Page 113 - GAHS Journal Volume 9

GREYSTONES ARCHAEOLOGICAL & HISTORICAL SOCIETY JOURNAL VOLUME 9

papers in. Traditionally given by senior counsel to a junior
barrister appearing in an appeal before the Privy Council in
London, Averil received hers from Alfred Dickie KC in a leading
constitutional case concerning the rights of civil servants
transferred from British service to the new Irish Free State. Since
such appeals were abolished by 1934 she is probably the last,
and the only woman to get one.

Ireland’s metamorphosis necessitated many adjustments,
and none more so than at work. Averil managed to survive being
the first, and only, woman in the cramped, close and competitive
quarters of the Law Library from January 1922 until June 1923
when she was joined by Mollie Dillon-Leetch. There was a very
slow trickle thereafter. She ploughed on in the face of her
workplace being blown up in April 1922, with the loss of most of
the legal records and possessions, followed by civil war and
another world war.

Negotiating her way through the new Irish Free State must
have brought its challenges, but she thrived, pursuing a
successful practice in property, probate and personal injury for
many years. This dusty sounding work provided plenty of
interest. In March 1923 she appeared in the Probate Court
regarding Thomas Mitchell, late manager of the Ulster Bank,
Tullamore, shot dead in a bank raid on 3 July 1922. Family
memories must also have been stirred when she appeared with
Overend KC in 1941 in a case involving Russian shipping.

Averil mentored many, men and women alike, regardless of
religion, politics and belief. One local Greystones resident, a
Catholic, recalls her advising him in very difficult circumstances
and providing guidance that he carried with him for the rest of his
(extremely successful) life. Averil’s small band of Bar
contemporaries included women from very diverse backgrounds
- the daughters of an IRA Commandant, and an American
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