295:, to plead with him to take the case. O'Connell who had previously refused to take the brief, now accepted it and started out for Cork immediately. He arrived in Court just as the second trial – of Edmund Connors, Michael Wallace, Patrick Lynch and Timothy Barrett- was beginning. Pennefather- an old friend and colleague from the
283:
On 23 October 1829 four of the accused – John Leary, James Roche, James McGrath and
William Shine – were tried. No criticism has been made of the judges' conduct of the trial, but partly because they lacked defence counsel of the skill of O'Connell, all were found guilty and sentenced to death (their
333:
in 1856 into the alleged incapacity of a number of Irish High Court judges pointed to
Pennefather's age and physical disabilities, but the Bar responded with so eloquent a tribute to his ability that the matter was dropped. He eventually retired a few months before his death. He died rather suddenly
270:
How much truth there was in the Dalys' testimony is difficult to determine. As
Geoghegan remarks, it is likely that a few of the accused were guilty at least of the attack on Norcott, but that most of them were innocent of any crime. The danger, as in most conspiracy trials, was that no distinction
316:
about the alleged conspiracy, which was utterly inconsistent with the testimony that he had given at the trials. Pennefather, who had sent to
Doneraile for the original deposition, realised that it was evidence the defence must see. He then charged the jury in such a manner that a verdict of not
299:
Circuit- allowed O'Connell to appear for the defence and, to the annoyance of the prosecution, even allowed him to eat his breakfast in Court. O'Connell subjected the Crown's witnesses, in particular
Patrick Daly, to merciless cross-examination and pointed to numerous inconsistencies in their
350:
describes him as a "sound, able, and upright judge, skilled in the digestion and elucidation of evidence, courteous in his bearing and in criminal cases lenient". He was well versed in every branch of jurisprudence; and yet curiously, he was a judge who left behind very few judgments of any
251:, a few days earlier, a number of men had entered a sworn agreement to kill several local landlords, including Michael Creagh. On foot of their evidence, 21 men were arrested and sent for trial. A Special Commission was set up to try them consisting of Pennefather and Mr. Justice
102:, sister of Sir Jonathan Lovett, 1st Baronet. Richard and Jane had eight children, of whom six reached adulthood and five, two sons and three daughters, survived their father. Their sons who reached adulthood were:
311:
On 29 October, John Burke and
William Shine stood trial. At the start of their trial, Pennefather called O'Connell to the Bench and handed him a document. It turned out to be Patrick Daly's original sworn
346:
Elrington Ball called him a model of "what is distinguished in professional, and admirable in private life". Geoghegan calls him "one of the finest judges of the period and a model of integrity". The
66:, and his wife Ellen Dobson. They were a junior branch of the long-established Pennefather family of Newpark, County Tipperary. The family emigrated to Ireland in about 1665. One of his brothers was
26:
of the nineteenth century, who enjoyed a reputation for legal ability and integrity. He has been highly praised, in particular, for his scrupulously impartial conduct of the politically sensitive
243:, John Norcott, was shot at, almost certainly by mistake for Michael Creagh. Several local landlords expressed their fears to the authorities that an uprising was imminent, and in April, two
354:
His conduct of the
Doneraile Trials, and in particular his ruling that the prosecution have an absolute duty to disclose all relevant evidence to the accused, was cited with approval by the
325:
Pennefather remained on the Bench until he was 86; he was held in such high esteem that the Bar resisted any suggestion that he should be asked to retire, even after he went
303:
The jury deliberated for so long that it became known as the "40-hour jury". Eventually, it acquitted
Timothy Barrett but could not agree on a verdict in the other 3 cases.
55:
619:
117:
639:
614:
330:
223:
While the Crown's motives in prosecuting the
Doneraile conspiracy trials have been questioned, many historians accept that there was a genuine
624:
107:
317:
guilty was inevitable. The
Solicitor General stated that no further trials would take place, and the Special Commission came to an end.
271:
would be made between the innocent and the guilty. That a major miscarriage of justice was averted owes a good deal to the eloquence of
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74:. Another of his brothers, the Rev. John Pennefather, was the father of the distinguished soldier, General Sir
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590:
531:
252:
187:
51:
141:
634:
629:
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the eldest, Richard (died 1849), a senior Crown official, who married Lady Emily Butler, daughter of
27:
272:
137:
247:, Patrick Daly and his cousin Owen, came forward with evidence that at a fair in Rathclare, near
224:
67:
63:
31:
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in 1795. He and his brother "the two Pennefathers" were among the leading practitioners in the
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and that it formed part of a wider pattern of agrarian disturbance, which had begun with the
407:
313:
202:, although Richard was generally regarded as a less gifted barrister than Edward. He became
75:
47:
589:
530:
99:
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In desperation, William Burke, a brother of John Burke, one of the accused, raised 100
235:
several unpopular landlords in the Doneraile area, notably Michael Creagh, the former
608:
191:
130:
426:
87:
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585:
526:
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organisation in the previous century. There is credible evidence of a plot to
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He was the eldest son of William Pennefather of Knockeevan, of Darling Hill,
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292:
264:
248:
244:
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70:, who was also a distinguished barrister and judge, and ended his career as
170:, later famous for his work in the United States, to rebuild Darling Hill.
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288:
183:
144:(1817–1893), daughter of Admiral James William King, also wrote hymns.
232:
140:(1816–1873), a noted preacher and author of several hymns; his wife,
335:
275:
but also to the integrity of the judges, Torrens and Pennefather.
23:
397:"Pennefather, William (1816–1873), Church of England clergyman"
334:
at his home at Knockeevan, County Tipperary, and was buried in
600:. Vol. 44. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 326.
541:. Vol. 44. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 326.
455:
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482:
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152:
Dorothea (1824–1861), who married as his first wife
406:(online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004.
395:
284:sentences were later commuted to transportation).
210:in 1821. He served on the Court for 38 years.
8:
30:Trials of 1829. He was the elder brother of
110:and Emily Jeffries, and was the father of
486:
471:
459:
444:
206:in 1816 and was appointed a Baron of the
118:Arthur Philip Stanhope, 6th Earl Stanhope
58:, and his wife, Ellen Moore, daughter of
569:The Judges in Ireland 1221–1921, Vol. 2
403:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
366:
578:King Dan: the rise of Daniel O'Connell
98:and his wife Jane Lovett of Liscombe,
521:
519:
7:
510:
498:
382:
108:Richard Butler, 1st Earl of Glengall
22:(1773–1859) was an Irish lawyer and
166:Pennefather employed the architect
154:Somerset Maxwell, 8th Baron Farnham
86:He married in 1798 Jane Bennett of
14:
620:Alumni of Trinity College Dublin
597:Dictionary of National Biography
538:Dictionary of National Biography
348:Dictionary of National Biography
291:and rushed to O'Connell's home,
96:Court of King's Bench (Ireland)
576:Geoghegan, Patrick M. (2008).
194:in 1792. He was called to the
1:
640:Barons of the Irish Exchequer
615:Lawyers from County Tipperary
580:. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan.
261:Solicitor General for Ireland
72:Lord Chief Justice of Ireland
36:Lord Chief Justice of Ireland
625:Members of the Middle Temple
591:"Pennefather, Richard"
532:"Pennefather, Richard"
427:UK public library membership
208:Court of Exchequer (Ireland)
567:Ball, F. Elrington (1926).
237:High Sheriff of County Cork
200:Court of Chancery (Ireland)
180:Portarlington, County Laois
661:
552:O'Callaghan v. Judge Mahon
239:. In January 1829 a local
50:, who was a member of the
645:19th-century Irish judges
263:, prosecuting. It sat in
356:Supreme Court of Ireland
279:The course of the Trials
571:. London: John Murray.
412:10.1093/ref:odnb/21868
306:
188:Trinity College Dublin
148:Their daughters were:
52:Irish House of Commons
16:Irish lawyer and judge
178:He went to school in
329:. An inquiry by the
190:in 1794 and entered
125:John (1814–1855), a
116:Evelyn, who married
28:Doneraile Conspiracy
138:William Pennefather
20:Richard Pennefather
68:Edward Pennefather
64:Archdeacon of Emly
32:Edward Pennefather
425:(Subscription or
267:in October 1829.
186:, graduated from
82:Wife and children
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331:House of Commons
273:Daniel O'Connell
214:Doneraile trials
76:John Pennefather
48:County Tipperary
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100:Buckinghamshire
94:, judge of the
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529:, ed. (1895).
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487:Geoghegan 2008
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472:Geoghegan 2008
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460:Geoghegan 2008
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445:Geoghegan 2008
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307:Judge's ruling
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204:King's Counsel
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142:Catherine King
136:the youngest,
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90:, daughter of
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415:. Retrieved
401:
390:
353:
351:importance.
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286:
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257:John Doherty
222:
182:and then in
177:
174:Early career
165:
147:
92:John Bennett
85:
60:Edward Moore
45:
19:
18:
635:1859 deaths
630:1773 births
586:Lee, Sidney
527:Lee, Sidney
609:Categories
554:2 I.R. 514
429:required.)
362:References
321:Later life
314:deposition
300:evidence.
225:conspiracy
219:Background
131:King's Inn
511:Ball 1926
499:Ball 1926
383:Ball 1926
358:in 2007.
342:Character
293:Derrynane
265:Cork City
249:Buttevant
245:informers
229:Whiteboys
196:Irish Bar
127:barrister
561:Sources
417:25 July
297:Munster
289:guineas
255:, with
253:Torrens
184:Clonmel
129:of the
113:Richard
423:
259:, the
241:doctor
233:murder
162:Susan.
56:Cashel
42:Family
336:Cahir
327:blind
159:Ellen
24:judge
419:2020
88:Cork
54:for
408:doi
611::
594:.
535:.
518:^
479:^
452:^
435:^
400:.
369:^
338:.
78:.
62:,
38:.
34:,
421:.
410::
156:.
133:.
120:.
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