143:
238:, who had an extremely poor opinion of O'Brien, called his conduct of the trials grossly unfair, in particular, the trial of Joe Brady, whose counsel in Healy's opinion were given inadequate time to prepare his defence. On the other hand, Senan Moloney, in his detailed account of the murders, makes no serious criticism of the judge. His summing-up may have indicated his belief in the guilt of all the accused, but this was permitted in the judge's summing up in Ireland, as also in England, and in fact, there is little doubt that they
19:
258:(1939). Since Healy was extremely proud of the overall quality of the Irish judiciary in his youth, it is interesting that he made an exception for O'Brien, whom he called "a man who worked more injustice in his daily round that the reader would believe possible". Healy's description of O'Brien must, however, be treated with caution: he was a child of twelve when the judge died, and although as a schoolboy he would sometimes attend Court when O'Brien was sitting, he admits that most of what he knew of him was second-hand.
276:
that the jury in determining the accused's guilt or innocence must not hear evidence of any prior convictions. In civil cases, though less biased, he was impatient and argumentative, but since most senior members of the Bar, at a time when barristers prided themselves on their frankness, had no respect for him he was unable to impose his authority in Court. Healy recalls a story that when O'Brien angrily told
Serjeant Ronan, one of the leaders of the
219:
73:. Elrington Ball regarded him as a fine criminal lawyer: Maurice Healy by contrast thought that he was rather lazy, with the traditional barrister's fault of arguing a case without having read his brief properly. Unlike most senior Irish barristers of his time, he was not a full-time politician, although he stood unsuccessfully for the
306:, in his definitive study of the pre-Independence Irish judiciary, gives a shorter but much more favourable view of O'Brien, whom he regarded as a good lawyer, and also a man of courage who was prepared to put his life in danger by presiding at the Phoenix Park trials. That O'Brien had his admirers is clear from his obituary in the
275:
Healy thought that O'Brien's conduct of the
Phoenix Park trials was unjust and that this was typical of his conduct in criminal cases in general: O'Brien invariably regarded the accused's guilt as self-evident, did everything possible to assist the prosecution, and disregarded the fundamental rule
226:
The only case which gave any real difficulty was that of Tim Kelly. He was still in his teens and of exceptionally youthful appearance: the impression, of which his defence counsel took full advantage, that a child was being tried for murder, took hold of the public's imagination. Two juries had
299:
is almost without precedent in the history of the Irish judiciary. The rumour must be treated with caution since as already noted Healy's knowledge of O'Brien was largely second-hand, nor does there seem to be any other evidence that the judge was corrupt.
142:
175:
The police were criticised in the press for conducting a dilatory investigation, but in fact, Superintendent John Mallon, who was in charge of the case, quickly learned the identity of the killers through his network of
310:
which called him a great judge in respect of learning, intellect and character. Healy believed that he lacked all these qualities, although he admitted that in private life the judge was a kindly and charitable man.
280:, that it is the judge's task to lay down the law, Ronan replied that if a judge does not know the law, as O'Brien clearly did not, it is counsel's task to teach it to him. On another occasion he asked
554:
203:
In a lengthy series of trials beginning on 11 April 1883 Joe Brady, Tim Kelly, Dan Corley, Thomas
Caffrey and Michael Fagan were tried and convicted for murder; all were subsequently
96:, who was almost all-powerful in the choice of judges. Apart from the Phoenix Park case, his most notable trial was of Patrick Delaney for the attempted murder of O'Brien's colleague
284:"where is your respect for this court?". Boyd, who was always famous for plain speaking, replied that "the Court is receiving the exact degree of respect it deserves".
215:) was acquitted of murder but served a prison sentence as an accessory, as did Patrick Delaney, the would-be assassin of Mr. Justice Lawson, and several others.
564:
172:, which had planned Burke's assassination. Cavendish, who was not the killers' intended target, intervened to save Burke and both men were stabbed to death.
111:
From the 1880s, O'Brien amassed a large and valuable collection of antiquarian books, which he bequeathed on his death to the Irish province of the
88:
admitted that he had not been highly thought of as a barrister, and it was believed that he owed his appointment to the influence of his friend the
74:
242:
all guilty. While the three trials of Tim Kelly caused some public unease, the decision to retry him was the
Government's, not the judge's.
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482:
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O'Brien also presided over the Lough Mask murder trials and many questions about his competence and impartiality remain unanswered.
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269:" who had to find fault with all aspects of the British administration of Ireland, of which Judge O'Brien was inevitably a part.
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29:(1832–1899) was an Irish judge. He is mainly remembered now for presiding at the trials which resulted from the
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A more serious charge which Healy repeated, and apparently thought credible, was that O'Brien once took a
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70:
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in 1882, serving in the Queen's Bench
Division until his death in 1899. Even his glowing obituary in the
69:. He built up a large practice and became wealthy enough to endow a chapel in Newman University Church,
120:
544:
539:
193:
132:
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30:
101:
62:
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168:, the long-serving Under-Secretary. They were attacked by members of a secret society, the
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227:
qualms about condemning him and he was convicted only after an unprecedented third trial.
222:
Grave of James
Fitzharris, alias ""Skin the Goat", the driver in the Phoenix Park murders
218:
105:
528:
54:
161:
115:, who put it up for auction in 2017. The collection includes a third folio of the
49:, son of John O'Brien and his wife Mary Bunbury of Kilfeade. He went to school at
46:
34:
37:, who created one of Ireland's most valuable collections of antiquarian books.
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66:
277:
177:
58:
180:, and within a few months arrested all of them, together with a number of
266:
197:
108:, and notably punctilious in his religious observance. He never married.
200:
against his fellow assassins, as were
Michael Kavanagh and Joe Hanlon.
112:
204:
265:
was a prominent nationalist barrister and an activist in the 1880s "
196:, the leader of the Invincibles, cracked: he was persuaded to turn
65:
in 1872. To supplement his earnings he also worked for a time as a
292:
288:
217:
141:
17:
366:
Historic Irish library could make more than £1.8m at auction
501:
judge, who was removed from office for corruption in 1830.
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Probably the fullest sketch of O'Brien's character is by
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in 1794 when facing charges of embezzlement, and of Sir
555:Judges of the High Court of Justice in Ireland
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104:trial at the end of 1882. He was a devout
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347:(Lafferty Publications, 1899), p. 1,208
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327:
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335:John Murray London 1926 Vol. ii p.374
7:
164:, near his official residence, with
565:People educated at Midleton College
445:1939 Mercier Press edition pp.12-26
261:In context, Maurice Healy's uncle
14:
481:Apart from the isolated cases of
230:
152:On 6 May 1882 the newly arrived
94:Sir Edward Sullivan, 1st Baronet
82:High Court of Justice in Ireland
80:He was appointed a judge of the
333:The Judges in Ireland 1221–1921
57:in 1852, and was called to the
291:to influence the outcome of a
1:
487:Court of Exchequer (Ireland)
117:Plays of William Shakespeare
154:Chief Secretary for Ireland
45:He was born at Bloomfield,
591:
170:Irish National Invincibles
130:
100:. He also presided at the
90:Lord Chancellor of Ireland
575:19th-century Irish judges
295:action; such a charge of
231:Judge's role at the trial
207:. The driver of the cab,
535:Lawyers from County Cork
383:The Phoenix Park Murders
158:Lord Frederick Cavendish
147:Lord Frederick Cavendish
443:The Old Munster Circuit
385:Mercier Press 2006 p.27
256:The Old Munster Circuit
119:and a first edition of
304:Francis Elrington Ball
223:
149:
33:. He was also a noted
23:
550:Members of Gray's Inn
221:
160:, went for a walk in
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21:
570:Irish King's Counsel
192:Under interrogation
133:Phoenix Park Murders
127:Phoenix Park Murders
98:James Anthony Lawson
31:Phoenix Park murders
331:Ball, F. Elrington
71:St. Stephen's Green
560:Irish bibliophiles
412:Moloney pp.217–232
394:Moloney pp.156–165
224:
150:
121:Gulliver's Travels
102:Lough Mask Murders
61:in 1855, becoming
24:
491:committed suicide
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495:Jonah Barrington
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209:James Fitzharris
75:House of Commons
51:Midleton College
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441:Healy, Maurice
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381:Moloney, Senan
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63:Queen's Counsel
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27:William O'Brien
22:William O'Brien
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345:The Accountant
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254:in his memoir
247:
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189:
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184:to the crime.
139:
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131:Main article:
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106:Roman Catholic
42:
39:
13:
10:
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3:
2:
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483:Richard Power
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421:Moloney p.221
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372:, 3 June 2017
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368:Danuta Kean,
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252:Maurice Healy
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236:Maurice Healy
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220:
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213:Skin-the-Goat
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497:, the Irish
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370:The Guardian
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263:Tim Healy MP
260:
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202:
191:
174:
166:Thomas Burke
162:Phoenix Park
151:
110:
85:
79:
44:
26:
25:
15:
545:1899 deaths
540:1832 births
463:Healy p.118
454:Healy p.120
282:Walter Boyd
211:(nicknamed
194:James Carey
182:accessories
47:County Cork
35:bibliophile
529:Categories
519:Ball p.321
510:Ball p.312
472:Healy p.32
356:Ball p.321
315:References
297:corruption
246:Reputation
67:journalist
55:Gray's Inn
53:, entered
308:Law Times
278:Irish Bar
178:informers
86:Law Times
77:in 1879.
59:Irish Bar
41:Biography
267:Land War
198:informer
138:Murders
113:Jesuits
205:hanged
188:Trials
293:libel
289:bribe
489:who
240:were
531::
426:^
322:^
156:,
123:.
92:,
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