Georgina Frost case James Comyn SC and Michael Comyn KC?

Georgina Frost (1879–1939), born on December 29, 1879, in Sixmilebridge, County Clare, was one of five children of Thomas Frost, the clerk of petty sessions for Sixmilebridge and Newmarket-on-Fergus. From around 1909, she assisted her father in his duties, often performing them independently, and upon his retirement in 1915, she was unanimously elected by local magistrates, including Lord Inchiquin, to succeed him in the £107-annual position—only to be denied by Lord Lieutenant Wimborne, who ruled that a woman was not “a person” under the Petty Sessions Acts.

Advised by nationalist barristers Michael Comyn KC and his brother James Comyn SC, along with figures like Tim Healy KC, she pursued a petition of right in April 1917 before Mr. Justice Barton, who dismissed it citing common law exclusions based on “decorum” and “inveterate usage” rather than intellectual capacity, though he waived costs against her. During cross-examination by Sergeant Matheson, Frost charmingly noted that while not officially recognized by Dublin Castle, “the magistrates always wanted me.”

Her November 1917 appeal to the Irish Court of Appeal (Lord Chancellor Shandon, Lord Chief Justice Molony, and Lord Justice Ronan) yielded a split ruling, with Shandon in favor but the majority against, upholding statutory exclusions for women. Proceeding in forma pauperis to the House of Lords in 1918 (heard April 27, 1920), her case succeeded amid the passage of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919, with Lord Birkenhead presiding and reportedly remarking to counsel, “We’re going to let Georgie stay,” making her the first woman in Britain and Ireland to hold public office and a key figure in advancing women’s rights. This victory, celebrated across Clare and Ireland, marked a pivotal advance for women’s rights.

She served until her death on December 6, 1939, and her legacy is commemorated in legal histories and women’s rights timelines. Michael Comyn KC (1871–1952), born June 6, 1871, at Clareville, Ballyvaughan, County Clare. A prominent barrister called to the Irish bar in 1895 and appointed King’s Counsel in 1914, he was deeply involved in nationalist causes, defending republican prisoners during the Irish War of Independence and establishing early Sinn Féin courts, including the first in Ballinrobe, South Mayo, alongside Commandant P. R. Hughes in 1919. As legal adviser to Éamon de Valera and Fianna Fáil, he played a key role in founding The Irish Press newspaper in 1931. James Comyn SC (1884–1951), younger brother of Michael Comyn KC and also from Ballyvaughan, County Clare, was a nationalist barrister called to the bar in 1908 and elevated to Senior Counsel (post-independence equivalent of KC) after 1922. Like his brother, he defended republicans during turbulent times, advised de Valera, and was involved in progressive legal reforms, including Georgina Frost’s case. Married to Mary Molony, he fathered Sir James Peter Comyn (1921–1997), a renowned English High Court judge who documented family legal anecdotes in his 1973 memoir Their Friends at Court and 1981’s Irish at Law: A Selection of Famous and Unusual Cases. James’s nationalist sympathies influenced his son’s early life, though the family moved to England in 1933 amid political shifts in Ireland. He died on July 15, 1951, leaving a legacy in Irish legal and political history. The brothers’ involvement in Frost’s case underscored their advocacy for progressive causes amid Ireland’s independence struggles.

Quick Answer