A period of evolution: 1900 - 1953
The era from 1900 to 1953 saw the further development of both the Irish state and the firm. Bob Matheson and Ernest Prentice formed their partnership against the backdrop of the Easter Rising. When Thomas Ormsby joined them just a few years later, the firm name of Matheson Ormsby and Prentice emerged, just as the seeds of an Irish independent state were being sown.
A contemporary of S & R C Walker and Anderson & Bland, Bob Matheson – aka Robert Nathaniel Matheson (1878-1950) - qualified as a solicitor in 1903. By 1906 he was working as a solicitor in an office at 16 Lower Sackville Street (now O’Connell Street). This premises would remain as the firm's headquarters until 1954.
By November 1912, Bob Matheson was personally advising the art collector Sir Hugh Lane about the legal status of the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, which Sir Hugh had founded. Known today as the Hugh Lane Gallery, this was the world’s first public gallery dedicated to modern art and is today home to a number of works by Francis Bacon amongst others.
Bob Matheson later shared the Sackville Street building with Marc Edmond Squire, the owner of the Enterprise Building Company, one of the most active construction companies of the time. To this day, Matheson continues to advise on the country's leading real estate, infrastructure and construction projects and the Dublin skyline of today has been heavily influenced by the firm's clients.

Bob Matheson (1878-1950).
A new partnership

Albert "Ernest" Prentice (1888-1951).
By 1915, Bob required a partner. Albert ‘Ernest’ Prentice (1888-1951) had studied law at Trinity College Dublin. After serving his apprenticeship with TW Hardman & Son, on 1 January 1916 he and Bob formed Matheson and Prentice.
Bob, a decade older than Ernest, was to be the senior partner. At this time, there would be a strong emphasis on conveyancing and land law.
The two men agreed that each partner should own his own furniture, and that it should not become partnership assets. This small detail in the agreement would prove very relevant only six months later.
They were joined by two skilled shorthand writers and typists, Annie Gray Blackadder and Eileen N Finnegan.

Line drawing of 16 Lower Sackville Street, Dublin in 1888. Bob Matheson was based in this building from 1906.
Easter rebellion
On 24 April 1916, a band of Irish republicans seized a number of strategic buildings, mainly in Dublin and declared the establishment of an Irish Republic. The rebellion took place over six days.
Having much greater numbers and heavier weapons, the British Army quickly suppressed the rebels. Much of Dublin city centre, including Sackville Street, was destroyed or badly damaged. The leader of the rebels, Patrick Pearse, agreed to an unconditional surrender five days later. Public reaction to the British response to the rebellion and subsequent treatment of the rebels contributed to changes in public opinion and the move towards the eventual independence for Ireland in 1922.
The offices of the Matheson and Prentice partnership at 16 Lower Sackville Street (now O'Connell Street) were completely destroyed. They lost everything – their legal files, their law books and their furniture.
Supporting clients affected by the rebellion
In the wake of the rebellion, the Property Losses (Ireland) Committee was set up at 51 St Stephen’s Green to assess claims for damages to buildings and property.
In line with their partnership agreement enacted just six months earlier, Bob Matheson and Ernest Prentice made separate applications for their lost furniture.
The firm also acted for a number of clients, many of them neighbouring businesses to theirs, in respect of claims for compensation.
In 1917, Matheson and Prentice acted for Hampton Leedom & Co, a hardware merchant, whose oil stores had spectacularly exploded during the rebellion.
Footage from Sackville Street, Dublin in the aftermath of the 1916 Rising.

Poster of an Auction Sale of items recovered from the aftermath of the Easter Rising in 1916 organised by Hampton Leedom, who was advised by Matheson and Prentice in 1917. Click here to expand
The Great War
By early 1916, 126 barristers, 110 solicitors and 71 solicitors’ apprentices from Ireland had enlisted in the British Armed Forces fighting in World War I.
In 1917, Bob Matheson would be among their number, ultimately rising to the rank of captain by war’s end.
Early technology
In January 1917, while based at 60 Dawson Street, Matheson and Prentice had established a telephone line (2909) and a telegraph account (Matsack Dublin). Matsack referenced their old offices on Sackville Street (Matheson at Sackville Street). The word Matsack still appears today in the name of the firm’s corporate services company, Matsack Trust.
An example of telephones that were in use during this time.

Matheson and Prentice's headed paper, 1916.
The arrival of Thomas Ormsby

Thomas Ormsby.
The firm became known as Matheson Ormsby and Prentice when Bob's father in law, Thomas Ormsby, joined Bob and Ernest on 1 June 1919.
After three years in temporary offices at 27 Westmoreland Street and 60 Dawson Street, the expanding partnership returned to the site of their previous offices on Sackville Street where the new five-storey Unity Building was completed on 11 September 1919.
Despite being very close to the epicentre of the Battle of Dublin (28 June - 5 July 1922), which marked the beginning of the Irish Civil War, and which saw explosions in Dublin's Four Courts and the destruction of the Public Records Office, Unity Building remained unscathed and would remain as the firm’s headquarters until 1954.
Sackville Street was renamed O'Connell Street in 1924.

Original signed partnership agreement which marked the beginning of Matheson Ormsby and Prentice, June 1919. Click here to expand
The next generation

Left to Right: Peter Prentice, Ernest Prentice and Cecil Prentice.
Thomas Ormsby retired in 1921. Notwithstanding his death in 1927, the firm continued to be known as Matheson Ormsby and Prentice until 2012 when it was shortened to Matheson.
Bob Matheson remained the senior partner until his death in 1950. Just ten months after Bob’s death, Ernest Prentice passed away at his home in Blackrock, County Dublin.
By this time, the next generation had taken over the business in Dublin, headed up by Ernest’s nephew Peter Prentice and Ernest’s son Cecil Prentice.
