The Attorney-General for Ireland was an Irish and then United Kingdom government office-holder. He was senior in rank to the Solicitor-General for Ireland: both advised the Crown on Irish legal matters. With the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, the duties of the Attorney-General and Solicitor-General for Ireland were taken over by the Attorney General of Ireland. The office of Solicitor-General for Ireland was abolished at the same time for reasons of economy. This led to repeated complaints from the first Attorney General of Ireland, Hugh Kennedy, about the "immense volume of work" which he was now forced to deal with single-handedly.
This is a list of lawyers who held the rank of serjeant-at-law at the Bar of Ireland.
Sir Thomas Luttrell was a wealthy Anglo-Irish landowner of the sixteenth-century Irish Pale. He was also a distinguished lawyer and judge who held the offices of King's Serjeant, Solicitor General for Ireland and Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas.
Patrick Barnewall was a leading figure in the Irish Government of the 1530s and 1540s. He owed his position largely to his close links with Thomas Cromwell. He sat in the Irish House of Commons as MP for County Dublin, and held the offices of Solicitor General for Ireland and Master of the Rolls in Ireland. Today he is mainly remembered for his role in founding the King's Inns. He belonged to a junior branch of the family of Lord Trimlestown: his own descendants held the title Viscount Barnewall of Kingsland.
The Court of Common Pleas was one of the principal courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror image of the equivalent court in England. Common Pleas was one of the four courts of justice which gave the Four Courts in Dublin, which is still in use as a courthouse, its name.
Sir Robert Bagod was an Irish judge who was appointed the first Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas in 1276. He built Baggotrath Castle, which was the strongest fortress in Dublin: it was located on present-day Baggot Street in central Dublin. He also founded the Carmelite Friary in Dublin.
Sir Simon Fitz-Richard was an Irish landowner, barrister and judge. He became Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas, and fought a long and successful campaign against the efforts of his enemies to remove him from office, despite the numerous accusations of corruption which were made against him.
William de Meones was an English-born cleric and judge in fourteenth-century Ireland, who was the second Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer. Today he is chiefly remembered for giving his name to the Dublin suburb of Rathmines.
John Gernoun, or Gernon was an Irish landowner, soldier and judge who held office as Serjeant-at-law (Ireland) and Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas. He gave good service to the Crown during the Scottish Invasion of 1315-18, but as a judge, he was accused of injustice.
Geoffrey de Morton was a wealthy merchant and shipowner in early fourteenth-century Dublin who served as Mayor of Dublin in 1303.
Thomas Dowdall, also spelt Dowdale, Douedall, or Dowedall, was an Irish barrister and judge who held the office of Master of the Rolls in Ireland.
Thomas Snetterby was an Irish barrister, King's Serjeant and Crown official of the fifteenth century. He was remembered long after his death for giving his name to Snetterby's orchard near Kevin Street, Dublin.
William of Bardfield, William de Berdefeld or William de Bardesfeld was an English-born lawyer of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth century who enjoyed a successful legal career in England before moving to Ireland, where he was successively Serjeant-at-law (Ireland), justice of the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland), and justice of the Court of the Justiciar of Ireland.
John de Ponz, also called John de Ponte, John Savan, or John of Bridgwater (c.1248–1307) was an English-born administrator, lawyer and judge in the reign of King Edward I. He served in the Royal Household in England for several years before moving to Ireland, where he practised in the Royal Courts as the King's Serjeant-at-law (Ireland). He later served as a justice in eyre, and then as a justice of the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland). He was a gifted lawyer, but as a judge was accused of acting unjustly. A case he heard in Kilkenny in 1302 can be seen as a precursor of the Kilkenny Witchcraft Trials of 1324, and involved several of the main actors in the Trials.
Sir William le Deveneys was a Crown administrator and judge in late thirteenth and early fourteenth century Ireland, who served very briefly as Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas.
Hugh Canoun, or Hugh Canon was an English-born judge in early fourteenth-century Ireland. He was a justice of the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland) and served as Deputy Justiciar of Ireland. As a judge he was praised for his good and faithful service to the English Crown, and as a lawyer he was known as "a man very knowledgeable about all the King's business". On the other hand, his loyalty to the Crown during the Bruce Invasion of Ireland in 1315-18 was said to be extremely doubtful, although he was saved from disgrace by his influential connections. He was murdered by Andrew de Bermingham of Athenry during the last months of the Bruce Invasion, in the course of a private feud.
Nicholas de Snyterby, or Snitterby was a Law Officer and judge in Ireland in the fourteenth century, who held office as King's Serjeant, Baron of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland) and justice of the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland).
Thomas de Snyterby was an English-born Crown official, cleric and judge in Ireland, in the reign of King Edward I of England. He was the first of several judges in Ireland belonging to the same family.
Sir Walter de la Haye, or de Haye was an English-born statesman and judge in Ireland of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, who served for many years as Sheriff of County Waterford and as Chief Escheator of Ireland, and briefly as Justiciar of Ireland. He was a conscientious official who was held in high regard by the English Crown, which protected him from accusations of corruption. He was also accused of high-handed behaviour as Escheator, in taking property into the King's hands for insufficient cause. He became a substantial landowner in two Irish counties. He had children, but his descendants seem to have died out within a couple of generations.
David le Blond was an Irish judge in the reign of King Edward II of England, who was notorious for corruption.