The recorder of Cork was a judicial office holder in pre-Independence Ireland. The recorder was the chief magistrate of Cork city: his principal duty was to keep the peace. The office was very similar to that of the recorder of Dublin, except that the recorder of Cork, unlike his Dublin counterpart, did not have the power to preside over any trial involving a capital crime. A statute of 1877 stated that wherever possible the recorder should also be the Chairman of the Cork East Riding Quarter Sessions.[1] The office of the recorder of Cork, like the recorder of Dublin, was an onerous one, involving at least two sittings of the Court every week; as a rule, the recorder had a deputy recorder to assist him.[2] William Waggett, appointed in 1808, delegated all his duties to his Deputy Mr. Wilmot until the latter died in 1815.[3]
As with the recordership of Dublin, the recordership of Cork could be combined with another legal office, such as that of King's Serjeant-at-law. Several recorders of Cork also served in the Irish House of Commons. The recorder might hold another local office such as Collector of Customs for the Port of Cork. Like the recorder of Dublin, he was elected by the City Corporation, rather than being appointed by the English Crown. At least two recorders of Cork, Henry Bathurst and William Worth, also served as Recorder of Kinsale in the 1660 and 1670s.
The first known reference to the office of Recorder of Cork is in a charter of Queen Elizabeth I in 1574, requiring the Recorder (John Meade or Meagh) to act as a "keeper of the peace", justice of oyer and terminer, and justice of gaol delivery.
Hansard (the official journal of the British House of Commons) records an interesting occurrence in 1906 when Mr Tristram Curry, registrar to the recorder, fled from Cork, having embezzled several thousand pounds of suitors funds lodged in Court.[4]
The office of Recorder of Cork was abolished, along with all other recorderships in the Irish Free State, in 1924.[5]
John Meade, Meagh or Myarh (living 1574), the first known Recorder, and later Second Justice of the Provincial Court of Munster. He also sat in the Irish House of Commons as the member for Cork City in the Parliaments of 1559 and 1585. He was a barrister of Lincoln's Inn. He was the ancestor of the Meade Baronets of Ballintubber and the Earl of Clanwilliam.
William Meade (died after 1611), was probably a cousin of John Meade. He refused to proclaim the new King James I of England in 1603, and as a result, he was tried for treason, but acquitted. He later fled from Ireland, presumably to avoid further charges of treason being brought against him, and died in exile in Italy.[6]
Hugh Dickson MP (died 1738) who sat in the Irish House of Commons as the member for Cork city 1725–35 and was Recorder 1728–1738 and Controller of Customs.[9] He married Anne Hoare, sister of Edward Hoare; their father had founded Hoare's Bank.[10]
Robert Bennett, Recorder 1841-1847, (mentioned as Deputy Recorder in 1840), who kept a valuable notebook of the cases he heard between 1841 and 1843.[12] He was the father of the noted surgeon Edward Hallaran Bennett, who identified Bennett's fracture.
William Waggett (1771-1840), Recorder 1808–1841: he was one of the most eminent Irish barristers of his age, but was also noted for eccentricity.[3] He was the son of Christopher Waggett (died 1796) of Kitsborough House.[13]
Matthew Bourke (1849–1926), the last Recorder of Cork (1908–1924), who was described with great affection by his friend Maurice Healy in his memoir The Old Munster Circuit.[14]
