- John O'Byrne
John O'Byrne (
24 April 1884 –14 January 1954 ) was the second Attorney-General of the Irish Free State, serving between7 June 1924 and9 January 1926 .Early life
He was born on
24 April 1884 , the fourth son of Patrick O’Byrne and Mary O'Byrne, of Seskin,County Wicklow , inIreland . He was educated at the Patrician Monastery,Tullow ,County Carlow , and studied Moral and Mental Science at the Royal University, where he graduated in 1907 in First Place with First Class Honours. He was awarded a Master of Arts degree in 1908.He joined the Land Commission, where he acquired an intimate knowledge of the system of real property and land tenure in Ireland. Subsequently, he studied at King's Inns,
Dublin , and was called to theIrish Bar in 1911, where he practised mainly in real property.In 1922 he was appointed by the Provisional Government of Southern Ireland to the Irish Free State Constitution Commission to draft the Constitution of the Irish Free State, commonly known as the Irish Free State Constitution Commission. It prepared a draft Constitution. He was thus one of the constitutional architects of the Irish Free State.
In 1923 he was appointed to the Judiciary Commission by the Government of the Irish Free State, on a reference from the Government to establish a new system for the administration of justice in accordance with the Constitution of the Irish Free State. The Judiciary Commission was chaired by the last
Lord Chief Justice of Ireland (who had also been the lastLord Chancellor of Ireland ). It drafted legislation for a new system of courts, including a High Court and a Supreme Court, and provided for the abolition of the Irish Court of Appeal.He was appointed
King's Counsel in 1924. He was also a delegate of the Irish Free State to theLeague of Nations in the same year.Attorney-General
On
7 June 1924 he was appointed the second Attorney-General of the Irish Free State whenHugh Kennedy was appointed Chief Justice. His photograph appears at [http://www.gov.ie/ag/gallery/prevag1.htm] .He married Marjorie O'Byrne, née McGuire, in 1924. They had three sons, Michael, Patrick & John and two daughters, Anne & Mary. Michael currently resides in Canada with his family, Patrick (or [Paddy O'Byrne] ) had a hugely successful radio career in South Africa and now resides in Mullingar, John lives in London and Mary lives in Dublin and Anne is deceased.
Justice of the High Court and the Supreme Court
On
9 January 1926 he was appointed a Justice of the High Court, upon which he served until he was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1940. He was also Chairman of the Irish Legal Terms Advisory Committee from14 May 1948 to13 May 1953.He lived at Stonehurst, Killiney, County Dublin.
He died in his office on
14 January 1954 .
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