James Murphy

James Murphy (1823–1901) was an Irish barrister and judge of the late nineteenth century.

Career

He was born at Kilfinane, County Limerick, the fifth son of Jeremiah Murphy. He matriculated at Trinity College Dublin in 1842 and took his bachelor's degree there in 1849. He made his reputation as counsel for the prosecution in the Phoenix Park murders trials in 1883, and later that year was duly rewarded for the successful outcome of the trials (from the Crown's point of view) by appointment to the High Court. He sat first in the Common Pleas Division before being transferred to the King's Bench Division. He then transferred to the Exchequer Division, before finally returning to the King's Bench. Keogh had been a much-hated politician (of "Sadleir and Keogh" infamy, a proverb for betrayal of one's political principles) before his appointment to the Bench, and was an equally unpopular judge, but his son-in-law was always his good friend and champion.

He and Mary had one daughter and five sons, including Harold Lawson Murphy, best remembered as the author of a well-known History of Trinity College Dublin (1951), and Edward Sullivan Murphy, Attorney General for Northern Ireland and later a Lord Justice of Appeal in Northern Ireland.

James Murphy died at Glencairn House in Dublin on 5 September 1901.