From the Waterford Standard, 1 November 1905:
“CARMAN’S ACTION AGAINST A BARRISTER
Before Mr Justice Kenny on Monday the case of Ladley v Ryland, which as an appeal from the decision of the Recorder of Dublin, was heard. The plaintiff is a Dublin cab-driver, and the defendant is a member of the Irish Bar. On the 26th May last Mr Richard Ryland was driving his motor car out of Dartmouth road into Upper Leeson street. As he tried to avoid a cart that was just then coming along he put on his brake, but the motor car wheels skidded and the car ran up quite close to the plaintiff’s horse, without, however, actually colliding with it. That had the effect of frightening the horse, and the car to which it was attached was knocked up against something which caused damage to a lamp. No other injury was done, except that the effect upon the nerves of the animal was such as to render him useless to the plaintiff as a hackney horse. The horse, which he had bought for £30 he had to sell for £16, and he brought an action to recover damages. He valued the horse at £50. A veterinary surgeon valued at £35. The defendant denied negligence, and said that the accident, such as it was, was the result of the wheels skidding. He offered to compensate the plaintiff. The Recorder, having heard the evidence, gave the Plaintiff a decree for £6.6s. Both parties appealed.
Mr Justice Kenny confirmed the Recorder’s decision but increased the decree to £15. He remarked that the persons who drove motor cars ought to be more careful and drive slowly in a populous district.”
The Irish Bar had discovered motor cars, and the days of walking to work were over. Throughout the 20th century, road traffic accidents would produce consistent revenue for its members, although sometimes, as with Mr Ryland and Cecil (later Mr Justice) Lavery KC, they could find themselves featuring as defendants in such proceedings. There was a minor crisis during the Emergency when constraints on petrol, motoring and consequently motor accidents led to this lucrative area of legal work temporarily drying up, leading to some Irish barristers having to join the British Army and Navy to support themselves and their families.
In the early days of motoring, Circuit Court barristers tended to travel en masse in the same car, with the first departure from the Four Courts in 1907 being a significant event recorded in the newspapers. This collegiate practice died down somewhat after 1933, when Lord and Lady Farnham, of Farnham, Cavan, collided with a car containing four Dublin barristers at Lismullan, County Meath. Lord Farnham escaped with a severe shaking. Lady Farnham received cuts in the leg and a broken bone in the left hand. The four barristers suffered mostly from shock and superficial scalp wounds. Lord Farnham subsequently admitted negligence, and one of the barristers, Mr WE Wellwood, was later awarded £200 damages for injuries received. He had been unable to attend to his professional duties for three months and suffered from shock and insomnia. For some time if he slept at all he dreamed that he saw a big car coming down on him. Mr Justice O’Byrne said the jury had been ‘generous.’
Mr Ryland, son of Theodore Ryland BL, happily took more care with his driving in future and -like a surprising number of members of the legal profession of his era – lived to the grand old age of 87!
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