Walter Hussey Burgh

Walter Hussey Burgh SL (; ; 1742 – 1783) was an Irish statesman, barrister and judge who sat in the Irish House of Commons, served as Prime Serjeant (1777–79, 1782) and Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer (1782–83). He was considered to be one of the most outstanding orators of his time.

Background Hussey Burgh was born in County Kildare, son of Ignatius Hussey, barrister, of Donore House, near Naas, and his second wife, Elizabeth Burgh. Elizabeth was the daughter of the statesman and architect, Colonel Thomas de Burgh, and his wife Mary Smyth. Thomas Burgh designed some of the most notable Irish buildings of his era, including Trinity College Library.

At Tisdall's request, Hussey Burgh was appointed Prime Serjeant (1777) and made a member of the Privy Council of Ireland.

Speeches Hussey Burgh was regarded as one of the greatest Irish orators of his time, but his speeches survive only in fragments.

His principal fault, it was generally agreed, was his extravagance: he lived in considerable state, and liked to be driven to Court in a carriage with six horses and three outriders. He also undertook extensive rebuilding of Donore House. As a result of his improvidence, his early death left his children in serious financial difficulty, until Henry Grattan persuaded the House of Commons to vote them a pension.

Family In 1767, Walter Hussey married his second cousin, Anne de Burgh (died 1782), daughter of Thomas Burgh and Anne Downes, and sister of the statesman William de Burgh. They had one son and five daughters, including Catherine (1770–1840), who married Sir John Macartney, 1st Baronet, and Mary (died 1820), who married Richard Griffith. Their descendants included Arthur Hill Griffith, the politician Hussey Burgh Macartney, first Dean of Melbourne, and John Arthur Macartney, a colonist of Queensland.