The Gazette 1990

GAZETTE

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1990

Notaries Public in Ireland E. Rory O'Connor, solicitor and notary public, in his authoritive work "The Irish Notary" commences his historical introduction with the words "the notary public ranks among the most ancient of pro- fessions". Edward J . Montgomery, solicitor and notary public, in his equally authoritive manual on the Practice of Notaries Public in Ireland states that "the practice of a notary is probably the oldest profession in the world". As honorable lady solicitors now grace the ranks of notaries public in Ireland such august descriptions must be pronounced with due meaning and decorum. The origins of the profession are power of appointment and dis- Dublin and the rest spread more or less evenly throughout the rest of the country. Only four of that 140 are non-solicitors - by occupation, respectively, a chartered secretary, an office manager, a retired assist- ant County Registrar and an estate agent.

Prior to 1958 there was a loose association of notaries of Dublin and Wicklow organised by the late Sean Ó hUadhaigh, solicitor. In 1958, at the behest of Chief Justice Conor Maguire, The Faculty of Notaries Public in Ireland ("the Faculty") was formed to assist the Chief Justice in notarial matters - not simply in relation to the appointment of notaries but in relation to such other matters con- cerning notaries as from time to time the Chief Justice might have to decide upon or regulate. On the suggestion of Chief J us t i ce Maguire, the then longest serving notary, Charles Doyle, Solicitor, Dublin, became the first Dean of the Faculty. He was succeeded in turn by Edward J. Montgomery, Peter Prentice and the present Dean, Walter Beatty. Toirleach deValera was Registrar of the Faculty until his appointment as Taxing Master when he was suc- ceeded in turn by Enda Marren and then by the writer. A few years ago the Faculty formed an incorporated body - a Company limited by guarantee - a necessary requirement in order to secure from the Chief Herald a grant-of-arms. A Notary is usually appointed for the county where his practice is located and also for such nearby counties as he might need to service; so that a solicitor practis- ing in, for example, Mayo, when appointed, might also be appointed for and be entitled to practise as a notary in counties Sligo, Ros- common and Galway. When a person applies to be appointed a notary public, all of the (•Brendan Walsh, Solicitor, 18 Herbert Street, Dublin 2, is the Registrar of The Faculty of Notaries Public in Ireland.]

missal - and indeed, in all regu- latory matters concerning notaries public - was consolidated by the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act 1961. There is a considerable distinct-

unclear though it is accepted that they go back to the Roman legal system and perhaps further. Originally they were 'scribes' who performed duties of letter writing for illiterates, private secretaries to noblemen and clergymen and keepers of records. Naturally, the person who so reduced the spoken word had not only to be literate but also had to be honest as the inter- ested parties would not be able to check the record. These writers were the first 'notaries' and an analysis of the position will show that the present notaries are still doing the same work although they do more in some countries than they do in others. They were known by many names but the present title is derived from the Latin 'notarius publicus' and 'notatio', meaning 'to record'. In Roman law times the 'notarium publicus' re- corded letters of judicial importance as well as important private trans- actions or events where an authenticated record of a docu- ment drawn up with professional skill or knowledge was necessary or advisable. In the period before the Reforma- tion the appointment of notaries throughout western Christendom was by the Pope who delegated his functions to his legate, the Arch- bishop of Canterbury. Following on the Reformation, the power to grant 'faculties' was, by the Irish Statute of 28 Henry VII, c19, assumed by the King. A Court of Faculties was constituted and attached to the Archbishopric of Canterbury and later to the Arch- bishipric of Armagh; subsequently in 1870 transferred to the Lord Chancellor of Ireland and eventually in 1922 to the Chief Justice; whose

l y Brendan Walsh* Solicitor

ion between the work done by a notary public and the work done by a commissioner for oaths. The per- son who approaches a notary becomes the notary's client and the notary is bound to take all reasonable care that the docu- ments to which he places his Seal are true and correct; whereas a commissioner for oaths can by law only take an affidavit from a non- client and accepts no personal responsiblity for the contents of such affidavit. Broadly speaking, a notary's work is limited only by the requirements of the public and by far the larger part of a notary's work is recording, witnessing and certifying written records and documents for use outside the country. There is no absolute re- quirement - as there is in Northern Ireland - that an applicant for appointment as a notary be a solicitor but the trend has been that way over the last few decades and seems likely to continue, as con- firmed by the written judgment of Finlay C.J. on the subject delivered on 6th October 1989. There are at present 140 notaries in the Republic of Ireland, of whom 50 are in the City and County of

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