The Palace and Park by Phillips, Forbes, Latham, Owen, Scharf, and Shenton

453. JOHN PHILPOT CURRAN. _Lawyer._

[Born near Cork, 1750. Died in London, 1817. Aged 67.] Of very humble parentage. Obtaining a sizarship, he received his education at Trinity College, Dublin, free of expense. He went to London, and entered himself as student at one of the Inns of Court. Called to the bar in 1775. His brilliant qualities soon brought him into notice. He was employed to defend various persons charged with political offences, and his eloquence, his wit, his withering sarcasm, and touching pathos, carried all before them. In 1784, he obtained a silk gown, and took his seat in the Irish House of Commons as member for Doneraile. When the Whigs came into office in 1806, he was made Master of the Rolls in Ireland. This office he held until 1814, when he resigned it and secured a pension of 3000_l._ a-year. He then visited England, and took up his residence in London, where he died. He was a popular advocate, and a most successful debater. His personal appearance was as deficient in grace as his intellectual powers were splendid. His country, which loved him when living, lamented him when dead, and perpetuated her love and her grief by the erection of a public monument to his memory. [By Christopher Moore. 1841. Executed for his monument in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin.]