Gerald Fitzgibbon (8 October 1866 – 6 December 1942) was an Irish judge who served as a Judge of the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
from 1924 to 1938. He also served as a
Teachta Dála
A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parli ...
(TD) for the
Dublin University
The University of Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Átha Cliath), corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dubl ...
constituency from 1921 to 1923.
Family
Fitzgibbon came from a noted legal family, his grandfather,
Gerald Fitzgibbon, was a
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 ...
and
Master in Chancery
The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equ ...
and his father, also
Gerald Fitzgibbon, was a
Lord Justice of the pre-independence
Irish Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal in Ireland was created by the 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 Ireland, then under British rule. A las ...
: along with
Christopher Palles
Christopher Palles (25 December 1831 – 14 February 1920) was an Irish barrister, Solicitor-General, Attorney-General and a judge for over 40 years. His biographer, Vincent Thomas Hyginus Delany, described him as "the greatest of the Irish judg ...
and
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 ...
, the second Gerald Fitzgibbon was credited with making the Court of Appeal a tribunal whose judgements are still quoted with respect today. Mr. Justice Fitzgibbon through his mother was the grandson of
Francis Alexander FitzGerald, Baron of the
Court of Exchequer.
Early life and education
Fitzgibbon was born in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
in 1866, into an
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
family. He was the eldest son of Gerald Fitzgibbon and Margaret Anne Fitzgerald. He was educated at
Clifton College
''The spirit nourishes within''
, established = 160 years ago
, closed =
, type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school
, religion = Christian
, president =
, head_label = Head of College
, head ...
,
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, and
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 ...
, where he took his degree of Bachelor of Arts. He 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 1887, practised on the
Munster
Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...
Circuit, became a
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 ...
in 1908, and 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 1912.
Political career
He was elected unopposed to the
House of Commons of Southern Ireland
The Parliament of Southern Ireland was a Home Rule legislature established by the British Government during the Irish War of Independence under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. It was designed to legislate for Southern Ireland,"Order in Cou ...
at the
1921 elections, representing the
Dublin University
The University of Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Átha Cliath), corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dubl ...
constituency as an Independent
Unionist, and acted as Speaker at its single session, with only four representatives attending. As a unionist he did not participate in the
Second Dáil
The Second Dáil () was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 16 August 1921 until 8 June 1922. From 1919 to 1922, Dáil Éireann was the revolutionary parliament of the self-proclaimed Irish Republic. The Second Dáil consisted of members elected ...
.
He was re-elected for the same constituency at the
1922 general election and became a member of the
Third Dáil
The Third Dáil was elected at the general election held on 16 June 1922. This election was required to be held under the Anglo-Irish Treaty signed on 6 December 1921. It first met on 9 September and until 6 December 1922, it was the Provision ...
. He did not contest the
1923 general election.
Supreme Court of the Irish Free State
In 1924, the
forced retirement of almost all the senior judges of the former regime made the selection of suitable replacements a serious issue.
Hugh Kennedy
Hugh Edward Kennedy (11 July 1879 – 1 December 1936) was an Irish Cumann na nGaedheal politician, barrister and judge who served as Chief Justice of Ireland from 1924 to 1936, a judge of the Supreme Court of Ireland, Supreme Court from 1924 t ...
, the new
Chief Justice of the Irish Free State
The Chief Justice of Ireland ( ga, Príomh-Bhreitheamh na hÉireann) is the president of the Supreme Court of Ireland. The chief justice is the highest judicial office and most senior judge in Ireland. The role includes constitutional and adminis ...
, recommended Fitzgibbon as a judge of the
Supreme Court of the Irish Free State simply on account of his legal ability, despite their serious differences on political issues, which Hogan refers to as a clash between Kennedy's "enthusiastic nationalism" and Fitzgibbon's "pessimistic scepticism".
Conflict with Hugh Kennedy
Kennedy soon came to regret his decision to recommend Fitzgibbon for appointment to the bench. Kennedy's diary records the increasing tension between the two men. Although Fitzgibbon was a
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
Unionist, his friends insisted that he was by no means opposed to the new regime
[Hogan p.157] and indeed if he had been, he would hardly have accepted high office in it. However, he seems to have become deeply disillusioned with the increasingly
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 ...
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between th ...
, and by 1929, he and Chief Justice Kennedy are said to have regarded each other with deep suspicion.
The tension came to a head in 1935, when Fitzgibbon was in the majority in ''State (Ryan) v Lennon''; over Kennedy's strong dissenting judgment, he found that the
Constitution of the Irish Free State
The Constitution of the Irish Free State ( ga, Bunreacht Shaorstát Eireann) was adopted by Act of Dáil Éireann sitting as a constituent assembly on 25 October 1922. In accordance with Article 83 of the Constitution,[human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...]
.
In ''Re Westby'' in 1934, on the straightforward question of whether a Protestant
ward of court
In law, a ward is a minor or incapacitated adult placed under the protection of a legal guardian or government entity, such as a court. Such a person may be referenced as a "ward of the court".
Overview
The wardship jurisdiction is an ancient ju ...
should or should not be educated at an English
public school
Public school may refer to:
* State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government
* Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...
, Chief Justice Kennedy's decision that the boy should be educated in Ireland was overruled by the Supreme Court of the Irish Free State, presided over by Fitzgibbon. Kennedy regarded Fitzgibbon's judgment as a personal attack on him.
Later years
He took some interest in the enactment of the 1937
Constitution of Ireland
The Constitution of Ireland ( ga, Bunreacht na hÉireann, ) is the constitution, fundamental law of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It asserts the national sovereignty of the Irish people. The constitution, based on a system of representative democra ...
and made some suggestions on the procedure for referring a Bill to the Supreme Court under Article 26 by the
President of Ireland
The president of Ireland ( ga, Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the supreme commander of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces.
The president holds office for seven years, and can ...
as a
reserve power
In a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government, a reserve power, also known as discretionary power, is a power that may be exercised by the head of state without the approval of another branch or part of the government. Unlike in a ...
.
Despite his obvious unhappiness in his professional life, he remained on the Supreme Court of Ireland until he reached retirement age in 1938; Chief Justice Kennedy believed that his somewhat unsatisfactory
pension
A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...
arrangements made Fitzgibbon cling to an office he had come to despise. Hogan points out that in this regard at least Fitzgibbon had good reason to be bitter with his treatment by the Government, because he was required on age grounds to retire 9 months before he qualified for the full amount, he seems to have received a pension equivalent to only 42% of his salary.
[Hogan p,151]
Arms
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgibbon, Gerald
1866 births
1942 deaths
Independent TDs
Members of the 2nd Dáil
Members of the 3rd Dáil
People of the Irish Civil War (Pro-Treaty side)
Irish barristers
Irish Queen's Counsel
Irish Anglicans
Judges of the Supreme Court of Ireland
Alumni of Trinity College Dublin
Legislative speakers in Ireland
Teachtaí Dála for Dublin University
Members of the King's Inns
20th-century Irish judges
Alumni of King's Inns
People educated at Clifton College