The Gazette 1981

APRIL 1981

GAZETTE

The Unattainable Heights? Scholarships and Prizes awarded to Solicitors' Apprentices

by

Jacinta Morris Education Officer, The Law Society

Murray's and Whately's Elements of Logic. Also, the French or German Languages, at the option of the Candidates." With the development of the second-level education system in Ireland, the Society did not need to concern itself so much with the basic standard of education of its apprentices. The old Preliminary Examination declined in importance and the emphasis, in so far as prizes were concerned, shifted to the Final Examination and the standard of performance in law subjects. However, the aim of encouraging excellence remained the same, and the tradition of awarding gold and silver medals at Michaelmas Sittings has remained to the present day. In 1877 there was a new departure, when Sir William Findlater founded a scholarship, by the grant of £1,000 to the Society. Sir William (1824-1906) was himself an eminent solicitor and was twice elected President of the Society — first, in 1877-8 and again nearly twenty years later in 1896-7. In 1880 he was elected Liberal M.P. for County Monaghan. The Scholarship is awarded in Michaelmas Sittings in each year on the results of the Second and Third Law Examinations, to the apprentice who has shown the most proficiency in the subjects of such examinations. The list of Findlater Scholarship winners is lengthy and includes many distinguished names, including: In 1919, another former President of the Society, Mr. Trevor T. L. Overend, by his Will endowed a Scholar- ship, originally divided between the Preliminary and Final Examinations and latterly awarded on the results of the First Law Examination. The Overend and Findlater Scholarships between them cover the First, Second and Third Law Examinations and, over the years, a few apprentices have distinguished themselves by winning both these scholarships: Patrick F. Treacy 1954 (Overend) Brian V. Hoey 1957 (Overend) Michael G. Cody 1958 (Overend) Maurice R. Curran 1959 (Overend) 1955 (Findlater) 1957 (Findlater) 1960 (Findlater) 1961 (Findlater) 33 1914 Valentine W. Miley 1927 James J. Hickey 1929 John J.Nash 1936 Mathew Purcdl 1952 Mary C. C. O'Mahony 1959 John Temple Lang 1961 Maurice R. Curran 1970 Ernest B. Farrell

Responsibility for the education and training of solicitors' apprentices was vested in the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland by the Attorneys and Solicitors Act (Ireland), 1866. Since that date, there has evolved a comprehensive scheme of scholarships and prizes which encourage a high standard of performance by appren- tices in their various examinations. At present ten scholarships and prizes are offered, of which two are endowment scholarships, two are memorial prizes, four are presented by the Society and two are awarded by commercial undertakings. In its early days, the Society was anxious to ensure that entrants to the profession had attained a good standard of literary education. This concern is reflected in the terms of reference which the Council outlined in 1866, to govern the prizes it would award on the results of the Preliminary and Final Examinations. While the prize for the Final Examination went to the apprentice who attained the highest marks in that examination, the prize for the Preliminary Examination was awarded on the basis of a separate examination, for which successful candidates in the Preliminary Examination could compete. The prizes were: "For the best answerer - a gold medal, together with the sum of £10; for the second best answerer, a silver medal and the sum of £5. The syllabus for this special Preliminary Examination is worth reproducing in full - it would suggest great classical knowledge on the part of our predecessors in the profession. To quote from the Regulations of the Act of 1866 - Resolutions of the Council as to Prizes to be given annually at Preliminary and Final Examinations: "That with a view to encourage an advanced standard of answering in the subjects prescribed for the Preliminary Examinations of apprentices, prizes be given annually, to be competed for by gentlemen who may have exhibited a satisfactory degree of proficiency at such Examination . . . that a Special Examination for these prizes be held in or about Michaelmas Sittings in each year - that in addition to the course prescribed for the Preliminary Examination, candidates for prizes shall be exam ined in the following: Virgil's Aeneid, 4th and 5th Books. Horace's Odes and Satires. Livy, 1st Three Books. Dr. Smith's Grecian History. Liddell's Roman History.