The Gazette 1976

J U NE/J U LY

GAZETTE

1976

SOME SIDELIGHTS ON THE TALENTS OF THE LATE J. A. COSTELLO, S.C. By Frank Connolly, formerly Solicitor to the Department of Posts & Telegraphs Having regard to the number of tributes which have been already published about the life of this distin- guished lawyer, it is with some diffidence that the present writer ventures to add to them. Some aspects of Costello's career however, have not been dealt with in detail; therefore, they might be of interest to Solici- tors practising in the provinces, or young Solicitors who did not see this brilliant advocate at work when he was at the zenith of his profession. When in private practice, I had the duty of briefing him as a Senior Counsel, attending him at consulta- tions; and on several occasions, I heard him address juries, and public meetings. He told me that in 1922 he was asked by the late Hugh Kennedy, K.C. to assist him in his work, when the latter was appointed Law Officer to the Irish Provisional Government. At first, the Law Officer was given the rooms of the former Lord Chancellor of Ireland in Dublin Castle for his official work. Mr. Costello worked in these offices in Dublin Castle, but found that the time of the Law Officer was so taken up with conferences with the Pro- visional Government and the drafting of the new Irish Free State Constitution that it was only possible to get his undivided attention for a few hours each week. As opportunity offered, he discussed complicated legal points in files submitted for advice by the Provisional Government Departments with the Law Officer and then returned the files with the opinion of the Law Officer endorsed. After working as assistant to Hugh Kennedy, K.C., and subsequently to John O'Byrne, S.C., when the latter was appointed Attorney General in succession to Hugh Kennedy, Mr. Costello was made Attorney General on the promotion of John O'Byrne to the judicial bench. The highly flattering reputation that he made for himself as Attorney General is borne out by the fact that I first heard him discussed by Solicitors on holidays at the back of the Twelve Pins in Connemara in the year 1928. These Solicitors referred to him as Jack Costello, and the warmth in their voices was noticeable when they spoke about his splendid personal and pro- fessional qualities and his immense success as Attorney General. What struck me most about him was that his intellect was of the powerful capacious kind with great range and depth coupled with all round abilities, the most evident of them being : logical thought, lucid exposi- tion of ideas, flair for politics and history, the power of rapid assimilation of facts, and great oratorical gifts. In addition, his mind worked quickly and accurately like the snap of a well oiled breech of a gun. Since he also had wide cultural interests, even though he could spare little time for them from his professional respon- sibilities, he was a whole man in the Renaissance conception of the whole man. John Costello's Oratory Perhaps, his greatest endowment was his aptitude for oratory. His oratorical powers were in the true tradition of the famed orators of Grattan's Parliament, John Philpot Curran, O'Connell, Meagher of the Sword, and Isaac Butt. Although his style of oratory was much less flamboyant than theirs in keeping with the fashion of 84

his times, a reading of their speeches shows that, there is no doubt that he was their equal in oratorical capacity and artistry. During his lifetime Ireland had some very accomplished public speakers, but none had brought the art to the height of perfection achieved by him. Notwithstanding that in his day oratory was be- coming suspect of fustian and claptrap, and that his speeches to juries and public meetings were infused with deep feeling and full blooded rhetoric, his skilful use of eloquence based on carefully chosen arguments couched in language of great distinction, all painting a striking verbal picture, was most effective in persuad- ing people to accept his thesis. With an unhesitating delivery in address, he was able to clothe his thoughts instantaneously in appropriate graceful words and tell- ing phrases, so that his points were clearly illuminated and could be easily understood. He was also most adroit at emphasizing the weak and vulnerable parts of his adversaries case, and pouring scorn on its flimsiness, followed by putting the best complexion possible by plausible arguments on his own case. Unlike some would be orators, he never bored his hearers, thereby failing to hold their attention. For he took care to avoid repetition and to stimulate their imagination bv the use of colourful figures of speech for the purpose of illustrating the ingredients of his arguments and to vary the pace and timbre of the passionate ring in his voice by mixing appeals to their common sense with irony and division, interspersed with sentiment and pathos. Moreover he was the only orator in modern Ireland who could use properly ample studied gestures of his hands and arms to reinforce the effect of his arguments. Undoubtedly, the vehement tone of his voice in speeches at public meetings to juries, and in Dail Eireann led some people to take objection to his methods of advocacy on the grounds that it verged on tub thumping or hectoring, but it was virtually un- known for him to be rebuked for his mode of address by any trial judge or by the Dail. Nor do his trenchant speeches at public meetings appear to have led to his being heckled to any extent, or to attempts to in- terrupt the meetings—possibly his felicitous choice of English took the sting out of his invective. Experienced Solicitors agree that he dominated most court trials in which he took part, and that his glittering rhetoric appeared to have had a mesmeric effect in his favour on juries who tended to think it one of the greatest experiences in their lives to have been addressed by him. In all tribunals, including enquiries, District Courts, Appeal Courts, and the Supreme Court he was a successful special pleader because while always in- tensely forceful in the presentation of his submissions, he adapted the sound of his voice to suit the nature of his audience, and his perceptive mind enabled him to bring out and stress points not readily apparent to others. If not too tired by his political and professional duties, he was a particularly attractive after dinner speaker, since he knew how to blend calls to loyalty to the dinners social objects with personal reminiscences spiced by jocosities, and opposite literary and idealistic references. John Costello's Cross-Examination The newspaper accounts of his life have failed to do justice to his powers of cross examination. In fact he was one of the most deadly cross examiners that every practised at the Irish Bar. His modus operandi was first by reassuring questions to beguile a witness into agree- ing witli his version of the facts; if he proved inimical, he would proceed by searching questions to try to