His family owned Fernhill House, Clonakilty, which is now a hotel.

[citation needed] He was called to the Bar in 1871, took silk in 1884, and served as Solicitor-General for Ireland from January 1900[3] to October 1901 in the Unionist government headed by Lord Salisbury.

He was appointed to the Queen's Bench Division of the Irish High Court in 1903 where he served till his death.

[4] He was immensely popular with his colleagues and greatly respected as a lawyer.

A colleague humorously described him as a man who is "on the borderline of genius but never trespasses"; a popular verse hailed him as "Judge Wright, who's never wrong!