Martin Luther King, jnr – said, ‘human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable … Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.’ This quote could easily have refered to District Justice Philip F. Lavery, a man who sought to implement justice in a fair, progressive and even-handed manner. Lavery was respected by the legal profession as a man who was thorough. On one occassion, in a case concerning poor workmanship, he left the court-room in Cavan town and walked up the street to view the shop in question. In this week’s column I would like to acknowledge Vincent Lavery who kindly gave of his time to share his father’s story.
Michael Collins
Philip Lavery was born in the early 1890’s, the son of Patrick Lavery, solicitor, Armagh, and Rose Lavery, neé Vallely. Philip was the eldest of five sons. He was educated at Castleknock College, Dublin, and University College, Dublin. In 1915, he qualified as a solicitor and served as registrar to the Judges of the High Court until the Free State’s establishment in 1922.
His father’s firm acted as agents in Armagh during the 1918 election and had also worked on behalf of General Michael Collins when he was returned as ‘one of the members for Co. Armagh’ in 1921. Their firm also looked after the practise of a former Minister for Justice, Mr. Patrick J. Rutledge, solicitor, when he ‘was on the run’ during the troubles in the early 1920’s.
Philip’s brothers were Mr. Hugh Lavery, solicitor, Belfast; Dr. Francis Lavery, Professor of Optomology, U.C.D., who was eye specialist to St. Vincent’s Hospital, and to the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital; Rev. Dom Brendan, Downside Abbey, Bath, and Justice Cecil Lavery, who was appointed Attorney General during the Costello coalition 1948. Cecil was later appointed to the Supreme Court which he served on until his retirement in 1966.
Shercock
In 1922, at a sitting of Dublin Sessions Court, the new Government appointed Philip as one of the States first District Justices, a position he held for 41 years. He initially served as District Justice for the Castlerea area before being appointed to the Cavan-Monaghan circuit in 1930. Cavan’s first District Justice under the Free State, was Mr. Hannan, who departed for Dublin.
In June 1930, Philip Lavery took up his first sitting in Cavan, at Shercock District Court. Lavery informed his audience that, ‘Mr. Hannan had set a headline which it would be a very good thing if he could follow, and which he would do his best to follow. He was sure that they would get on together.’ His first case in Cavan concerned the Minister of Lands v. McGuigan for offering dirty eggs for sale.
Philip’s youngest son, Vincent Lavery, said of his father, ‘my image of my father was that he was a very shy man. Even introverted. He had an enormous respect for the Gardaí and often told me that without law and order within society, the alternative was continual anarchy. He often said without laws and a deep respect for law even though we might not agree with the law the only way to make change was at the ballot box.’
Family man
In 1922, Philip and Carmel Lavery, neé O’Connor, were married in St. Michael’s Church, Marine Road, Dún Laoghaire. Carmel Lavery, was a daughter of the Managing Director of Cleary’s, however, as a child she was tragically to lose both parents. Philip and his wife, Carmel, and their five sons lived at Knapton Road, Monkstown, Dubln. The family had a live-in maid, Rose McInerney, from Co.Cavan. In those days, it proved expensive to educate a young family and Philip often lived from pay cheque to pay cheque, in order to send his sons to Clongowes Wood College and Castleknock College. On one occasion the chimney pot on the house was broken and they had to wait for three months until there was enough money saved to repair it. A judges salary in those days came to £17.30 per week which was not as high as people had supposed.
Vincent Lavery remembers, that as a child in 1948, he accompanied his father to his court-sittings in Cavan-Monaghan which ran from Monday through to Thursday. They would take the tram from Dún Laoghaire to Nelson’s Pillar, before walking to Amien Street to get a train or bus to Cavan or Monaghan. Rationing was in full-swing, with sugar, butter and tea being carefully measured out. His father did not take sugar in his tea, but would ‘bring a small paper bag and put the sugar into the bag and take it home.’ Vincent recalls, ‘this day, he put the bag in his suit breast-pocket and we went to the bank in Cavan. He sneezed and accidentally pulled the bag out of his pocket and the sugar went all over the bank counter.’ – ‘Was I embarrased’, exclaimed Vincent. When working he would always stay in the Farnham Arms Hotel. Vincent still has proud memories of his father entering the Court-room where he would receive a salute from the Gardaí. A Cavan local recalled that Judge Lavery was the epitome of a gentleman in both demeanour and his immaculate dress sense; ‘a cut above the rest’, they said.
Judge Lavery had a stutter for most of his life which some cruel people would mock behind his back. Vincent recollects that the stutter had miraculously disappeared during the last 10 years of his father’s life.
Aside from the court-room, Philip found time to unwind and enjoyed fishing which was his major pastime. He would board the train to Greystones and ‘fish off the rocks or the small pier down on the beach. Philip and his family would attend the Abbey and Gate theatres. He appreciated classical concerts and the dramatics of Gilbert and Sullivan.
Best Circuit Clerk
In Cavan, Lavery’s Court Clerk was a man named Eugene Smyth, a native of Kill, Cootehill; who later lived in Church Street, Cavan. Lavery considered him to be the best Court Clerk he had on the circuit. When Eugene died in 1949, Philip Lavery said of him, ‘having in his early manhood taken a courageous part in the struggle to bring about the condition in which National Courts could be established, as a matter of duty he took on the chief executive position in this area on the first of those courts to be set-up , namely the District Court, and he was Clerk for 27 years. We all know here that Eugene’s high intellectual power would have enabled him to have obtained more success measured in pounds, shillings and pence, than in fact he obtained, but he did his his duty as he saw it. To me he was a loyal friend. I could, and did, trust him absolutely. ‘
Retirement
In February 1963, Philip Lavery retired. In his final remarks, he noted, that in 1930, he was initially prejudiced towards the people of Cavan, ‘notwithstanding the fact that the blood of the McGaherns and Fitzpatricks’ ran in his veins. However, he added, ‘as a result of the 32 years I have spent amongst them I consider them the finest people in Ireland, embracing the virtues of north and south without the faults of either.’ Philip Lavery died on 20 November 1972, and was laid to rest in the family plot at Deans Grange Cemetery, Dublin. Vincent Lavery, is founder of ‘Children’s Committee 10’ an initiative set-up in the 1980’s to help children during the Northern Ireland Troubles. His work inspired a movie, ‘Children in the Crossfire’, in which he was played by Niall Tobin. Today, Vincent Chairs the organisation, Decriminalise Illegal Drugs – Educate Ireland. He would be happy to hear from anyone who has memories of his father’s time as District Justice in Cavan. Vincent can be contacted at vjlavery@yahoo.com
