Serjeant-at-law (Ireland)
This is a list of lawyers who held the rank of serjeant-at-law at the Irish Bar. The first recorded serjeant was Roger Owen, who was appointed between 1261 and 1266, although the title of serjeant itself is not recorded in Ireland until about 1388; the earlier terms were "serviens", "King's Narrator" or "King's Pleader". In the early years of the office, appointment as serjeant might be temporary, and might cover only a part of the country. In 1537 a Royal commission on law reform considered recommending abolition of the office of Serjeant , and the transfer of his functions to the Attorney General, but nothing came of the proposal, due probably to firm opposition from the Serjeant-at-law of the day. The role of the Serjeant-at-law. In contrast to England, for many years there was only one Serjeant-at-Law in Ireland, who was known as the King’s Serjeant or simply Serjeant. In 1627 another office holder was appointed, and the two were known as the Prime Serjeant and Second Serjeant. In 1682 a Third Serjeant was appointed. In 1805 the Prime Serjeant became known as First Serjeant. Until  the nineteenth century, the need for three serjeants was often questioned, especially as the office of Third Serjeant was often left vacant for several years. It seems that the position of Third Serjeant was created simply as a form of "consolation prize" for Sir John Lyndon, the first holder of the office, who had been passed over as both a High Court judge and as Second Serjeant, and no particular duties attached to the office. Certainly Sir Richard Ryves, the Recorder of Dublin, was able to combine the notoriously gruelling office of Recorder with the position of Third Serjeant, and  later Second Serjeant, which suggests that he was not overworked in his role as Serjeant. Alan Brodrick, 1st Viscount Midleton, who was removed from his office of Third Serjeant in 1692, complained about his dismissal, but admitted that in his two years in the office he had almost no work to do. Hewitt Poole Jellett, Second Serjeant in the early 1900s, was so old that his office was clearly an honorary one. Emoluments. The position was extremely lucrative, at least until the late eighteenth century. Although in theory the salary in the 1690s was fixed at £30 a year , it was well known that in practice the various perquisites attached to the office brought it up to between £900 and £1000 a year, in addition to what he earned from private fees, as it was the serjeant's right to continue to take briefs on behalf of private clients. In the early centuries it was apparently normal procedure for the Serjeant to take private clients. By the late nineteenth century, according to Maurice Healy, the rule had grown up that they could not take cases against the Crown. By the early nineteenth century they had ceased to  receive a salary. Duties and precedence. The Serjeant usually had a seat in the Irish House of Commons. As a Government office holder he was expected to manage Parliamentary business in the Commons on the Government's behalf. Because he was a Government appointment he was liable to summary dismissal on a change of government, as happened notably in 1714. The serjeants-at-law ranked ahead of the Attorney-General for Ireland and the Solicitor-General for Ireland (who on occasion was the same person) until 1805, when the law officers took precedence, the office of Prime Serjeant being downgraded  to First Serjeant, with precedence over the other two Serjeants but not the Law Officers. From about 1660 onwards they were expected to consult with the Attorney General, and were discouraged from acting on their own initiative: in 1692 the Prime Serjeant, John Osborne, was dismissed for repeatedly acting in opposition to Crown policy. From the 1560s on the serjeants acted as "messengers" to the Irish House of Commons i.e. they were summoned to advise the House on points of law, just as the High Court judges advised the Irish House of Lords. The role of messenger lapsed around 1740 . Most sixteenth century Serjeants, including Thomas Rochfort, Thomas Luttrell, Patrick Barnewall and John Bathe, were Solicitors-General at the same time, suggesting that the latter office was both junior and not very onerous. At least one Serjeant of the era, Richard Finglas, combined the office of Serjeant with the subordinate office of Principal Solicitor for Ireland. In the eighteenth century the Serjeants often acted as extra judges of assize. Although the practice had its critics, it survived intermittently into the nineteenth century: Walter Berwick was Chairman of the East Cork Quarter Sessions from 1856 to 1859, while also serving as  Serjeant, and Sir John Howley was both Serjeant-at-law and Chairman of the County Tipperary Quarter Sessions for 30 years. Howley however was criticised for what was called his "legal pluralism". Many though by no means all Serjeants went on to become judges of one of the courts of common law. Hewitt Poole Jellett followed a somewhat unusual path in that he was appointed Serjeant after retiring from office as Chairman of the Quarter Sessions for Queen's County (now County Laois) and returning to practice at the Bar. Even more surprisingly he remained effectively as Serjeant for life , still in office when he was eighty-five. Joseph Stock was judge of the Irish Admiralty Court both before and during his long tenure as Serjeant (1840–51), although he was very much a part-time judge. Abolition of the office of Serjeant. No serjeants were appointed after 1919 and on the establishment of the Irish Free State the rank ceased to exist. The last surviving serjeant, Alexander Sullivan, moved to England where he practiced at the English Bar, and as a mark of courtesy was always addressed as Serjeant Sullivan.