The Rt. Hon. T. B. Cusack-Smith
(1795-1866)
22 March 1862

Volume 6, page 115, sitting number 7331.

Born in 1795, Thomas Berry Cusack-Smith was the younger son of Sir William Cusack-Smith, 2nd Baronet. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and entered Lincoln's Inn in 1817. He was called to the Irish Bar in 1819. He was appointed Solicitor-General for Ireland briefly in 1842, and then Attorney-General for Ireland in 1842, a post he held until 1846. During that time he prosecuted Daniel O'Connell for conspiracy and sedition, though his conduct of the trial attracted severe criticism and the House of Lords later squashed the conviction for gross irregularities. He was also strongly criticised by the judges for challenging one of the opposing counsel to a duel. Nevertheless, he became Master of the Rolls in Ireland, like his grandfather before him, in 1846, holding that office until his death. 

In character, he had a reputation for eccentricity and bad temper. His frequent outbursts were often attributed to chronic indigestion. Patrick Geoghegan, biographer of Daniel O'Connell, described him as having 'a touch of genius' but with the caveat that he was rough and harsh in manner. His contemporary, the Irish-Australian nationalist Charles Gavan Duffy, described him as 'dignified' but so unhealthy and ghastly in appearance that he resembled 'an owl in daylight.' To Daniel O'Connell he was simply 'the vinegar cruet.' 

He died on 13 August 1866 at Ballied near Blairgowrie in Perthshire, his residence in Scotland. 'His honor was seized with an apoplectic attack on Friday morning while dressing and never subsequently had a lucid interval' (Dublin Evening Post, 14 August 1866).