The Gazette 1992

GAZETTE

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1992

which were more often than not proved, by an incompetent judi- ciary, and often against innocent people, must make us very thankful for the more benign times that we live in today and the abolition of the death penalty. The judiciary and their appointment have come in for severe comment by Mr. Mackey but there are good a c c o u n ts of i ngen i ous legal dialogue be t ween judges and barristers such as Daniel O'Connell which do bring a smile. There are funny stories about the demeanour of and evidence given by witnesses in cases in days gone by, and while in his epilogue, Mr. Mackey regrets the passing of the jury system, his many stories about the perversity of juries long ago does cause some amusement. There is a most interesting chapter on the building of Kings Inns and if one ever wondered why the Bar in Ireland does not have a chamber system, the answer is in this book. It appears that plans to this effect were prepared by Gandon, but in 1806 he resigned "as the work was not advancing as rapidly as desired owing to lack of funds". Do many things change? Summing It Up:- Memoirs of an Irishman at Law in England By James Comyn. The Round Hall Press (1991), 232pp. £19.95 This is another book from the prolific hand of Irishman, James Comyn QC., who, after a long career at the English Bar (including chairmanship of the Bar Council of England and Wales), was a High Court Judge for some ten years, until his recent retirement. This book is light and succeeds in being both entertaining and, in places, memorable, in the way that, for many, Maurice Healy's Old Munster Circuit, even after more than f i f ty I enjoyed the book and would universally recommend it. Elma Lynch

years, still remains entertaining and memorable. The author's father (James Comyn K.C.) had in fact been 'father' of the old Munster Circuit, and his uncle, Senator/ Judge Michael Comyn KC, had been a legal adviser to De Valera during the 1920s. The author spent a short time in 1938 working w i th The Irish Times before proceeding to Oxford and a legal career in England. Throughout his working life, he continued to maintain a house in Ireland and to come here regularly. He is now living in retirement in Co. Meath, engaging in farming and writing. His short sojourn in The Irish Times clearly developed his humorous insights, enjoyed particularly by lawyers, where the seriousness of the occasion or topic highlights the (often unintended) humour. He describes an occasion of being ticked-off by R.M. Smyllie, the then inimitable editor, after writing an 'advanced obituary' of a still living cardinal, for including the informa- t i on t h a t : " H is Eminence was unmarried". This is a book that one feels might have had its genesis in front of a blazing fire, w i t h the au t hor recounting to a group of port- drinking legal friends anecdote after anecdote, coming to mind in a random way. Mr. Comyn is able to effectively set the scene for each anecdote, a most important skill because legal humour critically depends on first creating the solemn and serious occasion. Even though intended to be light, the book is also interesting and informative, not least in conveying some of what it is like to b&a 'cab- rank' barrister in chambers as well as the views of the author on the personalities of some of the judges of his time who are household names to readers of the English law reports. This is the sort of book that one can readily read and still feel inclined to dip into at regular inter- vals - like books by A.P. Herbert and John Mortimer. It is uncondition- 17

Windward Of The Law Second Edition by Rex Mackey. The Round Hall Press, 200pp. Hardback £19.95 The law and stories about the legal profession have long been fertile ground for authors w i th a legal ba c k g r ound. Rex Ma c k e y 's Windward of the Law, second edition, is a history of the Irish Bar and legal profession from the early days of Anglo-Norman Dublin. Rex Mackey is a well known Senior Counsel practising at the Irish Bar and published the first edition of this book in 1965. The second edition has been published w i th an epilogue which reviews develop- ments in the legal profession since then. The book has been described as a w i t ty account of how the Irish have shaped the law and has also been referred to as light hearted revela- tions, by various reviewers, but I would suggest that these com- ments are misleading. This book which contains some light hearted moments is a well written, inter- esting and serious history. I enjoyed the book, and found it informative and sometimes amus- ing, but Mr. Mackey's accounts of many injustices visited upon the ordinary people by an alien law imposed by a foreign administration filled me w i th sadness. The many occasions when the death penalty was handed out for minor offences