 | ||
The Chief Justice of the Common Pleas for Ireland was the senior judge of the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland), which was known in its early years as the Common Bench or simply as "the Bench". It was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland, and was a mirror of the Court of Common Pleas in England. The Court of Common Pleas comprised one of the "four courts" which sat in the building in Dublin whch is still known as the Four Courts.
According to Elrington Ball the court was fully operational by 1276, with a Chief Justice, of whom Robert Bagod was the first, and two or three associate justices. The Court functioned until the passing of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Ireland) 1877, when it was merged into the new High Court of Justice in Ireland. The last Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas, Sir Michael Morris, continued to hold the title until 1887, when he was appointed Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, at which point the older title became obsolete.