Sir Edward Sullivan, 1st Baronet

Sir Edward Sullivan, 1st Baronet,

In 1865 he was elected as the Liberal Party MP for Mallow. From 1866 to 1868, while his party was in opposition, he focused on his legal career, working with James Whiteside, as leading counsel for the plaintiff in the Yelverton case; his cross-examination of Major Yelverton, later William Yelverton, 4th Viscount Avonmore, in that case is considered one of the finest examples of forensic skill in the history of the Irish Bar.^[4] In December 1868, on the return of the Liberal Party to power, Sullivan became Attorney-General for Ireland in William Gladstone's first administration.

He retired from parliament in 1870 to become Master of the Rolls in Ireland. In December 1881 Sullivan was created a baronet, Sir Edward Sullivan of Garryduff, Cork. In 1883, he succeeded Hugh Law as Irish Lord Chancellor. Sir Edward Sullivan died suddenly at his house in Dublin on 13 April 1885. His widow died in 1898.

Family and personal life

Sullivan married, on 24 September 1850, Elizabeth Josephine (Bessie) Bailey, daughter of the wealthy landowner Robert Bailey of

• Sir Edward Sullivan, 2nd Baronet (1852–1928), publisher of the 1914 edition of the Book of Kells.
• Sir William Sullivan, 3rd Baronet (1860-1937), married Charlotte Dowse, daughter of Richard Dowse, Baron of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland).
• Blessed Fr
  Jesuit priest in 1907.^[6]
• Anne (died 1918).

The family lived at 41 Eccles Street, Dublin. It seems that the boys were raised in their father's religion, and the only daughter Anne in her mother's. Sullivan was a book collector, classical scholar, and linguist.

Reputation

Elrington Ball called him an immensely influential figure in Irish politics and the dominant figure among the Irish judiciary; his baronetcy was regarded as a belated reward for the enormous assistance he gave to the British Government during a particularly disturbed period in Irish politics. His influence over judicial appointments, while he was Lord Chancellor, was said to be almost unlimited.^[7]

Arms

Coat of arms of Sir Edward Sullivan, 1st Baronet

Crest A battleaxe fesswise thereon a robin proper. Escutcheon Per pale Gules and Azure a fess Or charged with three crosses-crosslet Sable between two boars passant Or that in chief facing the dexter and that in base the sinister. Motto Tot Praemia Vitae (So Many Rewards Of Life) [8]

References