Sir Denis Stanislaus Henry, 1st Baronet, (7 March 1864 – 1 October 1925), was an Irish lawyer and politician who became the first Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland. Henry was born in Cahore,

Draperstown Draperstown ()Toner, Gregory. ''Place-Names of Northern Ireland'', p. 85. Queen's University of Belfast, 1996; is a village in the Sperrin Mountains in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is situated in the civil parish of Ballinascreen and ...

County Londonderry County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. B ...

, the son of a prosperous

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

businessman. He was educated at Marist College,

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

, Mount St Mary's College,

Spinkhill Spinkhill is a small village in North East Derbyshire, England. It is approximately one mile south of the nearest town, Killamarsh, and half a mile north-east of Renishaw. It is home to the Church of the Immaculate Conception and its associat ...

North East Derbyshire North East Derbyshire is a local government district in Derbyshire, England. It borders the districts of Chesterfield, Bolsover, Amber Valley and Derbyshire Dales in Derbyshire, and Sheffield and Rotherham in South Yorkshire. The population ...

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

foundation) and Queen's College,

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, where he won every law scholarship available to a student in addition to many other prizes and exhibitions. In 1885, he was called to the

Bar of Ireland 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 ...

. During the general election campaign of 1895, Henry spoke in support of unionist candidates in two constituencies: Thomas Lea in South Londonderry, Henry's native constituency, and E. T. Herdman in East Donegal. Henry's legal career flourished – he became

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

in 1896 (which became

King's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

on 21 January 1901 when Queen Victoria died), a Bencher of the

King's Inns The Honorable Society of King's Inns ( ir, Cumann Onórach Óstaí an Rí) 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 environment ...

in 1898 and ultimately Father of the North-West Circuit – but his interest in politics did not diminish. In March 1905, he was a delegate at the inaugural meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council and in the North Tyrone by-election in 1907, he was the Unionist candidate, which he lost by a mere seven votes. On 23 May 1916, he was elected as an MP in the South Londonderry by-election, the first by-election to be held in Ireland after the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...

. The rebellion had had no discernible impact on the contest. In November 1918, he became Solicitor-General for Ireland and in July 1919, Attorney General for Ireland. He later served as the first Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland from 1921 to 1925. In 1923, he became a Baronet, of Cahore in the County of Londonderry. He married Violet Holmes, daughter of

Hugh Holmes Hugh Holmes QC (17 February 1840 – 19 April 1916) was an Irish Conservative Party, then after 1886 a Unionist Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom Parliament and subsequently a Judge of the High Court and Court of Appeal in Ir ...

, a judge of the

Court of Appeal in Ireland The Court of Appeal in Ireland was created by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland under the Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Ireland) 1877 as the final appellate court within Irela ...

, and Olivia Moule of

Elmley Lovett Elmley Lovett in Worcestershire, England is a civil parish whose residents' homes are quite loosely clustered east of its Hartlebury Trading Estate, as well as in minor neighbourhood Cutnall Green to the near south-east. The latter is a loosely ...

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 His ...

. They had five children, including James Holmes Henry, who succeeded as second baronet. It was a mixed marriage as Violet was a staunch member of the

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 second ...

. Despite their religious difference, the marriage is said to have been happy. He died in 1925, aged 61, and was buried near his native

References

* *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, Denis 1864 births 1925 deaths Catholic Unionists Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Londonderry constituencies (1801–1922) UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 Irish barristers Irish knights Irish Queen's Counsel Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Solicitors-General for Ireland Attorneys-General for Ireland People from County Londonderry Irish Unionist Party politicians Lord chief justices of Northern Ireland People educated at Mount St Mary's College Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Deputy Lieutenants of Londonderry People educated at St Mary's College, Dundalk