Although no one could have called 19th century Irish judges overworked, and their depth of legal knowledge varied radically, they all had one thing in common, and that was a high degree of physical courage.

With the murder of Lord Chief Justice Kilwarden during the Emmet Rebellion of 1803 still relatively fresh, Irish judges knew that, at any time, in court or out, their lives could be in jeopardy. If ever tempted to forget their constant peril, there was usually threatening letter or two waiting on their post-tray to remind them, often with a sketch of a coffin bearing their name.

One judge, who famously found such a letter under his dinner-plate subsequently lost his sanity; others, health undermined, died young. Cases of mental illness among judicial families of this period may have been contributed to by the stress resulting from these threats.

Even the good-humoured and forward-thinking Baron Dowse was the recipient of such letters, which, from a brighter point of view, gave a judge with a feeling for the drama the opportunity to play a new role in the great theatre of their life – that of the injured but heroic victim.

By these standards, Dowse, in accordance with his habit of bearing most things with equanimity, dealt with his letter with comparative restraint. He remains the only Irish judge to be illustrated (above) holding such a letter.

News clipping below from the Sligo Independent, 8 April 1880:

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