Synopsis
It is 1798 in Dublin and corruption in the legal profession is rife. John Scott(Lord Clonmel), the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland is nicknamed 'the hanging judge' and 'Copperfaced Jack', the latter because of the colour of his face - the result of too much brandy drinking. In a series of flashbacks, with fleeting moments of conscience about his corruption the Judge reassesses his life, where we see the pathetic case of Fennessy, sentenced to death for sheep stealing, who has to build his own coffin to earn some money to send to his family; the battle with the Attorney General over the condemned rebel leader, Peter Shanks; a transient love affair with the mother of a condemned man.