Edward Pennefather PC

Privy Council of Ireland

The Privy Council of Ireland was an institution of the Kingdom of Ireland until 31 December 1800 and of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 1801-1922...

, KC (1775 – 1847) was an Irish judge.

Pennefather was born in Tipperary

Tipperary

Tipperary is a town and a civil parish in South Tipperary in Ireland. Its population was 4,415 at the 2006 census. It is also an ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly, and is in the historical barony of Clanwilliam....

, the second son of William Pennefather and his wife Ellen Moore. He went to school in Clonmel

Clonmel

Clonmel is the county town of South Tipperary in Ireland. It is the largest town in the county. While the borough had a population of 15,482 in 2006, another 17,008 people were in the rural hinterland. The town is noted in Irish history for its resistance to the Cromwellian army which sacked both...

 and graduated from the University of Dublin

University of Dublin

The University of Dublin , corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin , located in Dublin, Ireland, was effectively founded when in 1592 Queen Elizabeth I issued a charter for Trinity College, Dublin, as "the mother of a university" – this date making it...

. He was called to the Irish Bar in 1795 and was King's Counsel by 1816. He was very briefly Attorney-General for Ireland in 1830; Solicitor-General for Ireland

Solicitor-General for Ireland

The Solicitor-General for Ireland was the holder of an Irish and then United Kingdom government office. The holder was a deputy to the Attorney-General for Ireland, and advised the Crown on Irish legal matters. At least one holder of the office, Patrick Barnewall played a significant role in...

 in 1835 and again in 1841; in the latter year he was appointed Lord Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench for Ireland

Lord Chief Justice of Ireland

thumb|200px|The Four CourtsThe headquarters of the Irish judicial system since 1804. The Court of King's Bench was one of the original four courts that sat there....

 and held the position until he resigned on health grounds in 1846. He married Susan Darby in 1806.

According to Elrington Ball, Pennefather was the greatest Irish advocate of his time with few rivals in any age, but did not live up to expectations as a judge, due to age and ill-health. As a judge he was notable mainly for presiding at the trial of Daniel O'Connell

Daniel O'Connell

Daniel O'Connell Daniel O'Connell Daniel O'Connell (6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847; often referred to as The Liberator, or The Emancipator, was an Irish political leader in the first half of the 19th century...

 for conspiracy, where his alleged bias against the accused damaged his reputation.His brother Richard ( 1773-1859) had a much longer and evidently more successful career as a judge : appointed a Baron of the Court of Exchequer

Court of Exchequer

Court of Exchequer may refer to:*Exchequer of Pleas, an ancient English court, that ceased to exist independently in the late nineteenth century...

in 1821 he served for nearly 40 years and was held in universal regard ; with the general support of the profession he remained on the Bench until shortly before his death at eighty-six, by which time he was blind.