Recorder of Dublin

The Recorder of Dublin was a judicial position in Dublin, Ireland. He was the chief magistrate for Dublin, and conducted an enormous range of civil and criminal business; his overall responsibility was to keep the peace, and he also maintained strict control over the number of public houses. The office was so onerous that on occasion men sought promotion to the High Court bench in the hope that the workload would be smaller. He also on occasion acted as a mediator in conflicts between the Crown and Dublin Corporation.

Although it was a full-time position the Reorder unlike a High Court judge was not debarred from sitting in the Irish House of Commons and despite the heavy workload several Recorders were M.P.s at the same time.

The first to hold the position was James Stanihurst, speaker of the Irish parliament, in 1564 and the last was Sir Thomas O'Shaughnessy. The Recordership was abolished in 1924 and the Recorder's functions transferred to the new Circuit Court.

Holders of the position have included:

• 1564 James Stanihurst (d. 1573)
• 1573 Henry Burnell
• 1599 Patrick Fitzgerald
• c. 1603 William Talbot, removed shortly as a Catholic
• 1604–1613 Richard Bolton
• 1620s–1626 James Barry
• 1626-1634 Nathaniel Catelyn
• 1634-1660 John Bysse
• 1661–1672 Sir William Davys, later Lord Chief Justice.
• 1672 Elisha Leighton
• 1680-1687 Sir Richard Ryves
• 1687 John Barnewall
• 1690–1693 Thomas Coote
• 1693-1695 Nehemiah Donnellan
• 1695–1701 Sir William Handcock
• 1701–1714 John Forster
• 1733–1750 Eaton Stannard
• 1751-1756 Thomas Morgan
• 1756–1766 James Grattan
• 1766–1784 Samuel Bradstreet
• 1784–1785 Dudley Hussey
• 1785–1794 Denis George (later Baron of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland) |
• 1794–1820 William Walker | Appointed 30 May 1794 (Died 31 December 1820)
• 1822-1828 Sir Jonas Greene
• 1828–1876 Frederick Shaw
• 1876-1905 Sir Frederick Falkiner (1831–1908)
• 1905-1924 Sir Thomas O'Shaughnessy (1850–1933)—the last Recorder of Dublin