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GAZETTE
JULY 1996
David R. Pigot - An Appreciation
David Pigot who died on 8 June last at
the comparatively young age of
66 years has left behind him a legacy
of which many people not to mention
lawyers and sportsmen in particular,
would had to have been immensely
proud had they attained even a
modicum of his achievements in such
a relatively short life span. David
must have had one of the most unique
and impressive pedigrees of which
any lawyer would have to be very
proud. It is a reflection on David's
characteristic modesty that nobody
was aware of his ancestry. It
transpires that not only was David's
father, David Richard Pigot, an
eminent lawyer in the solicitors'
profession who practised in the family
firm of Peebles, Knox & Pigot, where
he was joined by David and which
firm subsequently amalgamated with
Arthur Cpx &Co., where David
became a senior partner, but his
grandfather John Henry Pigot was a
barrister and subsequently a judge.
David's great grandfather Lord David
Richard Pigot was the Chief Baron of
the Court of Exchequer of Ireland who
preceded the last Chief Baron of
Ireland, C B Palles. It will thus be
seen that David was a fifth generation
lawyer and accordingly his son also
David R. Pigot who followed in both
| his father's and his grandfather's
|
footsteps into the legal profession now
practices as a solicitor in the firm of
B C MHanby Wallace and must thus
probably hold the record in Irish legal >
circles as a sixth generation lawyer as
must also his daughter Janet Tarrant
who is a solicitor in William Fry as
well as his youngest daughter Vicky,
who is also a solicitor in Miley &
Miley in Dublin. Following his
schooldays at Willow Park and
subsequently at Blackrock College,
David predictably read Legal Science |
and graduated with degrees of BA
j
(Mod.) in Legal Science and LLB
(First Class Honours) in 1950 and was
J
admitted as a solicitor in 1951. He
| became a Dublin Solicitors Bar
j
Association nominee to the Law
The late David Pigot
Society Council in 1969 and 1970 and
was elected to the Law Society
Council in 1971. He was President of
the Dublin Solicitors Bar Association
in 1975/76 and he became the first
chairman of the Law Society's
Litigation Committee in 1980. He was
one of the Society's nominees on the
Superior Court Rules Committee.
David attained the ultimate pinnacle
of his profession when he was elected
President of the Law Society over
which he presided with distinction in
1986/87. Apart from his prowess at
cricket which is dealt with
in extenso
below, David was most definitely an
all-round sportsman who played
hockey with Three Rock Rovers and
rugby with Trinity College Dublin
RFC, Monkstown RFC and St. Mary's
RFC. He was also capped for Leinster
as a Junior Rugby Inter Provincial.
Outside of law his main love was
cricket where he brought the same
level of dedication to the game as to
the service of his clients. He did not
receive his first Irish cap until he was
37 and that against Middlesex in
Ormeau on a very difficult wicket. His
adversary in international cricket was
the then fastest bowler in England, J S
E Price. He realised this challenge and
despite receiving a physical battering
he was top scorer in the second
innings and a career to last a further
ten years had commenced, his
proudest moment being a member of
the Irish side that beat the West Indies
at Sion Mills in 1969. For Phoenix
whom re represented at senior level
for an amazing six decades (1948-
1991) the highlight was a Senior Cup
Final 100 against Merrion at 48 years
of age. It gave him his 6th Senior
Cup medal.
He harboured hopes of the Law
Society playing cricket on a regular
basis home and away. He could not
conceive of why the cricketers should
not have the similar cosy
arrangements as his golfing colleagues
but despite his best efforts a home
match against an Australian Lawyers
XI was the summit of his
organisational achievement. The legal
and cricket tradition continues on with
his son, David, who has followed in
his father's and his grandfather's steps
of captaining Phoenix.
An indication of David's commitment
to the cause he espoused was his
willingness to take on the often
thankless top jobs in those
organisations. He was President of the
Leinster Cricket Union, President of
Phoenix CC, an Irish selector,
President of Dublin University CC, as
well of course as President of the Law
Society. He did not take those roles
because of honour. He felt strongly
that these organisations needed to be
run on a firm if sometimes an old-
fashioned basis. He was worried that
standards were slipping, that
dedication was not all consuming. He
was perplexed by the modern
phenomenon of young sportsmen
preparing for big games via Leeson
Street. They, of course, will not make
50 against the Free Forresters at
Henley just before their 66th birthday.
They, too, hopefully will not be cut
off virtually in their prime.
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