Robert Holmes (Barrister)

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Image of Robert Holmes from Michael Doheny's The Felon's Track

Robert Holmes (1765–7 October 1859) was an Irish lawyer and nationalist.

Holmes was born in Dublin in 1765, the son of parents who were natives of Antrim. He studied law and became one of the best known defenders of the Nationalist Leaders in Ireland^[1].

1 Education
2 Defence Counsel
3 Career
4 Marriage and Family
5 Published Works
6 Books by Young Irelanders (Irish Confederation)
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Education

Robert Holmes was educated in Trinity College, Dublin, which he entered in 1782 and where he distinguished himself. He had a great interest in science, although going on to study law. After being called to the Bar, he spent a substantial period of his professional life travelling the north-east circuit in Ireland, where he gained a reputation for great ability and legal skill^[1].

[edit] Defence Counsel

His skill as a defender was abundantly demonstrated in his speech in 1846 in the defence of Charles Gavan Duffy, editor of The Nation. Duffy had been indicted over an article written by John Mitchel, which came to be known as the "Railway Article". Holmes' defence proved successful, and his speech on behalf of his client was described by Chief Justice Pennefeather as "the most eloquent ever heard in a court of Justice"^[1].

[edit] Career

Robert Holmes remained all his life at the "outer bar", and although as a Protestant he could have risen to the Bench, in the words of his biographer P.A. Sillard he "scorned to rustle in the official livery of an English Government", and preferred to remain in the relative "but honourable" obscurity of his choice. Holmes’ career at the bar was, again according to Sillard, throughout an "honourable one" and his "eloquence" was always enlisted on the side of "truth and justice"^[1].

[edit] Marriage and Family

Holmes married the sister of Robert Emmet, who led an unsuccessful rebellion in 1803, and whose brother, Thomas Addis Emmet, was a leading member, with Wolfe Tone, of the United Irishmen; both took part in the Rebellion of 1798.

Holmes' marriage produced one child, a daughter, who later married George Lenox Conyngham and in turn had an only daughter who in 1861 married Viscount Doneraile.

Robert Holmes died at the house of his daughter in London on 7 October 1859, aged 94^[1].

[edit] Published Works

During the course of his life Holmes was the author of three published works: the first, published in 1799, was entitled "A Demonstration of the Necessity of the Legislative Union of Great Britain and Ireland", a satirical pamphlet ridiculing the arguments of its supporters. The next was "An Address to the Yeomanry of Ireland, demonstrating the necessity of their declaring their opinions upon Political Subjects." His most important work however, according to P.A. Sillard, was "The Case of Ireland Stated," which apparently went through six editions, the last in 1847^[1].

[edit] Books by Young Irelanders (Irish Confederation)

An Apology for the British Government in Ireland, John Mitchel, O Donoghue & Company 1905, 96 pages
Jail Journal: Commenced on Board the "Shearwater" Steamer, in Dublin Bay ..., John Mitchel, M.H. Gill & Sons, Ltd 1914, 463 pages
Jail Journal: with continuation in New York & Paris, John Mitchel, M.H. Gill & Son, Ltd
The Crusade of the Period, John Mitchel, Lynch, Cole & Meehan 1873
Last Conquest Of Ireland (Perhaps), John Mitchel, Lynch, Cole & Meehan 1873
History of Ireland, from the Treaty of Limerick to the Present Time, John Mitchel, Cameron & Ferguson
History of Ireland, from the Treaty of Limerick to the Present Time (2 Vol), John Mitchel, James Duffy 1869
Life of Hugh O'Neil John Mitchel, P.M. Haverty 1868
The Last Conquest of Ireland (Perhaps), John Mitchel, (Glasgow, 1876 - reprinted University College Dublin Press, 2005) ISBN 1-905558-36-4
The Felon's Track, Micheal Doheny, M.H. Gill & Sons, Ltd 1951 (Text at Project Gutenberg)
The Volunteers of 1782, Thomas Mac Nevin, James Duffy & Sons. Centenary Edition
Thomas Davis, Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co, Ltd 1890
My Life In Two Hemispheres (2 Vol), Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, T. Fisher Unwin. 1898
Young Ireland, Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co 1880
Four Years of Irish History 1845-1849, Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co 1888
A Popular History of Ireland: from the Earliest Period to the Emancipation of the Catholics, Thomas D'Arcy McGee, Cameron & Ferguson (Text at Project Gutenberg)
The Patriot Parliament of 1689, Thomas Davis, (Third Edition), T. Fisher Unwin, MDCCCXCIII
Charles Gavan Duffy: Conversations With Carlyle (1892)
Davis, Poem’s and Essays Complete, Introduction by John Mitchel, P. M. Haverty, P.J. Kenedy, 9/5 Barclay St. New York, 1876.