Christopher Palles

Early life

Palles was born on Christmas Day 1831 at Mount Palles, near Mountnugent, in south County Cavan, Ireland. He was the third son of Andrew Christopher Palles (1801-1880), a solicitor, and his wife Eleanor Mary Palles (née Plunkett) (1801-1877). Palles's ancestors (the earliest known version of the surname is de Palatio) were of Italian origin, and came to Ireland in the late fifteenth century in the entourage of their relative Ottaviano Spinelli de Palatio, who was Archbishop of Armagh from 1478 to 1513. Palles was educated at Clongowes Wood College and Trinity College, Dublin, from where he graduated in 1852, having been a non-Foundation Scholar (Catholics were not allowed be full 'Scholars of the House') in Mathematics and Physics. He subsequently attended King's Inns and Gray's Inn in London.

Personal life

Palles married Ellen Doyle in a Catholic ceremony in Dublin in 1862 and they had one son, also named Christopher (1863-1953). The family lived in Mountjoy Square in Dublin, then moved out to Mountanville in Clonskeagh to a site subsequently named "Knockrabo", where they cultivated a peach orchard, and to Fitzwilliam Place where a town-brick neo-gothic oratory was added (and can still be seen from Leeson Street). Palles's family life was not altogether happy: his wife's health was never good, and their son, as his father's will shows, needed special care throughout his very long life. Ellen Palles died in 1887.

His older brother Andrew Palles (1829-1900), who was also educated at Clongowes Wood School and Trinity College, Dublin, was a civil engineer who later became the Chief Baron's Registrar. Andrew's daughter, Elizabeth, moved in with her uncle after Mrs Palles's death and managed the household for the rest of his life.

Career as a barrister 1853-1874

Palles was called to the Irish Bar in 1853. He became Doctor of Laws and Queen's Counsel (Q.C.) in 1865.

He was the Solicitor General from February to November 1872. He was appointed Attorney General in that year and made a member of the Privy Council. He unsuccessfully contested the parliamentary constituency of Londonderry in 1872, much to the annoyance of the Government, which normally relied on the Irish Attorney General to defend its Irish policies from the floor of the House of Commons. His political positions included support for home rule and for non-denominational university education.

Chief Baron, 1874-1916

In 1874 he was appointed to the bench, becoming Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer. In 1898 the Exchequer division was merged in the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice in Ireland. From that time the Chief Baron sat as one of the judges of the Queen's Bench division, and also as a judge of appeal. As a result of that merger, he was known as "last of the Chief Barons". During his 40 years on the Bench he gained a reputation for eminence which has never been equalled by any other Irish judge.

In his lifetime he was considered the greatest Irish judge of his age; and he has been so regarded ever since, though his few critics attacked his tendency to decide cases on technical points rather than the merits. Although more than 80 men held that office, V.T.H. Delaney in his biography of Palles said: "In Ireland there is only one Chief Baron". Alexander Sullivan, with his long experience of both Irish and English judges, ranked him one of the four greatest judges he had known to sit on either the Irish or the English bench.

Maurice Healy in his memoir The Old Munster Circuit paints an affectionate picture of Chief Baron Palles as an awe-inspiring but kindly old judge; describing his manner and reputation as striking terror into young barristers, yet "we were all devoted to him". Despite his stern appearance, he had a sense of humour. Delaney records the story of a nervous Queen's Counsel who blurted out that his junior counsel did not want the judge to see a certain document : Palles, much amused, replied: "Mr O'Brien, you must never do anything of which your junior would not approve". His (judicial) portrait still hangs in the Bencher's Room in the King's Inns. Another portrait (1903) by Sir Hubert von Herkomer hangs in Trinity College.

Palles was named in the Irish Universities Act 1908, s. 6, as one of the founding Commissioners of the National University of Ireland and was chairperson of the Dublin Commissioners established under the Act. In that role, he was involved in making the first appointments of professors and lecturers in the new colleges. He became a founding member of the Governing Body of University College Dublin (UCD) on its establishment in 1909.

Retirement and death

Chief Baron Palles retired from the bench, due to age and increasing ill-health, in 1916, by letter to Prime Minister H.H. Asquith who replied that for many years to come the words of "Palles CB" would be cited with approval, a prophecy which proved to be true.

Palles died in Dublin in 1920. The Chief Baron is buried at Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin.

Legacy

Palles CB has left a significant and unsurpassed legacy in jurisprudence. As of 2017, over 1,000 judgments over a period of 143 years either consist of or cite his decisions, from his first reported case in Brew v. Conole (1874) 9 I.R. C.L. 151 to Kerins v. McGuinness [2017] IEHC 34.

His judgments are commonly cited to this day; in 1960 Delaney wrote that judges were still regularly asking "what did Palles have to say on the point" ? Examples include the following:

A biography by V.T.H. Delany was published in 1960: Christopher Palles Lord Chief Baron of Her Majesty's Court of Exchequer in Ireland 1874-1916. His Life and Times (Dublin: Allen Figgis & Co., Ltd., 1960).

His papers are held in UCD, a college he helped establish. The Palles Collection was donated to UCD in 1921 and for many years formed the basis of UCD's Law Library.