen's Bench Division1921Died
1897William KennyQueen's Bench Division1921Died
1898Richard Edmund MeredithJudicial Commissioner of the Irish Land Commission1906Appointed as Master of the Rolls
1900Dunbar Plunket BartonQueen's Bench Division1904Transferred to the Chancery Division
1901George WrightKing's Bench Division1913Died
1904Dunbar Plunket BartonChancery Division1918Retired
1906James Owens WylieJudicial Commissioner of the Irish Land Commission1920Retired
1907William Huston DoddKing's Bench Division1924Court abolished
1913Thomas MolonyKing's Bench Division1915promoted to be a Lord Justice of Appeal
1913Jonathan PimKing's Bench Division1924Court abolished
1916John GordonKing's Bench Division1922Death
1917William MooreKing's Bench Division1921promoted to be a Lord Justice of Appeal in Northern Ireland
1918James O'ConnorChancery Division1918promoted to be a Lord Justice of Appeal
1918John Blake PowellChancery Division1923Death
1919Arthur SamuelsKing's Bench Division1924Court abolished
1920William Evelyn WylieJudicial Commissioner of the Irish Land Commission1924Court abolished - re-appointed as judicial commissioner 1924 and retired in 1936

Subsequent developments

Following the establishment of the Irish Free State in December 1922, the High Court of Justice in Southern Ireland remained in existence for two years, in accordance with the "carry-over" provisions in Article 75 of the Constitution of the Irish Free State. It was abolished by the Courts of Justice Act 1924, which replaced it with a new High Court. With only two exceptions, the judges of the old High Court were retired on a generous pension.
In Northern Ireland a new Supreme Court of Judicature was created in 1978, although the basic court structure remained largely unchanged.