Sir Thomas Lopdell O'Shaughnessy, KC (22 December 1850 – 7 March 1933) was an Irish judge and barrister who served as a Judge of the High Court from 1924 to 1925. He was the last

Recorder of Dublin The Recorder of Dublin was a judicial office holder in pre-Independence Ireland. Functions and duties of the Recorder The Recorder was the chief magistrate for Dublin, and heard a wide range of civil and criminal cases. The office existed by th ...

in Ireland.

Early life

O'Shaughnessy was born on 22 December 1850 in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, as the son of Thomas O'Shaughnessy and Mary Lopdell. He married Catherine Trueman in 1879 and they had four children. He died at his home in

Fitzwilliam Square Fitzwilliam Square () is a Georgian garden square in the south of central Dublin, Ireland. It was the last of the five Georgian squares in Dublin to be built, and is the smallest. The middle of the square is composed of a private park, which f ...

on 7 March 1933. Educated at Queens College Galway, he was called to the

Irish Bar The Bar of Ireland () 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 Bar of Ireland, commonly c ...

in 1874 and to the

English Bar Barristers in England and Wales are one of the two main categories of lawyer in England and Wales, the other being solicitors. Barristers have traditionally had the role of handling cases for representation in court, both defence and prosecutio ...

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in 1894.

Legal career

O'Shaughnessy carried out his practice on the Connaught and North Eastern Circuit. He served as counsel to the

plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the ...

s in relation to the disastrous rail accident during a school outing from

Armagh Armagh ( ; , , " Macha's height") is a city and the county town of County Armagh, in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Primates of All ...

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, standing on the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Down, Down and County Armagh, Armagh. It is near Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, the border with the ...

. O'Shaughnessy won a great reputation from this trial, and took silk (an informal term for

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

) soon after. For fifteen years, he was one of the most influential, effective and well-paid barristers of the Dublin

Four Courts The Four Courts () is Ireland's most prominent courts building, located on Inns Quay in Dublin. The Four Courts is the principal seat of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court and the Dublin Circuit Court. Until 2010 the build ...

, and was regarded as a mentor to younger barristers.

Maurice Healy Maurice Healy (3 January 1859 – 9 November 1923) was an Irish nationalist politician, lawyer and member of parliament (MP). As a member of the Irish Parliamentary Party, he was returned to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great ...

remarked that there was a rather unfriendly rivalry between himself and

William Huston Dodd William Huston Dodd (1844-17 March 1930) was an Irish politician, barrister and judge. He held the Crown office of Serjeant-at-law (Ireland), Irish Serjeant-at-law, sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom as member for North Tyrone (UK ...

as to which of them was entitled to be called "Leader of the Bar". He was sworn in as Recorder of Dublin in 1905.Healy p. 239 He would be the last to hold this position, a role which stretched back to

James Stanihurst James Stanihurst (died 1573), also spelt James Stanyhurst) was for three terms Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. He was also the first judge to hold the position of Recorder of Dublin. Life He was the son of Nicholas Stanihurst, Lord Mayo ...

in 1564. The Recordership was abolished in 1924 and O'Shaughnessy became a judge in the High Court of the Irish Free State.

Judicial career

O'Shaughnessy was appointed a High Court judge in August 1924. His tenure on bench was brief, as resigned from his judicial office in 1925. He then went onto to receive a knighthood in 1927. He was a

Bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher c ...

of the

King's Inns The Honorable Society of King's Inns () 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 environments. The Benchers of King's Inns aw ...

and was sworn in as a member of the

Irish Privy Council His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal execut ...

in 1912. He was a member of the

Reform Club The Reform Club is a private members' club, owned and controlled by its members, on the south side of Pall Mall, London, Pall Mall in central London, England. As with all of London's original gentlemen's clubs, it had an all-male membership for ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oshaughnessy, Thomas 1850 births 1933 deaths Alumni of the University of Galway High Court judges (Ireland) Irish knights Irish King's Counsel Knights Bachelor Lawyers from Dublin (city) Members of the Privy Council of Ireland 19th-century King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel Recorders of Dublin Alumni of King's Inns