Cecil Patrick Linton Lavery (6 October 1894 – 17 December 1967) was an Irish lawyer, judge and politician who served as a Judge of the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

from 1950 to 1966 and

Attorney General of Ireland The Attorney General of Ireland ( ga, An tArd-Aighne) is a constitutional officer who is the legal adviser to the Government and is therefore the chief law officer of the State. The attorney general is not a member of the Government but does pa ...

from 1948 to 1950. He served as a

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish language, Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas, Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms s ...

(TD) for the

Dublin County "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

constituency from 1935 to 1938. He was also a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

for the

Cultural and Educational Panel The Cultural and Educational Panel () is one of five vocational panels which together elect 43 of the 60 members of Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland). The Cultural and Educational Panel elects five s ...

from 1948 to 1950.

Early life

Born at English Street in Armagh, Lavery was the son of Patrick Lavery, a solicitor, and Annie Rose (née Vallely). He was educated at St Patrick's School, Armagh,

Castleknock College Castleknock College ( ga, Coláiste Caisleán Cnucha) is a voluntary Vincentian secondary school for boys, situated in the residential suburb of Castleknock, west of Dublin city centre, Ireland. Founded in 1835 by Philip Dowley, it is one ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

; and later at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

(UCD), where he became one of the first auditors of the UCD Law Society. In 1927, he was appointed to set up a "Memorial Committee" by W. T. Cosgrave, President of the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independ ...

Executive Council in order to advance the process of the

Irish National War Memorial Gardens The Irish National War Memorial Gardens ( ga, Gairdíní Náisiúnta Cuimhneacháin Cogaidh na hÉireann) is an Irish war memorial in Islandbridge, Dublin, dedicated "to the memory of the 49,400 Irish soldiers who gave their lives in the Great W ...

where an impasse situation had evolved.

Career

Lavery was elected to

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland r ...

on his first attempt, at a by-election held on 17 June 1935 in the

constituency, after the death of Fine Gael TD Batt O'Connor. He was returned to the

9th Dáil 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra a ...

at the 1937 general election, but the following year at the 1938 general election, he lost his seat to his Fine Gael running-mate Patrick Belton. Lavery had sympathetic views of fascism stating "Fascism has done much good in countries that have adopted it and may prove a satisfactory government for other countries in time to come. He did not stand for election again until 1948, when he was elected to the

6th Seanad This is a list of the members of the 6th Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland. These Senators were elected or appointed in 1948, after the 1948 general election and served until the close of poll for th ...

as a Senator for the

, and was appointed as

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the offi ...

John A. Costello. Costello made two controversial decisions on Lavery's appointment; reversing the practice of many years he decided that Lavery could continue in private practice and that such fees as were paid to him as Attorney General should count as part of his income rather than be paid into the Exchequer. Costello justified both decisions on the ground that Lavery was one of the Bar's top earners and had taken a considerable pay cut as Attorney General. As Attorney General, he advised on several difficult issues, notably devaluation of the currency and fishing rights in

Lough Foyle Lough Foyle, sometimes Loch Foyle ( or "loch of the lip"), is the estuary of the River Foyle, on the north coast of Ireland. It lies between County Londonderry in Northern Ireland and County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland. Sovereignty over t ...

which were claimed by both Governments, North and South. He left the Seanad on 21 April 1950, when he was appointed as a judge of the

, where he served till his retirement in 1966. He was offered the presidency of the High Court but withdrew his name, apparently after the Department of Justice raised a question about his qualifications. In 1961, on the retirement of Conor Maguire, Costello lobbied hard for Lavery to be appointed

Chief Justice of Ireland The Chief Justice of Ireland ( ga, Príomh-Bhreitheamh na hÉireann) is the president of the Supreme Court of Ireland. The chief justice is the highest judicial office and most senior judge in Ireland. The role includes constitutional and admin ...

, calling him with perhaps some exaggeration "the outstanding Irish legal figure of the last half-century". He later lobbied, also unsuccessfully, for Lavery to be appointed a judge of the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...

(apparently the only time an Irish candidate was even considered).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lavery, Cecil 1894 births 1967 deaths Fine Gael TDs Attorneys General of Ireland Members of the 8th Dáil Members of the 9th Dáil Members of the 6th Seanad Irish barristers Judges of the Supreme Court of Ireland Alumni of University College Dublin People educated at Castleknock College Fine Gael senators People educated at St Patrick's Grammar School, Armagh