James Henry Monahan (1803 – 8 December 1878) was one of the outstanding Irish

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

s of his time, and one of the first Irish

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to achieve judicial eminence. He held office as Attorney General for Ireland and Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas.

Background and education

Monahan was born in

Portumna Portumna (- meaning 'the landing place of the oak') is a market town in the south-east of County Galway, Ireland, on the border with and linked by a Portumna bridge, bridge to County Tipperary. The town is located to the west of the point where ...

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

, the son of Michael Monahan and his wife Mary Bloomfield, daughter of Stephen Bloomfield of Eyrecourt. He went to school in

Banagher Banagher ( or ) is a town in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, located in the midlands, on the western edge of County Offaly in the province of Leinster, on the banks of the River Shannon. The town had a population of 3,000 at the height of its ...

and graduated from

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

with a gold medal in 1823. He joined

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

in 1826, and the

King's Inns The Honorable Society of King's Inns () is the "Inn of Court" for the Bar of Ireland. Established in 1541, King's Inns is Ireland's oldest school of law and one of Ireland's significant historical environments. The Benchers of King's Inns aw ...

in 1823.

Professional career

Monahan was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1828 and became a

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1840. He was appointed

Solicitor-General for Ireland The Solicitor-General for Ireland was the holder of an Kingdom of Ireland, Irish and then (from the Act of Union 1800) United Kingdom government office. The holder was a deputy to the Attorney-General for Ireland, and advised the Crown on Irish ...

in 1846 and

Attorney-General for Ireland The Attorney-General for Ireland was an Kingdom of Ireland, Irish and then, from 1801 under the Acts of Union 1800, United Kingdom government office-holder. He was senior in rank to the Solicitor-General for Ireland: both advised the Crown on ...

in 1847, and briefly represented Galway Borough in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

. During this period he acted as principal counsel for the Crown in numerous State trials, including those of

John Mitchel John Mitchel (; 3 November 1815 – 20 March 1875) was an Irish nationalism, Irish nationalist writer and journalist chiefly renowned for his indictment of British policy in Ireland during the years of the Great Famine (Ireland), Great Famin ...

Thomas Francis Meagher Thomas Francis Meagher ( ; 3 August 18231 July 1867) was an Irish nationalism, Irish nationalist and leader of the Young Irelanders in the Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848, Rebellion of 1848. After being convicted of sedition, he was first sent ...

, Charles Gavan Duffy, and William Smith O'Brien. He was accused of packing juries, a charge he vehemently denied; a charge of anti-Catholic bias he laughed off by pointing out that he was a Catholic himself. As a lawyer, he was noted for his self-control even in times of acute crisis.

Judge

In 1850, Monahan was appointed

Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas The chief justice of the Common Pleas for Ireland was the presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Ireland, which was known in its early years as the Court of Common Bench, or simply as "the Bench", or "the Dublin bench". It was one of the ...

and held that office till 1876. He was generally agreed to have been one of the best Irish judges of his time: Elrington Ball states that during his long career he had the complete confidence of the Bar and the public, and it is notable that the Fenian trials of 1865-6 did not damage his reputation as they did that of his colleague William Keogh. He had the reputation of being "a thoroughly learned lawyer" but also one who brought strong common sense to bear on a problem. Even Lord Westbury, the English

Lord Chancellor The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...

, who disliked him, said patronisingly that Monahan "does know his law". Although he was impulsive and hot-tempered off the Bench, he was usually calm and controlled on it, and famed for his ability to "crush" counsel. Under stress according to one vivid description, he would "pace up and down the bench like a caged

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". He retired, due to failing health, in 1876, and died two years later. Of the civil trials he presided over the case which probably aroused the most interest was the Yelverton case, one of several cases heard in a number of countries where Major William Charles Yelverton, hoping to make a wealthy marriage, tried to rid himself of the inconvenience of his existing marriage to Maria Theresa Longworth. In Ireland initially, he failed, as the lady's legal team convinced the

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence, make Question of fact, findings of fact, and render an impartiality, impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty or Judgmen ...

that the marriage was valid (their verdict was reversed on appeal). In his last years he, like most of his colleagues, was much troubled by the level of violent crime in Ireland, in particular, the number of unsolved

murders Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse ...

, many of them apparently linked to agrarian feuds. Addressing the

Grand Jury A grand jury is a jury empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a person to testify. A grand ju ...

County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

in 1870, he referred to several recent sensational crimes in the county, none of which had been solved, and remarked that he feared the country was enduring a "reign of terror".

Personality and family life

Off the bench Monahan was a somewhat alarming personality: he was fierce in manner, impulsive, and give to peppering his conversation with swearwords. Lord Westbury, while grudgingly admitting his legal ability, referred to him disparagingly as "that voluble Irish savage".Delaney, op. cit. His many friends, however, insisted that his fierce manner concealed a genuine warmth of character. He married Fanny Harrington on 16 June 1832; they had two sons and six daughters, including James Henry Monahan, QC (d.1900). The marriage was a happy one and Fanny's death was a great blow to her husband; during his last years, he visited her grave at

Glasnevin Cemetery Glasnevin Cemetery () is a large cemetery in Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland which opened in 1832. It holds the graves and memorials of several notable figures, and has a museum. Location The cemetery is located in Glasnevin, Dublin, in two part ...

each week.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Monahan, James Henry Irish King's Counsel Solicitors-general for Ireland Attorneys-general for Ireland 1878 deaths 1803 births Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Galway constituencies (1801–1922) UK MPs 1841–1847 Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Chief justices of the Irish Common Pleas People from Portumna 19th-century Irish judges Lawyers from County Galway