Introduction to reprint of Francis Stoughton Sullivan, Lectures on the constitution and laws of England

Francis Stoughton Sullivan, lawyer and lecturer, exemplifies the complexities of both English law and Irish life in the eighteenth century. Sullivan was born in 1719 in county Galway, in the west of Ireland, the son of Francis Sullivan, an army lieutenant. The Sullivans, members of the Ó Suilleachan Mór branch of the O'Sullivan family, are linked to County Kerry and, with the unusual Stoughton name, presumably to England. A protestant of the established church in a country still largely catholic, the jurist spoke Irish and took great pride in his link to native Gaelic culture. Indeed, he maintained a deep interest in the ancient constitutions of both Ireland and England. He was also a jurist of considerable breadth. Professor of Civil law at the University of Dublin, he held its first chair in Feudal and English law While simultaneously practicing in the admiralty and ecclesiastical courts. His lectures, reprinted here from the annotated second edition, remain an overlooked and invaluable resource for the history of the Common law. Placed in its Irish context, the text is more interesting and rewarding still.