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was entirely unrelated to his legal abilities, which were mediocre at best, and he was appointed to the Bench by a
Government which had a quite unjustified belief in his legal learning. Barrington records a story of Kelly, who had decided a point of law wrongly twice, expressing the hope that he
38:. In his own lifetime, his lack of legal learning was proverbial, but nonetheless, he was universally esteemed as a kindly and humane man. In the nineteenth century, his principal claim to fame lay in being the father of Thomas Kelly junior, a prolific writer of
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made him very popular. It seems to have been his popularity, rather than any great legal expertise, which enabled him to become one of the most successful barristers of his time, and this, in turn, led to his gaining a seat on the Bench in 1783, and on the
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could get the law right the third time. Nonetheless he retained his great popularity, having the reputation of being a kindly and humane judge, with a sense of humour, and a notable reluctance, unusual at the time, to impose the
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151:, always a stern critic of the Irish judiciary: he wrote that "Kelly has been most unfortunate in his judgments: (there is) scarcely one upon a dubious point which has not been set aside".
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Kelly as a judge proved to be something of an embarrassment to the
Government which had appointed him. His problem, according to his colleague on the Bench, the memoirist Sir
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163:, which he purchased around 1777, and substantially rebuilt. He retired in 1801: by some accounts, he resigned in protest against the passing of the
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and his second wife Anne
Salisbury Jephson. They had three daughters, Annabella, who married Sir George Pigott, first of the
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58:, third son of Edmond Kelly, or O'Kelly, a minor landowner, and Margery Bourke. His family were traditionally
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which destroyed the independent Irish
Parliament, to which Kelly was devoted. He died in Dublin in 1809.
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He had a townhouse in Dublin and a country seat, Kellyville (formerly
Derrinroe), near Ballintubbert,
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Barrington's low opinion of Kelly as a judge was fully shared by the
English-born politician
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He entered politics: he was a close friend and strong supporter of
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Members of the
Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for Portarlington
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in 1783. His support for the cause of full independence for the
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He married
Frances Hickie, daughter of James Jephson Hickie of
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called him the most honourable and humane judge he ever knew.
82:. On his return to Ireland he began his legal practice on the
62:, but Thomas from political necessity became a member of the
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in 1753; he is said then to have spent some years in the
70:from entering the legal profession. He entered the
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26:, judge and politician, who held the office of
86:circuit, where he sat as an extra judge of
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191:of Athlone, and Charlotte, and one son,
34:and was then appointed a justice of the
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66:, as Catholics were then barred by the
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222:John Murray London 1926 Vol. 11 p.220
131:, was that his great popularity as a
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94:in 1767 and Prime Serjeant in 1782.
185:Sir Richard St George, 2nd Baronet
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298:Justices of the Irish Common Pleas
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220:The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921
36:Court of Common Pleas (Ireland)
22:(1723–1809) was an Irish
283:Politicians from County Galway
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1:
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98:Political and judicial career
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273:Members of the Middle Temple
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42:and founder of a breakaway
16:Irish politician, born 1723
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318:Lawyers from County Galway
308:Serjeants-at-law (Ireland)
106:and sat briefly as MP for
54:He was born at Fidane, in
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28:Serjeant-at-law (Ireland)
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117:Privy Council of Ireland
30:. He sat briefly in the
247:London 1833 Vol.1 p.268
183:, Harriet, who married
32:Irish House of Commons
112:Parliament of Ireland
313:Irish King's Counsel
187:, the second of the
278:Irish MPs 1783–1790
218:Ball, F. Elrington
243:Barrington, Jonah
189:St George baronets
165:Act of Union 1800
76:called to the Bar
64:Church of Ireland
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245:Historic Memoirs
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129:Jonah Barrington
74:in 1747 and was
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177:Carrick-on-Suir
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195:(1769–1855).
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193:Thomas Kelly
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161:County Laois
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149:Edward Cooke
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90:; he became
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20:Thomas Kelly
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293:1809 deaths
288:1723 births
80:West Indies
267:Categories
234:Ball p.167
199:References
123:Reputation
68:Penal Laws
50:Early life
44:Protestant
133:barrister
24:barrister
84:Connacht
171:Family
88:assize
46:sect.
155:Death
40:hymns
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227:^
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