17 Facts About Christopher Palles

Christopher Palles was an Irish barrister, Solicitor-General, Attorney-General and a judge for over 40 years.

Christopher Palles served as the last Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer from 1874 until his retirement from the bench in 1916.

Christopher Palles's ancestors were of Italian origin, and came to Ireland in the late fifteenth century in the entourage of their relative Ottaviano Spinelli de Palatio, who was Papal Legate, and Archbishop of Armagh from 1478 to 1513.

Christopher Palles was educated at Clongowes Wood College and Trinity College Dublin, from where he graduated in 1852, having been a non-Foundation Scholar in Mathematics and Physics.

Christopher Palles subsequently attended King's Inns and Gray's Inn in London.

Christopher Palles was Solicitor General from February to November 1872.

Christopher Palles was appointed Attorney General in that year and made a member of the Privy Council.

Christopher Palles unsuccessfully contested the parliamentary constituency of Londonderry City in 1872: his failure to get elected was a cause of annoyance to the Government, which normally relied on the Irish Attorney General to defend its Irish policies from the floor of the House of Commons.

Delaney in his biography of Christopher Palles said: "In Ireland there is only one Chief Baron".

Christopher Palles was named in the Irish Universities Act 1908 as one of the founding Commissioners of the National University of Ireland and was chairperson of the Dublin Commissioners established under the Act.

Christopher Palles became a founding member of the Governing Body of University College Dublin on its establishment in 1909.

Christopher Palles died in Dublin in 1929 and is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin.

Christopher Palles's older brother Andrew Palles, who was educated at Clongowes Wood School and Trinity College, Dublin, was a civil engineer who later became the Chief Baron's Registrar.

Christopher Palles CB has left a significant and unsurpassed legacy in jurisprudence.

Christopher Palles is mentioned in the novel Ulysses by James Joyce.

Christopher Palles's papers are held in UCD, a college he helped establish.

The Christopher Palles Collection was donated to UCD in 1921 and for many years formed the basis of UCD's Law Library.