Barry Yelverton, 1st Viscount Avonmore, PC (Ire) KC (28 May 1736 – 19 August 1805), was an Irish judge and politician, who gave his name to Yelverton's Act 1782, which effectively repealed Poynings' Law and thus restored the independence of the Parliament of Ireland. This achievement was destroyed by the Act of Union 1800, which Yelverton supported. By doing so, he gravely harmed his reputation for integrity, which had already been damaged by his leading role in the conviction and execution for treason of the United Irishman William Orr, which is now seen as a major miscarriage of justice. Early life He was the eldest son of Francis Yelverton of Kanturk, County Cork, and Elizabeth Barry, daughter of Jonas Barry of Kilbrin (now Ballyclogh, County Cork). His father died when Barry was only ten; his mother reached a great age, dying only a year before her son. He went to school in Charleville and Midleton College, and attended Trinity College Dublin, where he took a degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1757 and of Bachelor of Laws in 1761. His family lacked wealth and social position and he was for some years an assistant master under Andrew Buck in the Hibernian Academy. This menial occupation was later a source of great embarrassment to him, as his enemies loved to ridicule him as "Buck's usher". In 1761, he married Mary Nugent (died 1802), daughter of William Nugent of Clonlost, County Westmeath, and his wife Ursula Aglionby, a lady of some fortune, and was thus enabled to read for the Irish Bar, entering the Middle Temple. He was called to the Bar in 1764: despite his lack of family connections his success in his profession was rapid, due to his legal ability, charm and remarkable eloquence, and he took silk eight years afterwards. M.P. He was elected to the Irish House of Commons as member for Donegal Borough from 1774 to 1776. In the latter year, Yelverton was elected for both Belfast and Carrickfergus. He chose to sit for the latter constituency and represented Carrickfergus until 1784. Although few examples of his oratory survive, all contemporaries agree on his eloquence, which gave him a dominant position in the Commons. Judicial career He became Attorney-General for Ireland in 1782, and was elevated to the bench as Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer in 1783. He was created Baron Yelverton in 1795, and in