On the 170th anniversary of his death, Mary Gaynor and Mairead O’Sullivan explore the life of the Society’s first President, Josias Dunn.
Early days
Very little information exists about the early life of Josias Dunn, the first President of the Law Society. We know that he was born at Kinsale in 1760, admitted to the King’s Inns in Easter 1782 and married Elizabeth Stephens in Dublin during 1787.
At the time when Dunn was admitted to the King’s Inns, there were rumblings of discontent among his solicitor and attorney colleagues in relation to the regulation of the profession. Many were dissatisfied with their situation and felt that they, as a body, lacked an independent voice.
Law Club of Ireland
After opening his practice at 8 Kildare St, Dublin, now the location of the National Library of Ireland, Dunn became a founding member of the Law Club of Ireland in 1791. Though little is known about the club, it was the first institution expressly formed for the advantage of attorneys and solicitors as a body. When the Law Society of Ireland was founded in 1830, Dunn’s election as its first president crowned a successful career. Dunn also returned as president when the Society was reconstituted as the Society of the Attorneys and Solicitors of Ireland in 1841.
Mary Gaynor is head of library and information services, and Mairead O’Sullivan is deputy librarian at the Law Society. 170 years after Dunn’s death, they piece together a lively portrait of this legal trailblazer, and his long-standing partner Richard Meade.
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