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Maurice F. HealyBL,MC (1887–1943) was an Irish lawyer and author, who is best remembered for his legal memoirThe Old Munster Circuit.
He was born inCork, son of the well-known solicitorMaurice Healy and nephew ofTimothy Michael Healy, the firstGovernor-General of the Irish Free State. His mother was a sister ofA.M. Sullivan, who was the last barrister to hold the titleSerjeant, and was noted for his unsuccessful defence ofRoger Casement.Timothy Sullivan, the secondChief Justice of Ireland, was a cousin of Maurice, as wasKevin O'Higgins, a leading figure in the earlyIrish Free State Government.[1]
Maurice was educated atClongowes Wood College andUniversity College Dublin. He was called to theIrish Bar in 1910, and to theEnglish Bar in 1914 and saw action in theFirst World War on the Western Front and at Gallipoli. He received theMC in 1919 after serving in France and also in Germany during the immediate post-war occupation.
Maurice stood forParliament in theDecember 1910 United Kingdom general election as aAll-for-Ireland League candidate forWest Waterford. After theIrish War of Independence, while several of his close relatives became prominent political figures in the Irish Free State, he chose to practice at the English Bar. While he would have been happy enough to see Ireland gainHome Rule by peaceful means, he had a horror of revolutionary violence (although he also denounced the crimes committed by theBlack and Tans) and he seems to have found life in the Irish Free State uncongenial. He was madeKing's Counsel in 1931. He became Recorder ofCoventry in 1941; it was suggested this might be the prelude to a High Court judgeship, but any such hope was cut short by his premature death.
He wrote celebrated books onwine –Claret and the white wines of Bordeaux (1934), andStay me with Flagons (1940). He also wrote poetry, mostly light and humorous. His most famous work isThe Old Munster Circuit (1939)[2] an affectionate and nostalgic portrait of life at theIrish Bar, especially on theMunster (Southern) Circuit between 1900 and 1920. The book was an instant success;the Spectator called it "Entirely delightful to read" and it has retained its popularity ever since.
WithAndré Simon (who referred to Healy as 'my dearly beloved disciple') and others he founded the Saintsbury Club in 1931, which still meets today, reportedly stating that it should be created `to perpetuate and honour his name' (ProfessorGeorge Saintsbury).
A legendary wit and conversationalist, Healy also made a number of celebratedBBC broadcasts during the war years.
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