Life
1842-1914; b. Carnelly House [Ballynalacken], Co. Clare; son of John O’Brien (MP for Limerick) and nephew of James O’Brien, a judge; ,ed. Clongowes Wood (medal, 1858), and then TCD; suffered the death of his father, 1855; family moved to Dublin; , Middle Temple, 1862; Irish bar, 1865; m. Annie Clarke, dg. of Robert Hare Clarke, JP (Bansha, Co. Tipp.), 1867; practised on the Munster Circuit; served as junior to Isaac Butt; gained reputation for apprising juries and down-facing bullies on the bench - e.g., William Keogh [q.v.]; stood unsuccessfully for Parliament in Co. Clare - supported tenant rights but not Home Rule; appt. QC, 1880; appt. junior Crown prosecutor at Green St. Court;
became notorious for his hostility towards Land League defendants and gained the nick-name “Peter the Packer” for his exclusion of jury-members in those trials , 1881-82, using the initial “C” against their name to contest their jury service - not ‘Catholic’, as alledged; acted for the prosecution in the Maamtrasna murder trials, 1882; held office as serjeant at law, 1885-87; and conducted trials under Balfour’s Crimes (Coercion) Act, 1887; appt. Attorney-Gen. 1888; appt. Lord Chief Justice, 1889; created Baronet, 1891; raised to peerage, 1990; lived at one point in Castletown House, Celbridge; d. 7 Sept., Airfield, Stillorgan, Co. Dublin; wrote Reminiscences (1916), publ. ed. posthum. by his daughter Georgina who encouraged him to write them [q.v.]. DIB DIH
Works
Reminiscences of the Right Hon. Lord O’Brien (of Kilfenora) Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, edited by his daughter Georgina O’Brien, with a portrait (NY Longmans, Green & Co.; London: Edward Arnold 1916), vii, 195pp. [Index, 190ff.]. Chaps. material incl. Richard Lalor Shiel; Trinity College; Punchestown; Isaac Butt; Judge Keogh; Clare Contest - Queen v. Parnell [28]; Land-league; Murder Trial; Francis Hynes [trial]; “Peter the Packer”; Maamtrasna Massacre - the Trial of the Joyces [46]; Invincibles - Phoenix Park Murder [51]; John Dillon; Gweedore Trial [murder of Fr. McFadden]; Hunting Recollections; Lord Justice Fitzgibbon [104]; On literature [110]; Ussher v. Ussher. Add. chaps. by the editor [G.O’B] Lord Russell, Gladstone, Lord O’Hagan, Christian Science, Dinner with Queen Victoria, International Boat Race, Newland House, Carlsbad - Versailles; Lord Wolseley; Resignation; Tribute from Judges; Speech on Women’s Suffrage.
[Available at Internet Archive - online.]
[ top ]
Georgina O’Brien, Preface to Reminiscences (1916): Many years before this book was begun I suggested to my father that he should begin an autobiography, but without success. He was indolent about writing, and invariably wrote the shortest of letters. I have heard it said that on the Bench he rarely made notes; he was able to pigeon-hole, as it were, the facts of a case in his brain, and I have been told that he never forgot any point whatsoever that had any bearing on it. Absolutely devoid of intellectual arrogance, he was ever willing to listen to the opinions of others, provided they were clearly and intelligently stated. Sometimes he would read the evidence in a case to a member of his family, and then ask an opinion on it, in order to ascertain the view which a non-legal mind would take of the evidence, so that he might fully understand the difficulties which would present them-selves to a jury. One day he called me into his study and gave me a brief to read. When I had done so he asked: "Now, what is your view of the case?”
I gave him my view, which he seemed rather to deride, and asked me on what grounds I based my opinion. Feeling very small, I stated my reasons as best I could. He took a totally different view of the case.
" Now, might not the evidence be read in such a way?” he said, representing other views of the case.
[vii]
“I have given you my opinion, such as it is,” I replied.
He smiled, as he said: “Well, I have been endeavouring to urge my views on you to make you see things in the same light as I do, but it is only fair to say that there is a great deal to be said in favour of your opinion. Judge takes exactly the same view as you do. I fear there'll be a disagreement.”pp.vi-vii; available at Internet Archive - online; accessed 25.04.2024.
Patrick Maume, ‘Peter O’Brien’, in Dictionary of Irish Biography (2009) - ‘[...; quotes O’Brien:] ‘I certainly eliminated from the jury box, without apology, those who were prejudiced, and I would do it again under similar circumstances’, he wrote in his Reminiscences. ‘I have always maintained that I ought to have been called “The Great Unpacker”.’ The dangers of this approach were seen in his prosecution of those accused of the 1882 Maamtrasna murders, after which nationalist journalists obtained possession of his brief and revealed that not only had potentially troublesome jurors been excluded, but witness statements had been edited to conceal material from defence lawyers. O’Brien always maintained that all the prisoners convicted had been guilty, but it was and is widely believed that one of those hanged and several of those imprisoned were innocent. O’Brien also participated in the prosecution of the Invincibles for the Phoenix Park murders of May 1882.’ (Available online; accessed 26.04.2024.)
| Reminiscences of the Right Hon. Lord O’Brien (1916) |
CHAPTER VIII: THE MAAMSTRASNA MASSACRE —TRIAL OF THE JOYCES |
|
In August, 1882, the ghastly and blood-curdling Maamstrasna massacre took place. This nocturnal murder of a defenceless family is unparalleled in human ferocity in the gloomy annals of agrarian crime. The scene of the murder was Maamstrasna, that wild region in Connemara known as the Joyce-country, where nearly all the peasants bear the name of Joyce. In that lonely and remote district, at the foot of a mountain, the cottage of John Joyce was situated. Joyce, an industrious man, was erroneously supposed to have given some information with reference to the murder of two bailiffs named Huddy, who had been in the employment of Lord Ardilaun. These men had been murdered, and their bodies, tied up in sacks, had been thrown into Lough Mask. [...] |
| pp.46-50; see chapter-length extract - as attached. |
CHAPTER IX: THE IRISH INVINCIBLES — THE PHOENIX PARK MURDERS |
That terrible secret organization known as the Irish Invincible Society was established in Dublin in the early eighties. Evolved from Fenianism, this society had for its object the murder, or “removal” (as the Invincibles expressed it), of those who had incurred its displeasure. The form of conspiracy advocated by this society was the lowest ever known in Ireland, or, perhaps, in any other country. The Fenians of ’98 and 1803 aimed at the overthrow of English rule in Ireland by rebellion and bloodshed; the Invincibles relied upon the knife of the assassin to accomplish their ends. This recrudescence of Fenianism was responsible for a series of street murders. In February, 1881, a Fenian named Bailey was shot in a laneway, because he was suspected of having given information to the police. A large reward was offered for information which would lead to the conviction of the murderer, but every effort to find him was unavailing. Shortly afterwards another Fenian, named Kenny, was also shot in the street. Judge Lawson was on his way to the Kildare Street Club one evening when an attempt was made to assassinate [52] him, and Detective Cos was fixed at and wounded while watching the movements of a gang of Invincibles. Mr. Field, who had acted as the foreman of a juiy in the case of a man named Walsh, who had been convicted for the murder of a constable, was set upon by four armed men, jostled against a railing, and stabbed. Badly wounded, he fell to the ground, and was stabbed again several times. It was only by feigning death that he saved his life. The Invincibles Curley and Carey were arrested on suspicion after the Phoenix Park murders, but were released in a short time, as it was impossible to bring their guilt home to them, owing to lack of evidence. [...] |
| pp-51-63; see chapter-length extract - as attached. |
On “Peter the Packer”: ‘It was during these days of the Land League that the soubriquet of “Peter the Packer” was first given to me. In the South of Ireland at that time, juries were intimidated to such an extent that it was [44] impossible to obtain conscientious convictions. I was the first to succeed in getting a jury to convict in that part of the county, and this success won for me the title of “The Packer.” I certainly eliminated from the jury box, without apology, those who were prejudiced, and I would do it again under similar circumstances. I have always maintained that I ought to have been called “The Great Unpacker.” / This soubriquet of “Peter the Packer” gave rise to many incidents which caused me no little amusement. Once I cross-examined a peasant named Bridget Maloney. In my endeavour to elicit the truth from her I said, persuasively : “Come, come, Bridget; tell the jury what occurred.” The lady drew herself up majestically, pulled her shawl over her head, and said: “Mrs. Maloney to you, Pether, if you please.” When I had at last succeeded in getting at the truth, the good lady, before leaving the witness-box, crossed herself devoutly, and, fixing an indignant gaze on me, exclaimed: “Glory be to God. What a man!” (Reminiscences, 1916, pp.43-44.)
[ top ]