Morris, Sir Michael (1826–1901), 1st Baron Morris and Killanin , lawyer and chief justice, was born 14 November 1826 at Spiddal, Co. Galway, eldest son of Martin Morris (1784–1862), a Roman catholic merchant who was a JP and later high sheriff of Galway, and Julia Morris (née Blake). Educated at Erasmus Smith School in Galway, he entered TCD, where he developed a love of tennis, graduating BA with a gold medal in ethics and logic in 1847. After attending the King's Inns, he was called to the bar in 1849, and began practising on the Connaught circuit. His rise was swift, and he was high sheriff of Galway (1849–50), and later recorder (1857–65); a popular lawyer, he became QC in 1863 and entered the house of commons two years later as MP for Galway (1865–7).
Although a catholic, he was a conservative politically, and on 3 August 1866 was formally appointed solicitor general for Ireland by Lord Derby's administration. In November 1866 he became attorney general for Ireland, and an Irish PC. Raised to the bench as a judge of the common pleas in 1867, he retired from active politics, although he remained a lifelong defender of the union, and later vehemently opposed home rule and Gladstone; he once said that he would not dine with anyone who had broken bread with Charles Stewart Parnell (qv). Genuinely interested in Irish affairs, especially education matters, he served on the Powis commission on primary schools (1868–70), and was a commissioner of national education, as well as a senator and later vice-chancellor of the Royal University. Although he disliked most Englishmen, and was cynical about their intentions towards Ireland, he was highly regarded in London for his legal and political acumen, and was appointed chief justice of the common pleas (1876) and lord chief justice of Ireland (1887). His major strengths as a judge were his common-sense approach to the law, and his ability to persuade a jury to follow his instructions. In 1885 he was created a baronet, and on 25 November 1889 was given a life peerage with the title of Lord Morris, and also promoted to the judicial committee of the English privy council. Residing in London after this appointment, he retired in 1900 and was granted the hereditary barony of Killanin, becoming Lord Morris and Killanin. He died 8 September 1901 at Spiddal. He married (18 September 1860) Anna, daughter of Henry George Hughes (qv), baron of the court of exchequer in Ireland; they had thirteen children, of whom four sons and six daughters survived to adulthood. His son, Martin Henry Fitzpatrick Morris (1867–1927), succeeded to the title.
Morris had an attractive personality, and was a popular figure in both Ireland and England. He took a genuine pride in his Irish heritage, and his Galway accent never changed. He never yielded in his forceful view of what was necessary for the country. A firm proponent of the theory that the Irish were perfectly suited to the pursuit of empire, his chief regret was that so few other people shared, or accepted, this belief.