The Court of Chancery was a court which exercised equitable jurisdiction in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

until its abolition as part of the reform of the court system in 1877. It was the court in which the

Lord Chancellor of Ireland The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland, commonly known as the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was the highest ranking judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 until the end of 1800, it was also the hi ...

presided. Its final sitting place was at the

Four Courts The Four Courts () is Ireland's most prominent courts building, located on Inns Quay in Dublin. The Four Courts is the principal seat of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court and the Dublin Circuit Court. Until 2010 the build ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, which still stands.

History

The Chancery in Ireland was set up in

1232 Year 1232 ( MCCXXXII) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * June 15 – Battle of Agridi: The Cypriot army under King Henry I ("the Fat") defeats the Lombard forces of Emperor Fre ...

, following the model of the

Court of Chancery The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the Common law#History, common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over ...

of England. The court was abolished under the

Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Ireland) 1877 The Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Ireland) 1877 ( 40 & 41 Vict. c. 57), often cited as the Supreme Court of Judicature (Ireland) Act 1877, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that brought about a major reorganisation of the s ...

and its jurisdiction transferred to the Chancery Division of the newly established

High Court of Justice in Ireland The High Court of Justice in Ireland was the court created by the Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Ireland) 1877 to replace the existing court structure in Ireland. Its creation mirrored the reform of the courts of England and Wales five years ...

, while the Lord Chancellor presided over the

Court of Appeal in Ireland The Court of Appeal in Ireland was created by the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland under the Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Ireland) 1877 as the final appellate court within Ireland, then under British rule. A l ...

. In 1920, the High Court was split into separate courts for

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

and Southern Ireland under the

Government of Ireland Act 1920 The Government of Ireland Act 1920 ( 10 & 11 Geo. 5. c. 67) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act's long title was "An Act to provide for the better government of Ireland"; it is also known as the Fourth Home Rule Bi ...

. While the Northern Ireland court still maintains a separate Chancery Division, the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

abolished the divisions of the High Court under the

Courts of Justice Act 1924 The Courts of Justice Act 1924 () was an Act of the Oireachtas (No. 10 of 1924) that established a new system of courts for the Irish Free State (now the 26 county only Republic of Ireland). Among the new courts was the Supreme Court of the I ...

. The High Court of Ireland still maintains a "chancery list", although any judge of the Court may now exercise its jurisdiction in equity.

Lord Chancellor of Ireland

In the early centuries of the office, the Lord Chancellor was a senior cleric, usually though not invariably an Englishman by birth. In the 15th and 16th centuries, a nobleman sometimes held the office, acting through a deputy. From the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

on, he was usually a trained lawyer, though the practice of appointing a senior cleric only ended with Michael Boyle,

Archbishop of Armagh The Archbishop of Armagh is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from the Episcopal see, see city of Armagh in Northern Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic success ...

, who retired in 1686. In addition to his judicial functions, the Lord Chancellor had a key political role. Until the

Acts of Union 1800 The Acts of Union 1800 were parallel acts of the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ireland which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland (previously in personal union) to create the United Kingdom of G ...

, he was Speaker of the

Irish House of Lords The Irish House of Lords was the upper house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from medieval times until the end of 1800. It was also the final court of appeal of the Kingdom of Ireland. It was modelled on the House of Lords of Englan ...

even though he often did not hold a

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

. After the Union, he was still required to advise both British and Irish Governments on a range of political and legal matters. He was often called on to steer legislation through the House of Lords: Lord O'Hagan was created a peer so that he might assist in passing the Supreme Court of Judicature Act.

Other office-holders

The office of

Master of the Rolls in Ireland The Master of the Rolls in Ireland was a senior judicial office in the Irish Chancery under English and British rule, and was equivalent to the Master of the Rolls in the English Chancery. Originally called the Keeper of the Rolls, he was respon ...

existed from the 14th century. Originally his functions were clerical, but in time he became in effect an assistant Lord Chancellor. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the office was notoriously a

sinecure A sinecure ( or ; from the Latin , 'without', and , 'care') is a position with a salary or otherwise generating income that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. The term originated in the medieval church, ...

for absentee English politicians, but from 1800 on a determined effort was made to appoint judges of real ability. In 1867 a new office of Vice-Chancellor was created to assist the Master of the Rolls at first instance. It was abolished in 1904; throughout its existence, the office was only held by one man,

Hedges Eyre Chatterton Hedges Eyre Chatterton (5 July 1819 – 30 August 1910) was an Irish Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom Parliament and subsequently Vice-Chancellor of Ireland. Biography He was born in Cork, the eldest son of ...

. The

Court of Appeal in Chancery in Ireland The Court of Appeal in Chancery was created in 1851 to hear appeals of decisions and decrees made in the Chancery Court. The appeals in the court were heard by the Lord Chancellor alone, or as a tripartite panel (supplemented by two Lords Justices ...

was created in 1857. The Lord Chancellor sat as a judge of appeal, with a single Lord Justice of Appeal in Chancery in Ireland to assist him. The drawback to this arrangement was that the two might disagree as Lord O'Hagan and

Jonathan Christian Jonathan Christian, SL, QC, PC (I) (17 February 1808 in Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary – 29 October 1887 in Dublin), was an Irish judge. He served as Solicitor-General for Ireland from 1856 to 1858. He was a judge of the Court of Common P ...

frequently did. In contrast, when the

was set up in 1878, it sat as a bench of three.

Business of the Court

Originally the Lord Chancellor was "keeper of the king's conscience", charged with giving relief in any case where the

courts of common law A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and administer justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law. Courts general ...

could not supply a remedy. In time, as in England, equity developed into a fully-fledged legal system in its own right, parallel to the common law. O'Flanagan, writing in 1870, noted that he had examined the Calendar of the Irish Court of Chancery in the reigns of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

and

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

, and found the ordinary business of the Court then to be quite similar to that of his own time: injunctions to stay proceedings in a

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

court, proceedings to compel a

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...

to make over an estate to the plaintiff, discovery of deeds, and actions to set aside deeds obtained by

fraud In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...

. Apart from the ordinary business of the Court, certain functions were reserved to the Lord Chancellor: care of minors and wards of court, discipline of

solicitors A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

and

coroners A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death. The official may also investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

, and removal of justices of the peace. In 1924 the special functions of the Lord Chancellor were vested in the

Chief Justice of Ireland The chief justice of Ireland () is the president of the Supreme Court of Ireland. The chief justice is the highest judicial office and the most senior judge in the Republic of Ireland. The role includes several constitutional and administrativ ...

; in 1936 responsibility for minors and wards of court was transferred to the President of the High Court and in 1960 discipline of solicitors was transferred to the President of the High Court.Solicitors (Amendment) Act 1960 s.25

References

Sources

Citations

External links

A Calendar of Irish Chancery Letters, c.1244–1509
is available as a free searchable database on www.virtualtreasury.ie {{Kingdom of Ireland 1232 establishments in Ireland Courts of equity

Chancery Chancery may refer to: Offices and administration * Court of Chancery, the chief court of equity in England and Wales until 1873 ** Equity (law), also called chancery, the body of jurisprudence originating in the Court of Chancery ** Courts of e ...

Courts and tribunals established in the 13th century Organizations established in the 1230s 1877 disestablishments in Ireland Courts and tribunals disestablished in 1877