Lord O'Brien and the 'Jarvey'

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXII, Issue 14, 7 April 1904, Page 15

Lord O'Brien and the 'Jarvey'

Lord O Brien of Kilfenora, the Lord Chief Justice of Irelanjd, told a, gpod story agamvt himself a few weeks ago 1o the company invited by the High Sheriff of Cork to meet him at dinner during the Assizes. The reminiscence was of the Plan of Campaign days, when Lord O'Brien was ?he Attorney-General for Irewhen Lord O'Brien was the Attorney-General for Ireemphatic than polite, of ' Pether the Packer.' Mi Peter O'Brien, as he then was, was appealing in his official capacity at the Shgo Assizes, and there was great excitement over some prosecutions he was conducting. After a hard day's work in the Assize Court Mr O'Brien decided to go for a drive in the charming country which soil rounds Shgo?' and hailed a ' larvey.' Like most of his lace, the driver was a humorist, and pretending not to recognise his ' fare,' whom he knew right well, rcmaiked to him ' Sir, the man inside ha-, a mighty bad name '—meaning the Attorney-General 1 Yes, I belieu 1 he is a person of doubtful reputation, but he has time to amend,' replied the Attorney-Gene-ral. 'He will be hard set ,it will take him all his time,' answered the ' jarvey,' with a shake of his head. The 'learned gentleman had his drive, and on his return to Sligo he paid his driver generously That individual looked at the mono} in his hantl and then at Ihe donor, and remaiked 'The devil is not as black as he's painted after all ' ' Loid O'Buen might have supplemented this >toiy by another anecdote of his hackney car and carnage experiences winch can scaucly have escaped his memory, and whose recital would ha\e been still moie fetching' On one occasion, a few years ago, of an amateur theatrical entcii ainment at the Queen's The.itie, in Dublin, which was pationiscd by Loid 0 Bi kmi as a society leader, there was a dearth of cabs at the conclusion of the enteitainnvcnt Lord O Bnen, witih considerable difhculty, secured one cab, into which his party of at least five were crushed. A clever wag who was looking on, and, like the Sligo ' iar\ey,' knew the Lord Chief Justice, though he pretended not to, came up to the door of the cab and said, with a voice of autihontv, 1 I protest against the overcrowding of this vehicle I declare it is po<=iti\ely packed' Anotlici was, who did not know the Lord Chief Justice, immediately interposed with the remark, ' Of course the cab is packed. How could it he otherwise when Peter the Packer himself 'is inside 7 '