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King’s Inns Victoria Prize awarded to Michael Comyn late 1800 early 1900 do you have any details?

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Michael Comyn (1871–1952), an Irish barrister, judge, and later Fianna Fáil Senator, was awarded the Victoria Prize at the Honorable Society of King’s Inns in 1898. dib.ie +2 He had been admitted as a student there in Hilary Term 1896.

canisgallicus.com The prize, established by the Education Committee in 1888, was specifically the third prize of £10 in value, as decided at the Council of Benchers meeting on June 1, 1898, during Trinity Term.

canisgallicus.com At the time, Comyn was working as a civil servant and studying law part-time, but a job transfer to Yorkshire left him one lecture short of the requirements to sit for the bar exams.

en.wikipedia.org Winning the Victoria Prize, which recognized excellence in legal examinations, provided the financial support needed to complete his studies despite this shortfall. dib.ie +1 He was subsequently called to the Irish bar in Michaelmas Term 1898 and went on to build a successful legal career, including taking King’s Counsel in 1914. en.wikipedia.org +1

canisgallicus.com asked further question.

Yes, the excerpt you provided from James Comyn’s book Their Friends at Court (1973) accurately describes Michael Comyn’s resourceful approach to overcoming attendance shortcomings in his final year at King’s Inns. By winning the Victoria Prize, he addressed the issue of being one lecture short for the final examination. Additionally, his success in the honours examination allowed him to be excused from two full terms, facilitating his call to the Irish Bar in Michaelmas Term 1898. canisgallicus.com +1 Records from King’s Inns confirm he was awarded the Victoria Prize that year (third place, valued at £10), though they do not explicitly detail the honours exam component, which aligns with the personal anecdote in the book.

Details on other Victoria Prize winners

History of King’s Inns

Michael Comyn received the prize because he could not attend final lecture so they awarded what Prize or Concession to allow him to qualify

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Michael Comyn, while studying at King’s Inns, was transferred to Yorkshire in his final year, which caused him to miss required lectures and left him one short of the attendance needed to sit for the bar examinations. en.wikipedia.org +1 To address this shortfall, he reviewed the regulations and discovered that winning the Victoria Prize would “cure the defect” of the missed lectures, allowing him to qualify and sit the exams despite the attendance issue.

canisgallicus.com He entered and won the Victoria Prize (valued at £10), which provided this concession and enabled him to complete his studies. en.wikipedia.org +1 Additionally, he sat for and succeeded in an honours examination, which excused him from two whole terms as a further accommodation.

canisgallicus.com He was subsequently called to the Irish bar in Michaelmas Term 1898.

en.wikipedia.org

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Details on Victoria Prize history

Other King’s Inns concessions

Make response more concise

Is there a list of people

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Yes, there is an archival record of Victoria Prize recipients at the King’s Inns Library in Dublin (reference L/8/5), which documents the names of winners in legal examinations from 1888 to 1931.

irishmanuscripts.ie Similar records, including newspaper clippings and annotations on prize winners from the 1920s, are held in the Hugh Kennedy Papers at University College Dublin Archives.

ucd.ie These are physical or archival collections, not digitized or publicly available online, so accessing them would require contacting the respective institutions (e.g., via the Irish Manuscripts Commission’s database for guidance on King’s Inns records).

irishmanuscripts.ie No comprehensive public list of all recipients appears to exist online based on available sources. However, individual winners are mentioned in historical biographies, legal histories, and institutional records. The Victoria Prize, established in 1888, was awarded for excellence in legal examinations at King’s Inns and often had multiple tiers (e.g., first, second, third place, with values like £10 for third).

canisgallicus.com Here are some known recipients:

This is not exhaustive, as the prize continued beyond 1931 (e.g., into the 1940s and 1950s based on known cases), and further research in archives could reveal more names. If you’re interested in a specific period or additional details, the King’s Inns website or library might provide leads on requesting records.

kingsinns.ie

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