Sir Ambrose Joseph McGonigal, MC (22 November 1917 – 22 September 1979) was a High Court Judge in Northern Ireland. McGonigal was born in

South Dublin , image_map = Island of Ireland location map South Dublin.svg , map_caption = Inset showing South Dublin (darkest green in inset) within Dublin Region (lighter green) , area_total_km2 ...

in 1917, the son of son of John McGonigal KC, county court judge for Co. Tyrone (1939–43), and his wife Margaret Davoren, daughter of Richard Davoren, solicitor, of Friarsland, Roebuck, Co. Dublin. He was educated at

Clongowes Wood College Clongowes Wood College SJ is a voluntary boarding school for boys near Clane, County Kildare, Ireland, founded by the Jesuits in 1814, which features prominently in James Joyce's semi-autobiographical novel ''A Portrait of the Artist as a Yo ...

and

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

. He served with distinction in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and was awarded the MC in 1944. In 1948 he was called to the Northern Ireland Bar and became a High Court judge on 8 March 1968. In 1975 McGonigal was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal. He wa
knighted
on 1 July 1975. He died in 1979, aged 62. Justice McGonigal is mentioned in

Tony Geraghty Tony Geraghty (born 13 January 1932) is a British-Irish writer and journalist. He served in the Parachute Regiment, and was awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal for his work as a military liaison officer with U.S. forces during the Gulf Wa ...

's ''The Irish War: the hidden conflict between the IRA and British Intelligence'' as having bee
"forced to carry a gun under his robe"
due to terrorism in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, which would claim the lives of at least five judges or justices in Northern Ireland. His son, Eoin McGonigal, SC, practises in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Torturers' Charter

As a consequence of a report by

Lord Diplock William John Kenneth Diplock, Baron Diplock, (8 December 1907 – 14 October 1985) was a British barrister and judge who served as a lord of appeal in ordinary between 1968 and until his death in 1985. Appointed to the English High Court in ...

on legal procedures to deal with terrorist activities in Northern Island,

Diplock courts Diplock courts were criminal courts in Northern Ireland for non-jury trial of specified serious crimes ("scheduled offences"). They were introduced by the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1973, used for political and terrorism-relat ...

were instated on which among others Lord Justice McGonigal presided. As part of his work there he made a ruling that came to be known as the ‘Torturters' Charter’: “In a famous, or infamous, ruling, Lord Justice McGonigal said that a ‘blow’ did not necessarily render a statement inadmissable.”

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGonigal, Ambrose 1917 births 1979 deaths Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom 20th-century King's Counsel High Court judges of Northern Ireland Lords Justice of Appeal of Northern Ireland Lawyers from Belfast British Army personnel of World War II British Army Commandos officers Royal Ulster Rifles officers Special Air Service officers People educated at Clongowes Wood College Lawyers from Dublin (city) Place of death missing 20th-century British lawyers Northern Ireland King's Counsel Knights Bachelor