Cecil Moriarty

Cecil Charles Hudson Moriarty, CBE, CStJ (1877–1958) was an Irish-born British police officer and Irish rugby international. He won one cap against Wales in 1899.[2] He served as Chief Constable of the Birmingham City Police from 1935 to 1941, and his manuals and books on police procedures became essential guidebooks for police in the United Kingdom.[3]

Cecil Moriarty
Birth nameCecil Charles Hudson Moriarty
Date of birth28 January 1877
Place of birthTralee, County Kerry, Ireland
Date of death7 April 1958(1958-04-07) (aged 81)
Place of deathTenbury, Worcestershire, England
Rugby union career
Position(s) Forward[1]
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
Monkstown ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1899 Ireland 1

Born on 28 January 1877 in Tralee, County Kerry, Moriarty was the second son of The Rev. Thomas Alexander Moriarty, a Church of Ireland Rector of Millstreet, County Cork.[4] Moriarty graduated from Trinity College, Dublin in 1898, the year before his cap for the Irish rugby union team.[3] He graduated in 1912 with a bachelor of laws and in 1932 received an additional degree of doctor of laws.[5]

Moriarty then joined the Royal Irish Constabulary, becoming a first-class district inspector in 1902. In 1912, he joined RIC headquarters. In 1918, he moved to Birmingham to take on the role of assistant chief constable. Many Irish constables had been recruited to move to Birmingham by Sir Charles Rafter, Chief Constable of Birmingham from 1899 to 1935, who relied on the Irish to help stamp out the infamous Peaky Blinders gang.[3]

The British police strikes in 1918 and 1919 led to the Police Act 1919, which made it illegal for police officers in the UK to strike. Moriarty realised more professionalism was required among police recruits and officers, and subsequently "became the key figure in organising an intensive training curriculum" in Birmingham. The programme gained a national reputation for police training, and over the next two decades, officers from 77 police forces from England and Wales had trained in Birmingham.[3]

Moriarty wrote several books and papers on police procedures, notably Moriarty's Police Law (1929), which for more than half a century was a fundamental resource for law enforcement officials in the UK.[6][7]

Moriarty succeeded Rafter as Chief Constable of Birmingham in 1935, and retired six years later,[8] having led the city through two years of the Blitz.[3]

He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1925 Birthday Honours.[9] In 1936, he was made a Commander of the Venerable Order of Saint John (CStJ)[10] and in the 1938 New Year Honours, a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).[11]

Personal life

Moriarty married Muriel Una (née Carter) of Belmullet, County Mayo, in 1906. They had three daughters. He died in 1958 in Worcestershire.[5]

Publications
  • Moriarty's Police Law (originally Police law: an arrangement of law and regulations for the use of police officers) (1929)
  • Police Procedure and Administration (1930)
  • Moriarty's Questions and Answers on Police Subjects (1954)

References
  1. In the 19th century, there was very little or no positional specialisation in rugby.
  2. Jones, Stephen (1994). Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook 1994–95. Headline. ISBN 0-7472-7850-4.
  3. Chinn, Carl (10 May 2014). "Recruits helped stamp out peaky blinders". The Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  4. Herlihy, Jim (2005). Royal Irish Constabulary Officers: A Biographical Dictionary and Genealogical Guide, 1816–1922. Four Courts Press. p. 229. ISBN 1-85182-826-5.
  5. "Obituary: Mr. C. C. H. Moriarty". The Times. 9 April 1958. p. 11.
  6. "Moriarty, Cecil C. H. (Cecil Charles Hudson) (1877–1958)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  7. English, Jack (2005). Police Law. Oxford University Press. p. xx. ISBN 0-19-928405-9. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  8. "RIC Officers Abroad" (PDF). An Garda Síochána Management Journal. Garda Síochána. December 2004. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  9. "No. 33053". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 June 1925. p. 3776.
  10. "No. 34297". The London Gazette. 23 June 1936. p. 4014.
  11. "No. 34469". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1937. p. 9.
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