Robert Henry Murray

“ FALKINER, Sir FREDERICK RICHARD (1831–1908) , recorder of Dublin, was third son of Richard Falkiner (1778–1833) of Mount Falcon, county Tipperary, who held a commission in the 4th royal Irish dragoons, by his wife Tempe Litton (1796–1888) . Travers Hartley (b. 1829) , an elder brother, was a well-known engineer; the fine railway line from Zurich to Chur was his design, and he supervised a large portion of the works in connection with the Forth Bridge. The family came to Ireland from Leeds in the time of the Protector, and was long engaged in the woollen manufacture. ”

“ Much interested in politics, he entitled his presidential address 'A New Voyage to Utopia,' a kind of appeal from the new whigs to the old, which was suggested by the passing of the third reform bill. ”

“ In 1887 he was called to the Irish bar, and in 1888 he began to work actively on behalf of the unionist cause. At the general election of 1892 Falkiner contested, unsuccessfully, South Armagh. He served on the recess committee whose labours resulted in the creation of the Irish department of agriculture. Devoting much thought to the Irish land problem, he mastered the intricacies of the many Irish Land Acts. ”