The Recorder of Dublin was a judicial office holder in pre-Independence Ireland.
The post of Lord President of Munster was the most important office in the English government of the Irish province of Munster from its introduction in the Elizabethan era for a century, to 1672, a period including the Desmond Rebellions in Munster, the Nine Years' War, and the Irish Rebellion of 1641. The Lord President was subject to the Lord Deputy of Ireland, but had full authority within the province, extending to civil, criminal, and church legal matters, the imposition of martial law, official appointments, and command of military forces. Some appointments to military governor of Munster were not accompanied by the status of President. The width of his powers led to frequent clashes with the longer established courts, and in 1622 the President, Donogh O'Brien, 4th Earl of Thomond, was warned sharply not to "intermeddle" with cases which were properly the business of those courts. He was assisted by a Council whose members included the Chief Justice of Munster, another justice and the Attorney General for the Province. By 1620 his council was permanently based in Limerick.
Sir Maziere Brady, 1st Baronet, PC (Ire) was an Irish judge, notable for his exceptionally long, though not particularly distinguished tenure as Lord Chancellor of Ireland.
Dominick Sarsfield, 1st Viscount Sarsfield of Kilmallock was an Irish peer and judge who became Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas, but was removed from office for corruption and died in disgrace.
Sir Gerard Lowther (1589–1660), sometimes referred to as Gerald Lowther, was a member of the well-known Lowther family of Westmoreland. He had a distinguished judicial career in Ireland, becoming Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas, although his enemies claimed his success was due to a complete lack of moral principles.
The Court of Castle Chamber was an Irish court of special jurisdiction which operated in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Sir Nicholas Walsh (1542–1615) was an Irish judge, politician and landowner of the late Tudor and early Stuart era. He was Speaker of the Irish House of Commons in the Parliament of 1585–86 and a close ally of the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Sir John Perrot. Perrot's downfall did some short-term damage to Walsh's career, but he soon regained his influence, as he was noted for his loyalty to the English Crown, and enjoyed the Queen's personal regard.
Sir George Shurley (1569–1647) was an English-born judge who held the office of Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. Uniquely among the holders of that office, he ranked as junior in precedence to the Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas.
William Saxey or Saxei was an English-born judge in Ireland of the late Elizabethan and early Stuart era. He was an unpopular and controversial figure with a reputation for corruption and misanthropy.
The chief justice of Connacht was the senior of the judges who assisted the Lord President of Connaught in judicial matters. Despite the chief justice's title, full judicial powers were vested in the Lord President, whose office was established in 1569. Ralph Rokeby was appointed the first chief justice of Connacht, with Robert Dillon as his second justice. Rokeby found his principal duty as chief justice, the introduction of the common law into Connacht, to be a thankless task, writing gloomily to the Government in London that the people of the province "are not willing to embrace justice".
Sir John Meade, 1st Baronet (1642–1707) was an Irish barrister, judge and politician. He was the first of the Meade Baronets of Balintubber, and an ancestor of the Earls of Clanwilliam. He was unusual among the lawyers of his time for his lack of ambition to become a judge of the High Court, despite being generally regarded as a barrister of "excellent parts (qualities)". In matters of religion, he seems to have been, by the standards of his time, a man of very tolerant views: although he was himself a Protestant, he damaged his career by marrying Elizabeth Butler, who was a Roman Catholic, as his third wife.
Gerald Comerford (c.1558–1604), was an Irish barrister, judge and statesman of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. He sat in the House of Commons in the Irish Parliament of 1585–6, and briefly held office as Chief Justice of Munster and as a Baron of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland). He profited from his close family association with the Earl of Ormond. Comerford rose rapidly in the public service to become a trusted servant of the English Crown, and would probably have become one of the dominant political figures in the southeast of Ireland had it not been for his early death.
Henry Gosnold or Gosnell was an English-born lawyer who spent most of his very long life in Ireland. He sat in the Irish House of Commons and held office as Chief Justice of Munster and Deputy Admiralty judge for the same province. He is now mainly remembered for his friendship with Francis Bacon. He was also famous in his own lifetime for his wit: a few of his jokes still survive.
Sir Robert Travers was an Irish judge, soldier and politician of the early seventeenth century. Despite his unenviable reputation for corruption, he had a highly successful career until the outbreak of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, when he went into opposition to King Charles I. He fought on the side of the Irish Parliament, and was killed at the Battle of Knocknanuss. He was a nephew of the poet Edmund Spenser, and was the founder of a notable military dynasty.
The recorder of Cork was a judicial office holder in pre-Independence Ireland. The recorder was the chief magistrate of Cork city: his principal duty was to keep the peace. The office was very similar to that of the recorder of Dublin, except that the recorder of Cork, unlike his Dublin counterpart, did not have the power to preside over any trial involving a capital crime. A statute of 1877 stated that wherever possible the recorder should also be the Chairman of the Cork East Riding Quarter Sessions. The office of the recorder of Cork, like the recorder of Dublin, was an onerous one, involving at least two sittings of the Court every week; as a rule, the recorder had a deputy recorder to assist him. William Waggett, appointed in 1808, delegated all his duties to his Deputy Mr. Wilmot until the latter died in 1815.
William Meade was an Irish lawyer and judge of the Elizabethan era who held office as Recorder of Cork. He was a popular but controversial public figure who was accused, with good reason, of leading an abortive revolt against the English Crown in 1603. He was tried for treason but acquitted. Soon afterwards he fled from Ireland and died in exile in Italy.
Luke Gernon was an Irish judge who held office in seventeenth-century Ireland. He is best remembered today for his manuscript called A Discourse of Ireland. The Discourse was written in 1620, and was first published in 1904.
William Halsey was a politician, soldier and judge in seventeenth-century Ireland. He was Mayor of Waterford, a member of each of the three Protectorate Parliaments, and the last Chief Justice of Munster.
Sir Lawrence Parsons was an English-born barrister, judge and politician in seventeenth-century Ireland, who enjoyed a highly successful career, despite frequent accusations of corruption and neglect of official duty. His success owed much to the patronage of his uncle Sir Geoffrey Fenton, of his cousin by marriage Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, and of the prime Royal favourite, the Duke of Buckingham. He was the ancestor of the Earl of Rosse of the second creation. He rebuilt Birr Castle, which is still the Parsons family home.
The recorder of Kinsale was a judicial office-holder in pre-independence Ireland. He was the chief magistrate of the town of Kinsale. Given the population of the town, which has fluctuated between 5000 and 7000 over the years, the need for a full-time judge may be questioned. However Kinsale has been a chartered town since 1334, and the charter granted by Elizabeth 1 in 1589 explicitly provided for the office of Recorder, as did that granted to Clonakilty by James I in 1613. The first recorder of Kinsale whose name is definitely known is Robert Slighe, who served in that office between approximately 1601 and 1615.
