Cecil Lavery
Cecil Lavery | |
---|---|
Judge of the June 1935 – June 1938 | |
Constituency | Dublin County |
Personal details | |
Born | Armagh, County Armagh, Ireland | 6 October 1894
Died | 17 December 1967 Dublin, Ireland | (aged 73)
Spouse |
Louisa Ormsby (m. 1925) |
Children | 3 |
Education | |
Alma mater | University College Dublin |
Cecil Patrick Linton Lavery (6 October 1894 – 17 December 1967) was an Irish lawyer, judge and politician who served as a Judge of the Supreme Court from 1950 to 1966 and Attorney General of Ireland from 1948 to 1950. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin County constituency from 1935 to 1938. He was also a Senator for the Cultural and Educational Panel from 1948 to 1950.
Early life
Born at English Street in Armagh, Lavery was the son of Patrick Lavery, a solicitor, and Annie Rose (née Vallely).
Career
Lavery was elected to
He did not stand for election again until 1948, when he was elected to the 6th Seanad as a Senator for the Cultural and Educational Panel, and was appointed as Attorney General of Ireland by Taoiseach John A. Costello. Costello made two controversial decisions on Lavery's appointment; reversing the practice of many years he decided that Lavery could continue in private practice and that such fees as were paid to him as Attorney General should count as part of his income rather than be paid into the Exchequer. Costello justified both decisions on the ground that Lavery was one of the Bar's top earners and had taken a considerable pay cut as Attorney General. As Attorney General, he advised on several difficult issues, notably devaluation of the currency and fishing rights in Lough Foyle which were claimed by both Governments, North and South.
He left the Seanad on 21 April 1950, when he was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court, where he served till his retirement in 1966. He was offered the presidency of the High Court but withdrew his name, apparently after the Department of Justice raised a question about his qualifications. In 1961, on the retirement of Conor Maguire, Costello lobbied hard for Lavery to be appointed Chief Justice of Ireland, calling him with perhaps some exaggeration "the outstanding Irish legal figure of the last half-century". He later lobbied, also unsuccessfully, for Lavery to be appointed a judge of the International Court of Justice (apparently the only time an Irish candidate was even considered).
References
- ^ Finlay, T.A. "Lavery, Cecil Patrick Linton". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
- ^ "Cecil Lavery". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 7 November 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
- ^ "Cecil Lavery". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
- ^ "Irish responses to Fascist Italy, 1919–1932" (PDF). aran.library.nuigalway.ie. Retrieved 21 May 2021.