This is a list of lawyers who held the rank of serjeant-at-law at the Bar of Ireland.
Origins of the office of serjeant
The first recorded serjeant was Roger Owen, who was appointed between 1261 and 1266, although the title itself was not used in Ireland until about 1388. The earlier terms were "serviens", "King's Narrator" "King's Pleader" or "Serjeant Pleader". The term King's Pleader was still in use in the 1470s. There is a reference to Richard le Blond as the King's "Serjeant Pleader" in 1305 or 1306. In the early years of the office, appointment as serjeant might be temporary and might cover only a part of the country, although John de Neville was acting as Serjeant in 1295-6 "for all parts of Ireland".Hart p. 14 Roger l'Enfant in the late 1370s pleaded mainly in Cork City, and Walter Cotterell in Munster As a rule, the Serjeant was licensed to appear in all of the Royal Courts, although John Haire in 1392 was described as "Serjeant-at-law of our Lord the King in the Common Pleas".Hart pp.20, 21, 171
The role of the Serjeant-at-law
The serjeant's duties were numerous and varied.Casey p.8 Early serjeants spent much time suing to recover Royal lands which had been unlawfully disposed of, and recovering other Crown property like weirs and fisheries. They also spent a surprisingly large amount of time protecting the Crown's right of advowson: i.e. the right of nomination of a parish priest to a particular church (many private landowners also acquired the right).
In 1537 a Royal Commission on law reform considered recommending the abolition of the office of Serjeant, and the transfer of his functions to the Attorney General, but nothing came of the proposal, probably due to firm opposition from the Serjeant-at-law of the day, Patrick Barnewall, who argued that the Serjeant-at-law had argued in Court on the Crown's behalf for 200 years, and that the existing system worked perfectly well.Hart p.30
In 1597 the Serjeant was called "a principal officer by ancient custom", although the meaning of "principal officer" is unclear.
In contrast to England, for many years there was only one serjeant-at-law in Ireland, who was known as the "king's serjeant" or simply "serjeant". In 1627 another officeholder was appointed, and the two were known as the "prime serjeant" and "second serjeant". In 1682 a "third serjeant" was appointed. In 1805 the prime serjeant became known as "first serjeant."
Until the nineteenth century, the need for three serjeants was often questioned, especially as the office of Third Serjeant was often left vacant for several years. The position of third serjeant was created simply as a form of "consolation prize" for Sir John Lyndon, the first holder of the office, who had been passed over as both a High Court judge and as second serjeant, and that no particular duties attached to the office. Certainly, Sir Richard Ryves, the Recorder of Dublin, was able to combine the notoriously gruelling office of recorder with the position of third serjeant, and later second serjeant. This suggests that he was not overworked in his role as serjeant, despite the chronic ill-health which eventually incapacitated him. Alan Brodrick, 1st Viscount Midleton, who was removed from his office of third serjeant in 1692, complained that his dismissal was unwarranted, but admitted that in his two years in the office, he had almost no work to do. Hewitt Poole Jellett, second serjeant in the early 1900s, was so old that his office was clearly an honorary one.Hart p.123
Emoluments The position was extremely lucrative, at least until the late eighteenth century. Although in theory the salary in the 1690s was fixed at £30 a year (it had been £20 in 1620), it was well known that in practice the various perquisites attached to the office brought it up to between £900 and £1000 a year, in addition to what the office holder earned from private fees, as it was the serjeant's right to continue to take briefs on behalf of clients other than the Crown. In the early centuries, it was apparently normal procedure for the Serjeants to take private work,Hart p. 13 although it was understood that Crown work took precedence: a retainer agreement made between William of Bardfield, King's Serjeant, and his client Nicholas, son of John of Interberge, in the early 1300s spells this out. In the early centuries the Serjeant might be paid for his Crown work in a single session of the Court, as for example, Roger L' Enfant was in 1377.
By the late nineteenth century, according to Maurice Healy, the rule had grown up that the Serjeants could not take cases against the Crown,Healy p.84 and by then they had ceased to receive a salary; the assurance of a steady supply of Crown work was felt to be a sufficient reward.
Politics and precedence From the fourteenth century on, the serjeant usually had a seat in the Irish House of Commons.Hart p.16 As a government officeholder, he was expected to manage parliamentary business in the Commons on the government's behalf. Because he was a government appointment he was liable to summary dismissal on a change of government, as happened most notably in 1714, on the accession of the House of Hanover. In the early centuries he was invariably a member of the Privy Council of Ireland; later the attorney general took his place (as early as 1441 Stephen Roche, the king's attorney, is recorded as a member of the Council). In 1441 it was noted that the Serjeant-at-law must attend at his own expense all meetings of Council and Parliament "wherever they are held in Ireland".
The serjeants-at-law ranked ahead of the Attorney-General for Ireland and the Solicitor-General for Ireland (on several occasions one man held both the offices of Serjeant and Solicitor General) until 1805, when the law officers took precedence, the office of prime serjeant being downgraded to first serjeant, with precedence over the other two serjeants but not the law officers.Haydn, p. 590 From about 1660 onwards they were expected to consult with the Attorney General and were discouraged from acting on their own initiative: in 1692 the prime serjeant, John Osborne, was dismissed for repeatedly acting in opposition to Crown policy.Hart pp.89–91 From the 1560s on the serjeants acted as "messengers" to the Irish House of Commons i.e. they were summoned to advise the House on points of law, just as the High Court judges advised the Irish House of Lords. The role of messenger lapsed around 1740.Hart p.62
Many sixteenth-century serjeants, including Thomas Rochfort, Thomas Luttrell, Patrick Barnewall and John Bathe, were solicitors-general at the same time, suggesting that the latter office was the most junior of the Law Officers and that the duties were not very onerous. At least one serjeant of the era, Richard Finglas, combined the office of serjeant with the subordinate office of Principal Solicitor for Ireland.Smyth p.173
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the serjeants often acted as extra judges of assize, or in another minor judicial capacity. Although the practice had its critics, it survived intermittently into the nineteenth century: Walter Berwick was chairman of the East Cork Quarter Sessions from 1856 to 1859, while also serving as serjeant, and Sir John Howley was both serjeant-at-law and chairman of the County Tipperary Quarter Sessions for 30 years. Howley however was criticised for what was called his "legal pluralism".Hart p.118 At least one serjeant, Sir John Bere (1609–17), went as a judge of assize while sitting as an MP in the Parliament of 1613-15, which would be considered grossly improper nowadays, although Irish judges then were often encouraged by the Crown to sit in the Commons.Hart p.50
Many, but not all, serjeants went on to become judges of one of the courts of common law. The career of Hewitt Poole Jellett followed a somewhat unusual path in that he was appointed serjeant after retiring from office as chairman of the Quarter Sessions for Queen's County (now County Laois) and returning to practice at the Bar. Even more surprisingly, he remained a serjeant for life and was still in office when he was eighty-five. Joseph Stock was a judge of the Irish Admiralty Court both before and during his long tenure as serjeant (1840–51), although he was clearly only a part-time judge.Thom's Directory of Ireland 1850
Abolition of the office of serjeant No serjeants were appointed after 1919, and on the establishment of the Irish Free State, the rank ceased to exist. The last surviving serjeant, Alexander Sullivan, moved to England where he practised at the English Bar, and as a mark of courtesy was always addressed as Serjeant Sullivan.
King's serjeants, 1261–1627 1261: Roger Owen 1270: Robert of St. Edmund 1281: John Fitzwilliam 1292: John de Ponz (also called John de Ponte or John of Bridgwater) 1293: John de Neville 1297: William of Bardfield 1297: Richard le Blond 1310: Matthew of Harwood 1316 Nicholas de SnyterbyHart p.9 1319: John of Staines 12 February 1326: Simon Fitz-Richard 29 September 1327 John of Cardiff, also called John de la BattalkThe National Archives Officers in Ireland anno primo R. Edward III with their yearly fees 29 September 1327 John Gernoun 1331 Thomas de Dent 3 December 1341: Hugh Brown 1 June 1343: William le Petit 1348: Robert Preston, later 1st Baron Gormanston 1356: John Keppock 1358: Richard White 19 November 1363: Edmund de Bereford, or Edmund of Barford 1373/4: John Tirel, or Tyrell 18 April 1375: Richard Plunkett 1375: Walter Cotterell Before June 1377: Roger L' Enfant. He was described as "continuously acting as King's Pleader at the Cork sessions" that year, and received a special fee of 20 shillings as his reward.Close Roll 51 Edward III 1383: Peter Rowe 1386: Richard Glynon 24 September 1388: John Bermyngham 1392: John Haire, described as "Serjeant of our Lord the King in the Common Pleas" 1393: Nicholas White 1406: James Uriell 10 December 1420: Maurice Stafford Close Roll 9 Henry V 20 October 1422: Christopher Bernevall 8 November 1434: Sir Thomas Fitz-Christopher Plunket 20 June 1435: Robert Dowdall 4 February 1437: Edward Somerton 24 June 1447 : Thomas Snetterby 1460: Peter Trevers 1462: Thomas Dowdall 1463: Philip Bermingham 1471: Henry Duffe 1477: John Estrete 1496: Thomas Kent 1501: John Egyr 1504: John Barnewall, 3rd Baron Trimlestown 1506: Clement Fitzleones 1509: Patrick Finglas 1511: Thomas Rochfort 1516: Thomas Fitzsimons 1520: Robert Barnewall (King's Serjeant) 1532: Sir Thomas Luttrell 1534: Patrick Barnewall 1550: Sir John Bathe 11 September 1554: Richard Finglas 21 February 1574: Edward Fitz-Symon 9 May 1594: Arthur Corye 1 November 1597: Sir Edward Loftus 8 June 1601: Nicholas Kerdiffe 9 February 1609: Sir John Bere 13 May 1617: Sir John BreretonHaydn, p. 591
Prime serjeants, 1627–1805 23 May 1627: Sir John Brereton 6 October 1629: James Barry August 1634: Sir Maurice Eustace 20 September 1660: Sir Audley Mervyn 26 October 1675: Sir William Davys by 1680: John Osborne (succeeded under a patent of reversion dated 29 August 1676; removed from office in 1686) 15 February 1687: Garrett Dillon 29 September 1690: John Osborne (restored to office in 1690, removed a second time in 1692) 29 December 1692: Nehemiah Donnellan 5 November 1695: Sir Thomas Pakenham 1 December 1703: Robert Saunders 28 February 1708: William Neave 8 December 1714: William Caulfeild 11 August 1711: Robert Blennerhassett 9 February 1712: Morley Saunders 13 June 1715: Godfrey Boate 23 June 1716: Robert Fitzgerald 26 January 1724: Francis Bernard 22 June 1726: Henry Singleton 14 January 1742: Arthur Blennerhassett 9 May 1743: Anthony Malone 24 January 1754: Eaton Stannard 6 October 1757: William Scott 27 July 1759: Thomas Tennison 11 December 1761: John Hely-Hutchinson 18 July 1774: James Dennis 24 July 1777: Walter Hussey Burgh 14 June 1780: James Browne