Hugh Kennedy
Encyclopedia
Southern Ireland
Southern Ireland was a short-lived autonomous region of the United Kingdom established on 3 May 1921 and dissolved on 6 December 1922.Southern Ireland was established under the Government of Ireland Act 1920 together with its sister region, Northern Ireland...
and the first Attorney-General of the Irish Free State
Attorney General of Ireland
The Attorney General is a constitutional officer who is the official adviser to the Government of Ireland in matters of law. He is in effect the chief law officer in Ireland. The Attorney General is not a member of the Government but does participate in cabinet meetings when invited and attends...
, and later the first Chief Justice of the Irish Free State
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
. As a member of the Irish Free State Constitution
Constitution of the Irish Free State
The Constitution of the Irish Free State was the first constitution of the independent Irish state. It was enacted with the adoption of the Constitution of the Irish Free State Act 1922, of which it formed a part...
Commission, he was also one of the constitutional architects of the Irish Free State. He was also elected to the 4th Dáil.
Early life
Hugh Kennedy was born in Dublin in 1879. He studied for the examinations of the Royal UniversityRoyal University of Ireland
The Royal University of Ireland was founded in accordance with the University Education Act 1879 as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the University of London. A Royal Charter was issued on April 27, 1880 and examinations were opened to candidates irrespective of...
while a student at University College Dublin
University College Dublin
University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...
and King's Inns
King's Inns
The Honorable Society of King's Inns , is the institution which controls the entry of barristers-at-law into the justice system of Ireland...
, Dublin, and was called to the Bar in 1902. He was appointed King's Counsel in 1920 and became a Bencher of King's Inns in 1922.
During 1920 and 1921 Hugh Kennedy was a senior legal adviser to the representatives of Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...
during the negotiations for the Anglo-Irish Treaty
Anglo-Irish Treaty
The Anglo-Irish Treaty , officially called the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was a treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and representatives of the secessionist Irish Republic that concluded the Irish War of...
.
Attorney-General
Provisional Government of Southern Ireland
The provisional Government of Southern Ireland was the provisional government for the administration of Southern Ireland between 16 January 1922 and 6 December 1922. The government was effectively a transitional administration for the period between the ratifying of the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the...
.
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
Constitution of the Irish Free State
The Constitution of the Irish Free State was the first constitution of the independent Irish state. It was enacted with the adoption of the Constitution of the Irish Free State Act 1922, of which it formed a part...
. It prepared the draft constitution. He was thus one of the constitutional architects of the Irish Free State. The Irish Free State
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
was established on 6 December 1922, and the former Provisional Government of Southern Ireland ceased to exist, its functions being transferred to the newly created Executive Council of the Irish Free State
Executive Council of the Irish Free State
The Executive Council was the cabinet and de facto executive branch of government of the 1922–1937 Irish Free State. Formally, the role of the Executive Council was to "aid and advise" the Governor-General who would exercise the executive authority on behalf of the King...
.
On 7 December 1922 he was appointed by the Governor-General as the first Attorney-General of the Irish Free State. A photograph from this period appears at http://www.attorneygeneral.ie/ago/gallery5.html.
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 Lord Glenavy
James Campbell, 1st Baron Glenavy
James Henry Mussen Campbell, 1st Baron Glenavy PC was an Irish lawyer, politician in the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and later in the Oireachtas of the Irish Free State...
, who had also been the last Lord Chancellor of Ireland
Lord Chancellor of Ireland
The office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801 it was also the highest political office of the Irish Parliament.-13th century:...
. It drafted the Courts of Justice Act 1924
Courts of Justice Act 1924
The Courts of Justice Act, 1924 was an Act of the Oireachtas that established the courts system of the Irish Free State pursuant to the Constitution of the Irish Free State...
for a new system of courts, including a High Court and a Supreme Court, and provided for the abolition, inter alia, of the Irish Court of Appeal
Irish Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal in Ireland was created by the Westminster Parliament under the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1877 as the final appellate court within Ireland, then under British rule...
and the Irish High Court of Justice. Most of the judges were not reappointed to the new courts.
He was also a delegate of the Irish Free State to the Fourth Assembly of the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
between 3–29 September 1923.
By-election
He was elected to Dáil ÉireannDáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...
on 27 October 1923 as a Cumann na nGaedheal TD
Teachta Dála
A Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...
at the by-election for the Dublin South
Dublin South (Dáil Éireann constituency)
Dublin South is a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas. The constituency elects 5 deputies...
constituency. He was the first person to be elected in a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
to Dáil Éireann. He resigned his seat when he was appointed Chief Justice.