Hugh Law PC (Ire), QC (19 June 1818 – 10 September 1883) was an Irish lawyer, politician and Lord Chancellor of Ireland.
Law was educated at Trinity College, Dublin where he received a Bachelor of Arts in 1839. He became a barrister in 1840 and a Queen's Counsel in 1860. He drafted the Irish Church Act 1869 which disestablished the Church of Ireland.
He became legal adviser to the Liberal Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Spencer) in 1868. He became a bencher of King's Inns in 1870 and was appointed in succession Solicitor-General for Ireland in 1872, Attorney-General for Ireland in 1873 a member of the Irish Privy Council on 24 February 1874. In 1874 he was elected a Member of Parliament for Londonderry. He was appointed Attorney-General by Liberal Prime Minister Gladstone in 1880 before becoming Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1881.
Hugh Law died unexpectedly on 10 September 1883.
One of his sons, Hugh Law, bought the historic Ardbraccan House, former palace of the Lord Bishop of Meath, from the Church of Ireland in 1885. His grandson, also called Hugh Law, sat initially as a Nationalist MP in the House of Commons and later served in Dáil Éireann as a Cumann na nGaedheal TD from June 1927 until 1932.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Robert Peel Dawson Sir Frederick Heygate, Bt |
Member of Parliament for Londonderry 1874–1881 With: Richard Smyth 1874–1878 Sir Thomas McClure, Bt 1878–1881 |
Succeeded by Sir Thomas McClure, Bt Andrew Marshall Porter |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by Christopher Palles |
Solicitor General for Ireland 1872–1874 |
Succeeded by Henry Ormsby |
| Preceded by Christopher Palles |
Attorney General for Ireland 1874 |
Succeeded by John Thomas Ball |
| Preceded by Edward Gibson |
Attorney General for Ireland 1880–1881 |
Succeeded by William Moore Johnson |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by The Lord O'Hagan |
Lord Chancellor of Ireland 1881–1883 |
Succeeded by Sir Edward Sullivan, Bt |