Stephen Woulfe (1787 – 2 July 1840) was an Irish

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

and Whig politician. He served as

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 1836 and as

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 1838. He was the first

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

to be appointed

Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer The Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer was the Baron (judge) who presided over the Irish Court of Exchequer. This was a mirror of the equivalent court in England, and was one of the four courts which sat in the building in Dublin which is still ...

. He died young, due to a combination of chronic ill-health and overwork.

Life

Woulfe was born at Tiermaclane House,

Ennis Ennis ( , meaning 'island' or 'river meadow') is the county town of County Clare, in the mid-west of Ireland. The town lies on the River Fergus, north of where the river widens and enters the Shannon Estuary. Ennis is the largest town in Cou ...

, County Clare in 1787, second son of Stephen Woulfe and Honora Woulfe (née McNamara), daughter of Michael Macnamara and Bridget Waters. His father was a third cousin to the great general

James Wolfe Major-general James Wolfe (2 January 1727 – 13 September 1759) was a British Army officer known for his training reforms and, as a major general, remembered chiefly for his victory in 1759 over the French at the Battle of the Plains of ...

; his mother was a sister of Admiral

James Macnamara Rear-Admiral James Macnamara (1768 – 15 January 1826) was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Born into a naval family, Macnamara served in the Eas ...

. Stephen was a younger son, and the family estates passed to his elder brother Peter. He was educated at the lay college at

St Patrick's College, Maynooth St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth (), is a pontifical Catholic university in the town of Maynooth near Dublin, Ireland Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mou ...

, before becoming one of the first Catholics to attend

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 ...

, where he studied law, before being called to the Bar in 1814. He was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for

Cashel Cashel (an Anglicised form of the Irish language word ''Caiseal'', meaning "stone fort") may refer to: Places in Ireland *Cashel, County Tipperary **The Rock of Cashel, an ancient, hilltop fortress complex for which Cashel is named ** Archbishop ...

at a by-election in 1835,and held the seat until his

resignation from the House of Commons As a constitutional convention, members of Parliament (MPs) sitting in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom are not formally permitted to resign their seats. To circumvent this prohibition, MPs who wish to step down are instead appointed ...

in 1838. He contributed little to the debates, due to his chronic ill-health. He showed great zeal in the fight for Catholic Emancipation; but incurred the hostility of

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 ...

by arguing that the Government was entitled to exercise a

royal veto of the appointment of bishops A royal veto of the appointment of bishops (also known as the Veto controversy in Irish history) was proposed in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1808 to 1829 during the move towards Catholic Emancipation. According to the ...

. O'Connell subjected Woulfe to public ridicule, asking "are the sheep to be left to the mercy of this wolf (Woulfe)"? Woulfe's views endeared him to the Government and this, together with his undoubted legal ability, ensured his rapid promotion to Law Officer, and then the Bench. The phrase "racy of the soil", though strongly associated with the

Young Ireland Young Ireland (, ) was a political movement, political and cultural movement, cultural movement in the 1840s committed to an all-Ireland struggle for independence and democratic reform. Grouped around the Dublin weekly ''The Nation (Irish news ...

movement, was originally coined by Woulfe, in a speech supporting the setting up of

municipal corporations Municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. The term can also be used to describe municipally ow ...

in Ireland.

Family

He was married to Frances Hamill, daughter of Roger Hamill of Dowth,

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 ...

, and had a son and a daughter. His son Stephen Roland Woulfe inherited the family estates from his uncle Peter in 1865 (but not Tiermacrane House, which was by then in a ruinous state). The judge's grandson Edward Sheil, the son of his daughter Mary Leonora Woulfe (died 1869) who married Sir Justin Sheil, was an

Irish Nationalist Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cult ...

MP. Lady Sheil was the author of ''Glimpses of Manners and Life in Persia'' (1856). Her daughter Laura married the Spanish

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

Pedro de Zulueta and was the mother of

Francis de Zulueta Francis de Zulueta, FBA (born Francisco Maria José de Zulueta, 12 September 1878 – 16 January 1958) was the Regius Professor of Civil Law at the University of Oxford from 1919 until 1948. Early life The son of Pedro Juan de Zulueta, Coun ...

, Regius Professor of Law at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. Another daughter Maria Emily married her cousin, the leading journalist John Woulfe Flanagan. His sister Mary, who married Terence Flanagan of Knockahill,

County Roscommon County Roscommon () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the province of Connacht and the Northern and Western Region. It is the List of Irish counties by area, 11th largest Irish county by area and Li ...

, named her son Stephen Woulfe Flanagan. The nephew followed his uncle to the Bar and Bench, ending his career as justice of the

Court of Chancery (Ireland) The Court of Chancery was a court which exercised equitable jurisdiction in Ireland 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 presided. Its final sitting plac ...

Chief Baron

According to Elrington Ball, the

Court of Exchequer (Ireland) The Court of Exchequer (Ireland), or the Irish Exchequer of Pleas, was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was the mirror image of the equivalent court in England. The Court of Exchequer was one of the four royal courts of jus ...

at this time had the heaviest workload of any of the Irish superior Courts, and its Chief Baron needed a strong physical constitution to cope with the burden of office. Despite his undoubted legal ability, Woulfe's chronic ill-health made him a very poor choice for the office, and indeed he did not seek it:

Maziere Brady Sir Maziere Brady, 1st Baronet, PC (Ire) (20 July 1796 – 13 April 1871) was an Irish judge, notable for his exceptionally long, though not particularly distinguished tenure as Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Background Brady was born at his paren ...

and Edward Pennefather were his own suggested candidates for Chief Baron. He finally yielded, though, to his party's pleas to take office and, in Ball's phrase, "the job killed him in two years". He went to

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...

in hope of a cure, but his health did not improve, and he died there on 2 July 1840 following an unsuccessful operation.

Character and appearance

Woulfe was described as a man "careless of attire, awkward and angular in his movements, but very effective in his utterances; no profound lawyer, but a man of quick and shrewd observation."

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Woulfe, Stephen 1787 births 1840 deaths Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Attorneys-general for Ireland Chief Barons of the Irish Exchequer Irish barristers Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Tipperary constituencies (1801–1922) Members of the Privy Council of Ireland People from Ennis Politicians from County Clare Serjeants-at-law (Ireland) Solicitors-general for Ireland UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 Whig (British political party) MPs for Irish constituencies 19th-century Irish lawyers Lawyers from County Clare