Ulick Burke

When Charles Watkins sued the Chief Secretary of Cyprus over an excavation at Pera-Frangissa, he hired Ulick Burke to argue the case¹. Michael Given describes Burke as a well-known independent advocate and government-baiter, and says he had earlier taken the side of the Bishop of Kition against the same official, Falkland Warren, in an earlier cause célèbre; Given does not say which bishop or what the dispute was¹.

The Larnaca hearing took place in December 1885, before Judge Charles Walpole, President of the District Court. Opposing Burke was William Collyer, the Queen's Advocate, appearing for Warren¹. Burke asked the court to hand to the witness Christophi Christodoulos the signed contract between Max Ohnefalsch-Richter, acting for Watkins, and the landowner; the document could not be found¹. Burke cited Article 17 of the 1874 Ottoman Antiquities Law, which was still in force and which barred officials from excavating as private persons. When Collyer argued that Warren's jurisdiction was limited to his own office, Burke answered, "Here he may dig for permits"¹.

Warren won the case and Watkins paid the costs¹. Burke's birth and death dates are not recorded.