Edward Sullivan (1822-1885)

Edward Sullivan was born at Mallow, County Cork, in 1822, the son of a local merchant. He was educated at Midleton College before studying classics at Trinity College Dublin.

In 1848, Sullivan was called to the bar and distinguished himself in this career, becoming Queen’s Counsel in 1858 and Law Adviser to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1861. In 1865 he entered Parliament as Liberal MP for Mallow and in that same year served as Solicitor-General for Ireland in Lord Palmerston’s government. From 1866-1868, while the Liberals were in opposition, he concentrated on his legal career, but was again Solicitor-General for Ireland from 1868 to 1870 under Gladstone. In 1870 he left Parliament to become Master of the Rolls in Ireland and finally, in 1883, was appointed Irish Lord Chancellor. In all his official roles, Sullivan demonstrated great skill and statesmanship, and in 1881 this was recognised when he was created a baronet, just four years before his death in 1885.

Sullivan married Bessie Bailey in 1850 and they had five children. The family home was in Dublin. Sullivan was an avid book-collector throughout his life, amassing one of the most valuable private collections of the period. This love of books was inherited by his eldest son, also Sir Edward Sullivan, who was responsible for publishing in 1914 a scholarly introduction to the Book of Kells.