Thomas Kelly (1723–1809) was an Irish barrister, judge and politician, who held the office of

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 ...

. He sat briefly in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fran ...

and was then appointed a justice of the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland). In his own lifetime, his lack of legal learning was proverbial, but nonetheless, he was universally esteemed as a kindly and humane man. In the nineteenth century, his principal claim to fame lay in being the father of Thomas Kelly junior, a prolific writer of

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and founder of a breakaway

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sect.Ball, F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921'' John Murray London 1926 Vol. 11 p.220

Early life

He was born at Fidane, in County Galway, third son of Edmond Kelly, or O'Kelly, a minor landowner, and Margery Bourke. His family were traditionally

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, but Thomas from political necessity became a 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 secon ...

, as Catholics were then barred by the Penal Laws from entering the legal profession. He entered 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 1747 and was called to the Bar in 1753; he is said then to have spent some years in the

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.Ball p.167 On his return to Ireland he began his legal practice on the

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms ( Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Del ...

circuit, where he sat as an extra judge of

assize The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes e ...

; he became King's Counsel in 1767 and Prime Serjeant in 1782.

Political and judicial career

He entered politics: he was a close friend and strong supporter of

Henry Grattan Henry Grattan (3 July 1746 – 4 June 1820) was an Irish politician and lawyer who campaigned for legislative freedom for the Irish Parliament in the late 18th century from Britain. He was a Member of the Irish Parliament (MP) from 1775 to 18 ...

and sat briefly as MP for Portarlington in 1783. His support for the cause of full independence for the

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland ( ga, Parlaimint na hÉireann) was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two cham ...

made him very popular. It seems to have been his popularity, rather than any great legal expertise, which enabled him to become one of the most successful barristers of his time, and this, in turn, led to his gaining a seat on the Bench in 1783, and on the Privy Council of Ireland.

Reputation

Kelly as a judge proved to be something of an embarrassment to the Government which had appointed him. His problem, according to his colleague on the Bench, the memoirist Sir Jonah Barrington, was that his great popularity as a barrister was entirely unrelated to his legal abilities, which were mediocre at best, and he was appointed to the Bench by a Government which had a quite unjustified belief in his legal learning. Barrington records a story of Kelly, who had decided a point of law wrongly twice, expressing the hope that he could get the law right the third time. Nonetheless he retained his great popularity, having the reputation of being a kindly and humane judge, with a sense of humour, and a notable reluctance, unusual at the time, to impose the death penalty.

called him the most honourable and humane judge he ever knew. Barrington's low opinion of Kelly as a judge was fully shared by the English-born politician Edward Cooke, always a stern critic of the Irish judiciary: he wrote that "Kelly has been most unfortunate in his judgments: (there is) scarcely one upon a dubious point which has not been set aside".Ball pp. 166-7

Death

He had a townhouse in Dublin and a country seat, Kellyville (formerly Derrinroe), near Ballintubbert, County Laois, which he purchased around 1777, and substantially rebuilt. He retired in 1801: by some accounts, he resigned in protest against the passing of the Act of Union 1800 which destroyed the independent Irish Parliament, to which Kelly was devoted. He died in Dublin in 1809.

Family

He married Frances Hickie, daughter of James Jephson Hickie of

Carrick-on-Suir Carrick-on-Suir () is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It lies on both banks of the River Suir. The part on the north bank of the Suir lies in the civil parish of "Carrick", in the historical barony of Iffa and Offa East. The part on the s ...

and his second wife Anne Salisbury Jephson. They had three daughters, Annabella, who married Sir George Pigott, first of the Pigott baronets, Harriet, who married Sir Richard St George, 2nd Baronet, the second of the St George baronets of Athlone, and Charlotte, and one son, Thomas Kelly (1769–1855).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Thomas Members of the Middle Temple Irish MPs 1783–1790 Politicians from County Galway 1723 births 1809 deaths Justices of the Irish Common Pleas Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for Portarlington Serjeants-at-law (Ireland)