Sir Edward Sullivan, 1st Baronet, PC (Ire) (10 July 1822 – 13 April 1885) was an Irish lawyer, and a Liberal

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for Mallow, 1865–1870 in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

of the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Grea ...

. He was also

Solicitor General for Ireland The Solicitor-General for Ireland was the holder of an 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 legal matters. On ra ...

, 1865–1866, Attorney General for Ireland, 1868,

Master of the Rolls in Ireland The Master of the Rolls in Ireland was a senior judicial office in the Irish Chancery under English and British rule, and was equivalent to the Master of the Rolls in the English Chancery. Originally called the Keeper of the Rolls, he was respons ...

, 1870. Created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

, 29 December 1881, from 1883 to 1885 he was

Lord Chancellor of Ireland The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland (commonly known as Lord Chancellor of Ireland) was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801, it was also the highest political office of ...

Early life and education

Edward Sullivan was born in

Mallow, County Cork Mallow (; ) is a town in County Cork, Ireland, approximately thirty-five kilometres north of Cork. Mallow is in the barony of Fermoy. It is the administrative centre of north County Cork, and the Northern Divisional Offices of Cork County Coun ...

, on 10 July 1822. He was the eldest son of Edward Sullivan by his wife Anne Surflen, née Lynch, widow of John Surflen. His father was a prosperous local

wine merchant A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to dete ...

, and a friend of the poet

Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852) was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist celebrated for his ''Irish Melodies''. Their setting of English-language verse to old Irish tunes marked the transition in popular Irish culture from Irish ...

. Sullivan was educated at Midleton and

Portora Royal School Portora Royal School located in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, was one of the public schools founded by the royal charter in 1608, by James I, making it one of the oldest schools in Ireland at the time of its closure. Origi ...

, and in 1841 he entered

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 ...

. He was elected a Scholar in 1843, and graduated B.A. in 1845. He was also elected auditor of the

College Historical Society The College Historical Society (CHS) – popularly referred to as The Hist – is a debating society at Trinity College Dublin. It was established within the college in 1770 and was inspired by the club formed by the philosopher Edmund ...

in 1845, in succession to

William Connor Magee William Connor Magee (17 December 1821 – 5 May 1891) was an Irish clergyman of the Anglican church, Bishop of Peterborough 1868–1891 and Archbishop of York for a short period in 1891. Life He was born in Cork, Ireland. His father was a ...

(afterwards Bishop of Peterborough and

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers ...

), and gained the gold medal for oratory.

Legal and political career

In 1848, Sullivan was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

; within ten years (1858) he was appointed a

Queen'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 o ...

, and two years later, became a Serjeant-at-law (Ireland). Due to his diminutive stature, he was known as "the Little Serjeant", in contrast to Richard Armstrong, "the Big Serjeant". In 1861 he was appointed

Law Adviser to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland The Law Adviser to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was a Law Officer of the English Crown in nineteenth-century Ireland. The office lapsed in the 1880s, due apparently to concerns that it was becoming too political, but was briefly revived in the ea ...

, and in 1865 became Solicitor-General for Ireland in Lord Palmerston's last administration. In 1865 he was elected as the Liberal Party MP for Mallow. From 1866 to 1868, while his party was in opposition, he focused on his legal career, working with

James Whiteside James Whiteside (12 August 1804 – 25 November 1876) was an Irish politician and judge. Background and education Whiteside was born at Delgany, County Wicklow, the son of William Whiteside, a clergyman of the Church of Ireland. His father w ...

, as leading counsel for the plaintiff in the

Yelverton case The Yelverton case was a famous 19th-century Irish law case, which eventually resulted in a change to the law on mixed religion marriages in Ireland. Under a Statute of King George II (19 Geo. 2. c. 13), any marriage between a Catholic (Popish) ...

; his cross-examination of Major Yelverton, later

William Yelverton, 4th Viscount Avonmore Major The Rt. Hon. William Charles Yelverton, 4th Viscount Avonmore (27 September 1824 – 1 April 1883, Biarritz), was an Irish nobleman and soldier. He was the son of The 3rd Viscount Avonmore and Cecilia O'Keeffe. Major William Charles Yelve ...

, in that case is considered one of the finest examples of forensic skill in the history of the Irish Bar. In December 1868, on the return of the Liberal Party to power, Sullivan became Attorney-General for Ireland in

William Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...

's first administration. He retired from parliament in 1870 to become Master of the Rolls in Ireland. In December 1881 Sullivan was created a baronet, Sir Edward Sullivan of Garryduff, Cork. In 1883, he succeeded Hugh Law as Irish Lord Chancellor. Sir Edward Sullivan died suddenly at his house in Dublin on 13 April 1885. His widow died in 1898.

Family and personal life

Sullivan married, on 24 September 1850, Elizabeth Josephine (Bessie) Bailey, daughter of the wealthy landowner Robert Bailey of

Passage West Passage West (locally known as "Passage"; ) is a port town in County Cork, Ireland, situated on the west bank of Cork Harbour, some 10 km south-east of Cork city. The town has many services, amenities and social outlets. Passage West was ...

, County Cork. Bessie's sister Margaret married another prominent politician from Cork,

John Francis Maguire John Francis Maguire (1815 – 1 November 1872) was an Irish writer and politician. He was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Dungarvan in 1852. He was subsequently an MP for Cork City, serving between 1865 and his death in 1872. He wrote ...

. It was a mixed marriage, Edward being 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 ...

and Bessie a

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 let ...

. They had four sons and a daughter. Their children included: * Sir Edward Sullivan, 2nd Baronet (1852–1928), publisher of the 1914 edition of the

Book of Kells The Book of Kells ( la, Codex Cenannensis; ga, Leabhar Cheanannais; Dublin, Trinity College Library, MS A. I. 8 sometimes known as the Book of Columba) is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the ...

. * Sir William Sullivan, 3rd Baronet (1860-1937), married Charlotte Dowse, daughter of

Richard Dowse Richard Dowse PC (1824 – 14 March 1890) was an Irish politician, barrister and judge, who was reputed to be the wittiest Parliamentary orator of his time. Background He was born in Dungannon, County Tyrone, eldest son of William Dowse ...

, Baron of 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 justic ...

. * Blessed Fr John Sullivan SJ (1861–1933), who converted to Catholicism in 1896 and became a

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

priest in 1907. *Anne (died 1918). The family lived at 41

Eccles Street Eccles Street () is a street in Dublin, Ireland. History Eccles Street began on 6 March 1769 when Isaac-Ambrose Eccles leased three parcels of land in the area. The street is named after his family, including his grandfather Sir John Eccles, ...

, Dublin. It seems that the boys were raised in their father's religion, and the only daughter Anne in her mother's. Sullivan was a book collector, classical scholar, and linguist.

Reputation

Elrington Ball called him an immensely influential figure in Irish politics and the dominant figure among the Irish judiciary; his baronetcy was regarded as a belated reward for the enormous assistance he gave to the British Government during a particularly disturbed period in Irish politics. His influence over judicial appointments, while he was Lord Chancellor, was said to be almost unlimited.Ball, F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221–1921'' John Murray London 1926 Vol. ii p.312

Arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Edward 1822 births 1885 deaths Attorneys-General for Ireland Auditors of the College Historical Society Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Irish Liberal Party MPs Lord chancellors of Ireland Masters of the Rolls in Ireland Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Cork constituencies (1801–1922) Members of the Privy Council of Ireland 19th-century Irish people People educated at Midleton College Politicians from County Cork Scholars of Trinity College Dublin Serjeants-at-law (Ireland) Solicitors-General for Ireland UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874