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King's Hospital
The following motion was put to the Council :
"That the Society should purchase the King's
Hospital School, Blackhall Place, Dublin", pro
posed Peter D. M. Prentice, seconded John B.
Jermyn. The motion was unanimously carried.
The minutes of this Council are published in full
in the Annual Report of the Council.
25th July 1968: The President in the chair, also
present, Messrs P. C. Moore, Desmond Moran,
John Maher, William A. Osborne, Rory O'Con-
nor, Thomas J. Fitzpatrick, Walter Beatty, Ralph
J. Walker, Gerard M. Doyle, Peter D. M. Prentice,
James R. C. Green, Robert McD. Taylor, George
A. Nolan, Bruce St. J. Blake, Joseph L. Dundon,
Francis J. Lanigan, Eunan McCarron, Daniel J.
O'Connor, John J. Nash, John B. Jermyn, Augus
tus Cullen, Brendan A. McGrath, Desmond J.
Collins, Peter E. O'Connell, James W. O'Dono-
van, B. J. Carroll, Gerald J. Moloney, Norman
Spendlove.
King's Hospital
The following committee was appointed to deal
with any questions arising out of the purchase of
King's Hospital School: Peter D. M. Prentice,
James R. C. Green, Eunan McCarronn, Norman
Spendlove, Bruce St. J. Blake, James W. O'Dono-
van. This committee has had several meetings.
26th September 1968: The President in the chair,
also present, Messrs Ralph J. Walker, Thomas
Jackson (Jnr), James R. C. Green, Thomas J.
Fitzpatrick, Peter D. M. Prentice, Daniel J. O'Con
nor, Brendan A. McGrath, Francis J. Lanigan,
John Carrigan, George A. Nolan, Desmond J.
Collins, Gerald Y. Goldberg, Peter E. O'Connell,
Gerard M. Doyle, Norman Spendlove, Gerald
Hickey, Walter Beatty, Joseph L. Dundon, Bruce
St. J. Blake, T. V. O'Connor, P. C. Moore,
Eunan McCarronn, John J. Nash.
Exemption from the Society's Preliminary Exam
ination
The Council directed that a further circular should
be sent to all secondary schools, drawing attention
to the two circulars already issued informing car
eers masters
that intending apprentices should
have passed either the open public Matriculation
Examination or the Society's Preliminary Exam
ination in subjects including Maths, Latin and
English and that the Leaving Certificate would
not be accepted as a substitute. It was directed
that the latest circulars should also be published
in the
Gazette.
Company Formation
The Council considered a report of a special com
mittee
(Messrs Ralph J. Walker, A. C. Gore-
Grimes, Walter Beatty) on the establishment of a
Company Formation service for members and it
was decided that the Society should provide such
a service. The service is now in operation.
EXEMPTION FROM PRELIMINARY
EXAMINATION
The following letter was circulated to all schools
on the Department of Education's list, in April
1967.
Dear Sir,
The Council of this Society wishes to notify
schools of the educational requirements for entry
into the solicitor's profession. The statutory re
quirement is that the applicant must pass either
the Society's preliminary examination in the re
quired subjects (including English, Mathematics
and Latin) or the open public matriculation exam
ination of an Irish university including the same
subjects. The Society
is
empowered
to grant
exemptions and is guided by the circumstances in
each case. As regards applications received before
1st July 1967 the present practice of granting ex
emption to candidates who have passed the Leav
ing Certificate with an average mark of not less
than 50 per cent will be continued provided that
the subjects passed include English, Mathematics
and Latin.
As regards applications for exemption from the
preliminary examination between 30th June 1967
and 1st January 1968 the normal acceptable stan
dard will be an average of at least 50 per cent in
the Leaving Certificate or an equivalent examina
tion with passes in English, Mathematics and Latin
provided that the standard submitted would satisfy •
the university as a substitute for matriculation.
This in practice means honours in at least one
subject.
From 1st January 1968 a candidate will not
be exempted from this preliminary examination
unless he has passed the open public matriculation
or entrance examination of an Irish university in
the required subjects including English, Mathe
matics and Latin or unless there are exceptional
circumstances in the individual case.
The average number of deaths and retirements
in the profession is between thirty and forty each
year. The average number of persons entering
into indentures of apprenticeship each year stood
at about this figure until some years ago. Since
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