Mary Irvine (born 10 December 1956) is an Irish judge who was the President of the Irish High Court between 2020 and 2022. She first practiced as a barrister. She was a judge of the High Court between 2007 and 2014. She was a judge of the

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

from 2014 to 2019 and served as a judge of the

Supreme Court of Ireland , image = Coat of arms of Ireland.svg , imagesize = 120px , alt = , caption = Coat of Arms of Ireland , image2 = Four Courts, Dublin 2014-09-13.jpg , imagesize2 = , alt2 ...

from May 2019 until becoming President of the High Court on 18 June 2020. She was an member of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal. She was nominated to become the President of the High Court in June 2020. In addition to being the first woman to hold that position, she is the first judge to have held four judicial offices.

Early life

Irvine was born to John and Cecily Irvine in 1956 in

Clontarf, Dublin Clontarf () is a largely affluent coastal suburb on the Northside of Dublin in the city's Dublin 3 postal district. Historically there were two centres of population, one on the coast towards the city, and the fishing village of Clontarf Sheds, ...

. Her father was once deputy director of

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

. She was educated at

Mount Anville Secondary School Mount Anville Secondary School is a Roman Catholic, voluntary all-girls post-primary school in Goatstown, a suburb of Dublin, in Ireland (state), Ireland. It was originally an all-boarding school, but due to decreased demand for such schools has ...

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

and the

King's Inns The Honorable Society of King's Inns ( ir, Cumann Onórach Óstaí an Rí) is the "Inn of Court" for the Bar of Ireland. Established in 1541, King's Inns is Ireland's oldest school of law and one of Ireland's significant historical environment ...

. She was an international golf player, winning the Irish Girls Close Championship in 1975.

Legal career

She was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1978, and became a

Senior Counsel The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel (post-nominal letters: SC) is given to a senior lawyer in some countries that were formerly part of the British Empire. "Senior Counsel" is used in current or former Commonwealth countries or jurisdicti ...

in 1996. She was the secretary of the

Bar Council of Ireland The Bar of Ireland ( ga, Barra na hÉireann) is the professional association of barristers for Ireland, with over 2,000 members. It is based in the Law Library, with premises in Dublin and Cork. It is governed by the General Council of the Ba ...

in 1992. She was elected a Bencher of the King's Inns in 2004. Irvine specialised in medical law, appearing in medical negligence cases on behalf of and against health boards in actions. She was a legal advisor to an inquiry into Deposit interest retention tax conducted by the Public Accounts Committee, along with future judicial colleagues Frank Clarke and Paul Gilligan. She represented the

Congregation of Christian Brothers The Congregation of Christian Brothers ( la, Congregatio Fratrum Christianorum; abbreviated CFC) is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Blessed Edmund Rice. Their first school was opened in Waterford, Ireland, ...

at the

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (CICA) was one of a range of measures introduced by the Irish Government to investigate the extent and effects of abuse on children from 1936 onwards. Commencing its work in 1999, it was commonly known ...

. Her practice also extended to

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a State (polity), state, namely, the executive (government), executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as th ...

. As a junior counsel, she represented the plaintiff in '' Cahill v. Sutton'' in 1980 in the Supreme Court with seniors

Niall McCarthy Niall McCarthy (born 1 September 1981 in Carrigtwohill, County Cork) is an Irish sportsperson. He played hurling with his local club Carrigtwohill and has been a member of the Cork senior inter-county team since 2002. Playing career Club M ...

and James O'Driscoll. The case established the modern Irish law of

standing Standing, also referred to as orthostasis, is a position in which the body is held in an ''erect'' ("orthostatic") position and supported only by the feet. Although seemingly static, the body rocks slightly back and forth from the ankle in the s ...

for applicants to challenge the constitutional validity of statutes. She appeared with Peter Kelly to argue on behalf the right of the unborn in a

reference Reference is a relationship between objects in which one object designates, or acts as a means by which to connect to or link to, another object. The first object in this relation is said to ''refer to'' the second object. It is called a ''name'' ...

made by President

Mary Robinson Mary Therese Winifred Robinson ( ga, Máire Mhic Róibín; ; born 21 May 1944) is an Irish politician who was the 7th president of Ireland, serving from December 1990 to September 1997, the first woman to hold this office. Prior to her electi ...

under Article 26 of the Constitution to the Supreme Court in 1995 regarding the Information (Termination of Pregnancies) Bill 1995.

Judicial career

High Court

Irvine was appointed as a Judge of the High Court in June 2007. She was in charge of the High Court Personal Injuries list from 2009 to 2014 and subsequently became the second Chair of the Working Group on Medical Negligence and Periodic Payments, established by the President of the High Court.

Court of Appeal

She was appointed to

on its establishment in October 2014. Some of her judgments on the Court of Appeal reduced awards given by lower courts for personal injuries compensation. She wrote "most of the key" Court of Appeal judgments between 2015 and 2017 which had the effect of reducing awards arising from subsequent actions in the High Court. She was appointed to chair a statutory tribunal to conduct hearings and deal with cases related to the

CervicalCheck cancer scandal The CervicalCheck cancer scandal first emerged in 2018 and involved several women in the Republic of Ireland suing the Health Service Executive (HSE) after they received incorrect smear test results for cervical cancer. Background In 2011, V ...

in 2019. However following her appointment as President of the High Court in 2020, she was unable to continue with the position.

Supreme Court of Ireland

On 4 April 2019, she was nominated by the

Government of Ireland The Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas na hÉireann) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland. The Constitution of Ireland vests executive authority in a government which is headed by the , the head of government. The governm ...

as a Judge of the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. She was appointed by the

President of Ireland The president of Ireland ( ga, Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the supreme commander of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces. The president holds office for seven years, and can ...

on 13 May 2019. She wrote decisions for the court in appeals involving planning law, the law of tort, intellectual property law, judicial review, and chancery law. Irvine was appointed by Chief Justice Frank Clarke in 2019 to chair the Personal Injuries Guidelines Committee of the Judicial Council. The purpose of the committee is to review the levels of compensation issues in court cases arising out of personal injuries.

Minister of State at the Department of Finance The Minister of State at the Department of Finance is a junior ministerial post in the Department of Finance of the Government of Ireland. A Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed u ...

Michael W. D'Arcy wrote a letter to congratulate Irvine on her appointment and outlined his views that personal injuries awards in Ireland should be "recalibrated". She responded to the letter by saying it was the not the committee's duty to tailor its findings "in a manner favourable to any particular interest group".

President of the High Court

Following a cabinet meeting on 12 June 2020, it was announced that she would be nominated to succeed Peter Kelly as President of the High Court. A three-person panel consisting of the Chief Justice Frank Clarke (later substituted by

George Birmingham George Martin Birmingham (born 3 August 1954) is an Irish judge who has served as President of the Court of Appeal since April 2018 and a Judge of the Court of Appeal since October 2014. He previously served as a judge of the High Court from 2 ...

), the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Séamus Woulfe Séamus Philip Woulfe (born 1962) is an Irish judge and lawyer who has served as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ireland since July 2020. He previously served as Attorney General of Ireland from 2017 to 2020. Prior to holding public office, he w ...

and a management consultant Jane Williams reviewed applications for the position, before making recommendations to cabinet. The President of the

Law Society of Ireland The Law Society of Ireland ( ga, Dlí-Chumann na hÉireann) is a professional body established on 24 June 1830 and is the educational, representative and regulatory body of the solicitors' profession in Ireland. As of 2020, the Law Society had ...

welcomed her appointment, describing her as a "outstandingly able judge". She is the first woman to hold the role. As she was previously an ordinary judge of three courts, her appointment as President of the High Court made her the first person to have held four judicial offices. She was appointed on 18 June 2020 and made her judicial declaration on 19 June. She took over as President in the midst of the

COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland The COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the Republic of Ireland, it has resulted in 1 ...

. She issued guidelines for lawyers to negotiate personal injuries cases outside of court due to the backlog formed by delays in hearings. She issued a practice direction in July 2020 that face coverings were to be worn at High Court hearings. She criticised barristers and solicitors in October 2020 for not wearing masks in the

Four Courts The Four Courts ( ga, Na Ceithre Cúirteanna) is Ireland's most prominent courts building, located on Inns Quay in Dublin. The Four Courts is the principal seat of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court and the Dublin Circuit ...

. In her first week as President, she presided over a three-judge division of the High Court in a case taken by a number of members of

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann (, ; "Senate of Ireland") is the upper house of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (the lower house). It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its memb ...

. The plaintiffs sought a declaration that the Seanad should sit even though the

nominated members of Seanad Éireann The composition of Seanad Éireann, one of the two houses of the Oireachtas (parliament) of Ireland, is set out in Article 18 of the Constitution of Ireland. This provides for 60 Senators, of whom 11 are nominated by the Taoiseach who is appoint ...

had not been appointed. The court refused the relief and found for the State. In 2021, she also presided over a three-judge division on a

voting rights case, where the plaintiff argued for the extension of voting rights to graduates of all third-level educational institutions and the wider population. The court found against the plaintiff. She continued to sit in the Supreme Court following her appointment. In April 2022, Irvine announced her intention to retire in July 2022. She retired on 13 July 2022 and was succeeded by

David Barniville David Barniville is an Irish judge who has been the President of the Irish High Court (Ireland), High Court since July 2022. He formerly practiced as a barrister and was the chair of the Bar Council of Ireland. He served as a judge of the High ...

Personal life

Irvine was formerly married to retired judge

Michael Moriarty Michael Moriarty (born April 5, 1941) is an American-Canadian actor and jazz musician. He received an Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award for his first acting role on American television as a Nazi SS officer in the 1978 mini-series ''Holocaust'' ...

, with whom she has three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irvine, Mary Living people Irish Senior Counsel Alumni of University College Dublin Judges of the Court of Appeal (Ireland) Presidents of the High Court (Ireland) Irish women judges 21st-century Irish judges 20th-century Irish lawyers Judges of the Supreme Court of Ireland Alumni of King's Inns 20th-century women lawyers 1956 births 21st-century women judges People from Clontarf, Dublin Lawyers from County Dublin People educated at Mount Anville Secondary School