John Doherty, Q.C. (1785–1850) was an Irish politician,

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 ...

and senior judge, who became Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas.

Background and education

Doherty was born in

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 ...

, the second surviving son of John Doherty and his wife Margaret Verney. His father, an attorney, died before 1803. He was educated at

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

School and

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 ...

, entered 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 ...

, and 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 ...

1808. He had a family connection through his father with the leading statesman

George Canning George Canning (; 11 April 17708 August 1827) was a British Tory statesman. He held various senior cabinet positions under numerous prime ministers, including two important terms as foreign secretary, finally becoming Prime Minister of the U ...

, which was useful to him in his career. Doherty's father's mother (so his grandmother) was Abigail Canning, the sister of George Canning's grandfather.

Legal and judicial career

Doherty was made a

King'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 1823 (becoming a Queen's Counsel with the accession of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

to the Throne in 1837). He was Member of Parliament for

New Ross New Ross (, formerly ) is a town in southwest County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, on the River Barrow on the border with County Kilkenny, northeast of Waterford. In 2022, it had a population of 8,610, making it the fourth-largest t ...

, Kilkenny City and Newport (Cornwall) and served as

from 1827 to 1830. He was a Bencher of the King's Inns. In 1830 he 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 ...

, in which office he remained until his death from heart disease in 1850. As a judge, he was described as courteous and painstaking, but not deeply learned. As Solicitor-General he is remembered mainly for prosecuting the ' Doneraile Conspiracy' case in 1829, and for his ferocious clashes with

Daniel O'Connell Daniel(I) O’Connell (; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilisation of Catholic Irelan ...

, who appeared as defence counsel for several of the accused and secured their acquittals. O'Connell attacked both Doherty's tactics and his integrity, openly accusing him of conniving in the conviction of innocent men: he repeated the attacks in

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

where Doherty successfully defended his conduct. The enmity between the two men lasted till death.

Reputation

While O'Connell had a very poor opinion of Doherty (as he did of many of the Irish judges at the time, notably Thomas Lefroy), and treated his appointment as Chief Justice as a personal insult, most of his colleagues on the Bench admired Doherty's legal ability (though not a profound legal scholar, he had a great knowledge of Court procedures). At the same time, they probably agreed with O'Connell that his rapid advancement was due to his reputation as a safe "Government man". However, he did have certain principles: in particular, he was a convinced believer in Catholic Emancipation. As a judge he lobbied repeatedly for 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 ...

, but without success.

Personal life

Doherty married Elizabeth Lucy Wall, daughter of Charles William Wall, in 1822. They had seven children, including John, the eldest son and heir. His main residence was St. Helen's, Booterstown, which he bought in 1830, and to which he made several improvements. He also had a townhouse at Ely Place and a farm, called "Blacklion", in

County Carlow County Carlow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county located in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region of Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Carlow is the List of Irish counties by area, second smallest and t ...

. He died while on his annual summer holiday at

Beaumaris Beaumaris (; ) is a town and community (Wales), community on the Anglesey, Isle of Anglesey in Wales, of which it is the former county town. It is located at the eastern entrance to the Menai Strait, the tidal waterway separating Anglesey fro ...

Anglesey Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...

. In private life, he was noted as a keen coin collector and for his speculations, often unlucky, on the

Stock Exchange A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for ...

. Due to his exceptional height, he was nicknamed "Long Jack". His courtroom manner was described as "theatrical and pompous", and his consciously "refined" accent made him an easy target for parody by opponents. On the other hand, his charm and sense of humour made him a popular figure in Dublin society.Geoghegan, Patrick M. ''King Dan- the rise of Daniel O'Connell'' Gill and Macmillan Dublin 2008

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Doherty, John 1785 births 1850 deaths Solicitors-general for Ireland Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Politicians from Dublin (city) Alumni of Trinity College Dublin UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Newport (Cornwall) 19th-century King's Counsel Chief justices of the Irish Common Pleas Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Kilkenny constituencies (1801–1922) Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Wexford constituencies (1801–1922) Lawyers from Dublin (city)