Ralph Sutton, who died on November 24th, practised at the Bar for over 50 years. He was irresistibly charming in court and easily won the sympathy of judges and juries.
He was tall and handsome, had a beautiful speaking voice and was concise in argument. He disliked all unpleasantness and eschewed hectoring cross-examinations. His polite questioning often produced better results. In his benign way he could take the stink out of anything and was often briefed by newspapers in difficult libel actions. Often, when they turned from him to more combative advocates they fared worse.
His family had been Cork "merchant princes" since the middle of the last century; two great uncles were knighted in the Edwardian age and in his elegance, courtly manners, attitudes and values he himself bore the stamp of that era.
He was an early pupil at Glenstal where he was head boy. He retained close links with the Abbey and said the Benedictine office every day. He studied history and literature at University College Cork.
He was called to the Bar in 1947 and practised on the Cork circuit. He also lectured in UCC. He was briefly a Fine Gael member of Cork Corporation.
While he moved to take up residence in Dublin when he took silk in 1968, he retained close links with Cork and a large part of his practice was done when the High Court sat there.
He kept his family home in Sunday's Well by the Lee on which he loved to canoe. He declined a High Court judgeship offered to him in 1985 because he would not have been able to afford to keep his Cork house.
Anyway he enjoyed the clubbiness and freedom of the Bar and was probably relieved to be spared the ultimate responsibility for difficult decisions.
He took his practice at his own pace and was always helpful to colleagues.
He was recognised at the Bar as an exemplar of correct behaviour; the barristers code of conduct was drafted by him.
Ralph Sutton stood for the old certainties and actively opposed the introduction of divorce. "The law of marriage," he said, "is about property and children; the rest belongs to the law of entertainment."
He loved his bon mots. "Three hundred a year," he said "is the difference between being a generous man and a mean man." He was a generous one. He was active in the Bar branch of the Society of St Vincent de Paul. He had a spartan streak and swam at the Forty-Foot through all seasons.
He is survived by his wife Eavan, who is the daughter of the former Taoiseach John Costello; by three sons, Nicholas, David and Ralph; and two daughters, Georgina and Isabelle.
Ralph Sutton: born 1924; died November, 1999