The recorder of Cork was a judicial office holder in pre-Independence Ireland. The recorder was the chief magistrate of Cork city: his principal duty was to keep the peace. The office was very similar to that of the recorder of Dublin, except that the recorder of Cork, unlike his Dublin counterpart, did not have the power to preside over any trial involving a capital crime. A statute of 1877 stated that wherever possible the recorder should also be the Chairman of the Cork East Riding Quarter Sessions.[1] The office of the recorder of Cork, like the recorder of Dublin, was an onerous one, involving at least two sittings of the Court every week; as a rule, the recorder had a deputy recorder to assist him.[2] William Waggett, appointed in 1808, delegated all his duties to his Deputy Mr. Wilmot until the latter died in 1815.[3]
As with the recordership of Dublin, the recordership of Cork could be combined with another legal office, such as that of King's Serjeant-at-law. Several recorders of Cork also served in the Irish House of Commons. The recorder might hold another local office such as Collector of Customs for the Port of Cork. Like the recorder of Dublin, he was elected by the City Corporation, rather than being appointed by the English Crown. At least two recorders of Cork, Henry Bathurst and William Worth, also served as Recorder of Kinsale in the 1660 and 1670s.
The first known reference to the office of Recorder of Cork is in a charter of Queen Elizabeth I in 1574, requiring the Recorder (John Meade or Meagh) to act as a "keeper of the peace", justice of oyer and terminer, and justice of gaol delivery.
Hansard (the official journal of the British House of Commons) records an interesting occurrence in 1906 when Mr Tristram Curry, registrar to the recorder, fled from Cork, having embezzled several thousand pounds of suitors funds lodged in Court.[4]
The office of Recorder of Cork was abolished, along with all other recorderships in the Irish Free State, in 1924.[5]