Alexander Martin Sullivan, SL (14 January 1871 – 9 January 1959) was an Irish lawyer, best known as the leading counsel for the defence in the 1916 treason trial of

Roger Casement Roger David Casement ( ga, Ruairí Dáithí Mac Easmainn; 1 September 1864 – 3 August 1916), known as Sir Roger Casement, CMG, between 1911 and 1916, was a diplomat and Irish nationalist executed by the United Kingdom for treason during Worl ...

. He was the last barrister in either Ireland or England to hold the rank of

serjeant-at-law A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of barristers at the English and Irish Bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law (''servientes ad legem''), or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are wri ...

, hence his nickname ''The Last Serjeant.''

Early life

A younger son of A M Sullivan and Frances Donovan, he was born in Dublin and educated at

Beaumont College Beaumont College was between 1861 and 1967 a public school in Old Windsor in Berkshire. Founded and run by the Society of Jesus, it offered a Roman Catholic public school education in rural surroundings, while lying, like the neighbouring Eto ...

Ushaw College Ushaw College (formally St Cuthbert's College, Ushaw), is a former Catholic seminary near the village of Ushaw Moor, County Durham, England, which is now a heritage and cultural tourist attraction. The college is known for its Georgian and Vict ...

, Belvedere College,

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

and King's Inns. Sullivan was called to the

Irish Bar The Bar of Ireland ( ga, Barra na hÉireann) is the professional association of barristers for Ireland, with over 2,000 members. It is based in the Law Library, with premises in Dublin and Cork. It is governed by the General Council of the Ba ...

in 1892 and practised on the Munster Circuit.

Barrister

He was appointed an Irish KC in 1908 and King's Third

Serjeant-at-law (Ireland) This is a list of lawyers who held the rank of serjeant-at-law at the Irish Bar. Origins of the office of serjeant The first recorded serjeant was Roger Owen, who was appointed between 1261 and 1266, although the title itself was not commonly ...

in 1912 advancing to Second Serjeant in 1913 and First Serjeant in 1919 – the last holder of that position. A moderate constitutional

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

and supporter of the

Irish Parliamentary Party The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP; commonly called the Irish Party or the Home Rule Party) was formed in 1874 by Isaac Butt, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nation ...

, Sullivan was a prominent campaigner for the recruitment of Irishmen into the British army during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. His opposition to

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...

republicanism and his prominent role in conducting prosecutions on behalf of the Crown during the Irish War of Independence led to an attempt on his life in 1920. In April 1921 Derry House,

Rosscarbery Rosscarbery () is a village and census town in County Cork, Ireland. The village is on a shallow estuary, which opens onto Rosscarbery Bay. Rosscarbery is in the Cork South-West (Dáil Éireann) constituency, which has three seats. History The ...

in County Cork, which Sullivan had purchased two years previously was burned by the IRA. As a result, Sullivan relocated to England in 1921 and established a career at the

English Bar Barristers in England and Wales are one of the two main categories of lawyer in England and Wales, the other being solicitors. Barristers have traditionally had the role of handling cases for representation in court, both defence and prosecutio ...

, having previously been called to the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

in 1899. He subsequently became a

Bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher ca ...

and Treasurer of

. By courtesy, he was always referred to as Serjeant Sullivan, even though that rank no longer existed in England. He remained a member of the Irish Bar, and returned to Dublin at least once in 1923 to appear in the celebrated case of ''Croker v Croker'', where the children of the former leader of

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...

, "Boss" Croker attempted to overturn his will, which left his entire estate to their stepmother.McCullagh, David ''The Reluctant Taoiseach'' p.43 Gill and MacMillan Dublin 2010 Sullivan appeared for Richard Croker junior. Despite his best efforts, the attempt to invalidate the will on the grounds of undue influence was unsuccessful. He was noted as a fearless advocate, who brought to his English practice the robust manners he had learned in the Irish county courts. He did not hesitate to interrupt the judge, and if he felt that he was not receiving a fair hearing, he was quite capable of walking out of Court.

Casement trial

In 1916 Sullivan was retained as lead counsel in the trial of Sir

for treason. No English barrister would defend Casement, and Sullivan was persuaded to take the case by

George Gavan Duffy George Gavan Duffy (21 October 1882 – 10 June 1951) was an Irish politician, barrister and judge who served as President of the High Court from 1946 to 1951, a Judge of the High Court from 1936 to 1951 and Minister for Foreign Affairs from J ...

, whose wife Margaret was Sullivan's sister. Despite his rank of Serjeant at law and King's Counsel at the Irish bar, Sullivan was at that time only ranked as a

junior barrister A junior barrister is a barrister who has not yet attained the rank of King's Counsel. Although the term is archaic and not commonly used, junior barristers (or "juniors") can also be referred to as utter barristers derived from "outer barristers ...

in England. As the facts relied on by the prosecution were largely undisputed, Sullivan was limited to arguing a technical defence that the

Treason Act 1351 The Treason Act 1351 is an Act of the Parliament of England which codified and curtailed the common law offence of treason. No new offences were created by the statute. It is one of the earliest English statutes still in force, although it has b ...

only applied to acts committed "within the realm" and not outside it. The Act's terms had however been expanded by case law over the previous 560 years, and the defence was rejected by the trial judges and by the Court of Criminal Appeal. Casement commented "God deliver from such antiquaries as these, to hang a man’s life upon a comma and throttle him with a semi-colon."

Memoirs

Sullivan wrote two books: ''Old Ireland'' in 1927 and ''The Last Serjeant'' in 1952. He retired from legal practice in 1949, and returned to Ireland to spend his last years there. He lived on Greenmount Road in

Terenure Terenure (), originally called ''Roundtown'', is an affluent, middle class suburb of Dublin in Ireland. It is located in the city's D6W postcode area. Location and transport Terenure lies primarily in the administrative area of Dublin City ...

, Dublin. He married in 1900 Helen Kelley, daughter of Major John Kelley of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York, and had issue.

Notes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, A. M. Sullivan, Serjeant A M Sullivan, Serjeant A M Serjeants-at-law (Ireland) 20th-century King's Counsel Sullivan, Serjeant A M Sullivan, Serjeant A M Sullivan, A M Sullivan, A M Members of the Inner Temple Catholic Unionists People of the Irish War of Independence Sullivan, Serjeant A M Alumni of Ushaw College People educated at Belvedere College Irish Queen's Counsel Alumni of King's Inns