Cecil Charles Hudson Moriarty, (1877–1958) was an Irish-born British police officer and

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

international. He won one cap against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

1899 Events January 1899 * January 1 ** Spanish rule ends in Cuba, concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. ** Queens and Staten Island become administratively part of New York City. * January 2 – **Bolivia sets up a c ...

. He served as Chief Constable of the

Birmingham City Police Birmingham City Police was the police service responsible for general policing in the city of Birmingham from 1839 to 1974. The force was established by a special Act of Parliament in 1839, and was amalgamated as of 1 April 1974 with the West M ...

from 1935 to 1941, and his manuals and books on police procedures became essential guidebooks for police in the United Kingdom. Born on 28 January 1877 in

Tralee Tralee ( ; ga, Trá Lí, ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the Lee River') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in Count ...

, County Kerry, Moriarty was the second son of The Rev. Thomas Alexander Moriarty, a

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...

Rector of

Millstreet Millstreet () is a town in north County Cork, Ireland, with a population of 1,555 (as of 2016). Millstreet is within the civil parish of Drishane, and within a Poor Law Union also called Millstreet. The Millstreet Union encompasses the civil ...

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. Moriarty graduated from Trinity College, Dublin in 1898, the year before his cap for the Irish rugby union team. He graduated in 1912 with a bachelor of laws and in 1932 received an additional degree of doctor of laws. Moriarty then joined the

Royal Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ga, Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the country was part of the United Kingdom. A separate ...

, becoming a first-class district inspector in 1902. In 1912, he joined RIC headquarters. In 1918, he moved to Birmingham to take on the role of assistant chief constable. Many Irish constables had been recruited to move to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

by Sir Charles Rafter, Chief Constable of Birmingham from 1899 to 1935, who relied on the Irish to help stamp out the infamous

Peaky Blinders The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1910s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to middle-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, rack ...

gang. The

British police strikes in 1918 and 1919 British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

led to the

Police Act 1919 {{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) The Police Act 1919 (9 & 10 Geo. 5, c.46) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which set up an alternative dispute resolution system within UK labour law for collective disputes inv ...

, which made it illegal for police officers in the UK to strike. Moriarty realised more professionalism was required among police recruits and officers, and subsequently "became the key figure in organising an intensive training curriculum" in Birmingham. The programme gained a national reputation for police training, and over the next two decades, officers from 77 police forces from England and Wales had trained in Birmingham. Moriarty wrote several books and papers on police procedures, notably ''Moriarty's Police Law'' (1929), which for more than half a century was a fundamental resource for law enforcement officials in the UK. Moriarty succeeded Rafter as Chief Constable of Birmingham in 1935, and retired six years later, having led the city through two years of the

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. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the

1925 Birthday Honours The 1925 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were p ...

. In 1936, he was made a Commander of the

Venerable Order of Saint John The Order of St John, short for Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (french: l'ordre très vénérable de l'Hôpital de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem) and also known as St John International, is a British royal order of ...

(CStJ) and in the 1938 New Year Honours, a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).

Personal life

Moriarty married Muriel Una (''née'' Carter) of

Belmullet Belmullet (, IPA: �bʲeːlənˠˈwʊɾˠhəd̪ˠ is a coastal Gaeltacht town with a population of 1,019 on the Mullet Peninsula in the barony of Erris, County Mayo, Ireland. It is the commercial and cultural heart of the barony of Erris, wh ...

, County Mayo, in 1906. They had three daughters. He died in 1958 in

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

Publications

*''Moriarty's Police Law'' (originally ''Police law: an arrangement of law and regulations for the use of police officers'') (1929) *''Police Procedure and Administration'' (1930) *''Moriarty's Questions and Answers on Police Subjects'' (1954)

References

External links

Cecil Moriarty
at Scrum.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Moriarty, Cecil 1877 births 1958 deaths Irish rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players Monkstown Football Club players Commanders of the Order of St John Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Officers of the Order of the British Empire British Chief Constables People from Tralee Royal Irish Constabulary officers Birmingham City Police Rugby union players from County Kerry Rugby union forwards