Bernard Devlin : Short Biography

Bernard  Devlin, QC (1824 – 1880) aka Barney Devlin of Meera, Carrick-on-Shannon was the son of Catherine Mullany & Owen Devlin (aka Eugene in RC Parish of Croghan records) of Meera House. Bernard studied medicine under his uncle Dr. Charles Devlin of Ballina, before emigrating to Canada at the age of 20. He went on to become "Canada's most prominent criminal lawyer" (serving as counsel to the Abraham Lincoln administration during the US Civil War), and a much-celebrated political figure and Canadian parliamentarian.

In 1844, he set off for Quebec, Canada with his father. There, he established and directed a weekly newspaper called the Freeman's Journal and Commercial Advertiser.

In 1847, he left for Montreal, where he took up the study of law (while working as a journalist) and was called to the Lower Canada Bar that same year. In 1848 Bernard Devlin married Anna Eliza Hickey, a native of Brooklyn, New York. He set up a lucrative practice in Montreal and was called to the Bar of Upper Canada in 1868. It was said of Devlin that  "Many a man was saved from the gallows by his matchless pleading" and "There may have been his equal but never his superior in Canada". In 1864, Devlin was retained by the administration of Abraham Lincoln to serve as counsel in the prosecution of the participants of the St. Albans Raid at Vermont. From 1863 to 1870, Devlin sat as a member of the Montreal City Council and as alderman for St. Lawrence Ward. While there he proposed the establishment of Mount Royal Park - one of the most beautiful public parks on the continent.

From 1867, Devlin began to run for parliament as a Liberal in Montreal Centre and was elected in 1875, and sat in the House of Commons until the 1878 election.
1878: Ran again as a Liberal against Michael Patrick Ryan in the riding of Montreal Centre, and was defeated. In 1876, we find Devlin "arranging with the Government for the proper disposal of the remains of the unfortunate immigrants who died from ship fever in 1847 and were buried near the Wellington Bridge and vicinity".

Bernard Devlin & Anna Eliza Hickey lived in downtown Montreal in a fine home known as Tara Hall (no longer extant, see Tara Hall Avenue). They had eight children, five of whom died before adulthood.  He was survived by three children: Mary Lillian Genest, Francis Eugene Devlin MD (m. Maude Steele), and Mary Gertrude Davis.

~ Devlin ancestors from Meera, Carrick on Shannon? If YES ... post your connection below ~