As the above story from the Irish Independent of 4 June 1921 shows, even prior to the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, some members of the Irish bench were making a point about a possible move away from English law.

Under the 1922 and 1937 Constitutions, English decisions prior to 1922 form part of the corpus of Irish law and, depending on the relative precedence of the respective courts that decided them, may or may not trump Irish decisions of the same period.

In contrast, the Plunkett story recounted by way of follow-up dates from the early 19th century and involves legal personages closely identified with British rule – current and future Lords Chancellor of Ireland Thomas Manners-Sutton (1756-1842) and William Plunket (1764-1854).

Wit (and the successful prosecution of Robert Emmet) can take you far; Plunket’s descendants subsequently ascended into the aristocracy and climbed to the giddy heights of royal courtiers; they also played prominent roles in the Church of Ireland and Irish Freemasonry; more recently, Plunket’s great-great-great grandson Patrick ( 1923-1975 ) was a noted confidant of Elizabeth II.