Richard A. Keogh
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781786940650
- eISBN:
- 9781786944986
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Discontinued
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9781786940650.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter focuses on the ‘Fenian trials’ of 1865–66. It challenges us to think beyond established ‘speeches from the dock’ narratives to consider the part played by the judiciary in the theatre of ...
More
This chapter focuses on the ‘Fenian trials’ of 1865–66. It challenges us to think beyond established ‘speeches from the dock’ narratives to consider the part played by the judiciary in the theatre of the court. While names such as Kickham, Luby, Rossa, and o’Leary will roll of the tongues of many today, fewer will recall a William Keogh, or a John David Fitzgerald, the two Catholic judges who presided over the special commission that tried the Fenian accused. There was much criticism at the time that the state had ‘packed the bench’, an accusation levelled with regularity throughout the nineteenth century. The essay gives due consideration to these claims. The appointments of Keogh and Fitzgerald were clearly political it suggests, and cites John Devoy’s assessment that all judges in Ireland were rewarded for political service rather than legal acumen. However, it concludes that the judges’ precise handling of the proceedings undermined attempts by the accused to challenge the legitimacy of the court and, ultimately, the Fenian trials show how perceptions of judicial partiality evolved over time.Less
This chapter focuses on the ‘Fenian trials’ of 1865–66. It challenges us to think beyond established ‘speeches from the dock’ narratives to consider the part played by the judiciary in the theatre of the court. While names such as Kickham, Luby, Rossa, and o’Leary will roll of the tongues of many today, fewer will recall a William Keogh, or a John David Fitzgerald, the two Catholic judges who presided over the special commission that tried the Fenian accused. There was much criticism at the time that the state had ‘packed the bench’, an accusation levelled with regularity throughout the nineteenth century. The essay gives due consideration to these claims. The appointments of Keogh and Fitzgerald were clearly political it suggests, and cites John Devoy’s assessment that all judges in Ireland were rewarded for political service rather than legal acumen. However, it concludes that the judges’ precise handling of the proceedings undermined attempts by the accused to challenge the legitimacy of the court and, ultimately, the Fenian trials show how perceptions of judicial partiality evolved over time.
Colin W. Reid
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781786940650
- eISBN:
- 9781786944986
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Discontinued
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9781786940650.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter reminds us of the importance of Irish lawyers in nineteenth- century political and constitutional debates. Utilising the treason-felony and sedition charges that were brought against the ...
More
This chapter reminds us of the importance of Irish lawyers in nineteenth- century political and constitutional debates. Utilising the treason-felony and sedition charges that were brought against the young Irelanders in 1848, the essay shows that their legal defences were ‘saturated in political dissent’ and makes the often-overlooked point that the courtroom was a theatre not only for the accused but for those who held the defence and prosecution briefs as well. The impassioned ‘speeches from the dock’ of successive Irish political prisoners—from tone and Emmet through to the young Irelanders and the Fenians—formed a cornerstone of Irish nationalist culture and development during the nineteenth century. As the essay brings to light, however, the lawyers also helped secure their place in the public spotlight through the medium of judicial rhetoric. For men such as Isaac Butt and James Whiteside in 1848, the courtroom provided a forum to express Irish Conservative unease with the workings of British constitution in Ireland.Less
This chapter reminds us of the importance of Irish lawyers in nineteenth- century political and constitutional debates. Utilising the treason-felony and sedition charges that were brought against the young Irelanders in 1848, the essay shows that their legal defences were ‘saturated in political dissent’ and makes the often-overlooked point that the courtroom was a theatre not only for the accused but for those who held the defence and prosecution briefs as well. The impassioned ‘speeches from the dock’ of successive Irish political prisoners—from tone and Emmet through to the young Irelanders and the Fenians—formed a cornerstone of Irish nationalist culture and development during the nineteenth century. As the essay brings to light, however, the lawyers also helped secure their place in the public spotlight through the medium of judicial rhetoric. For men such as Isaac Butt and James Whiteside in 1848, the courtroom provided a forum to express Irish Conservative unease with the workings of British constitution in Ireland.
