Ronan Colman Keane (born 20 July 1932) is a retired Irish judge who served as

Chief Justice of Ireland The Chief Justice of Ireland ( ga, Príomh-Bhreitheamh na hÉireann) is the president of the Supreme Court of Ireland. The chief justice is the highest judicial office and most senior judge in Ireland. The role includes constitutional and admini ...

from 2000 to 2004, a Judge of the Supreme Court from 1996 to 2004 and a Judge of the High Court from 1979 to 1996. Keane was educated at

Blackrock College Blackrock College ( ga, Coláiste na Carraige Duibhe) is a voluntary day and boarding Catholic secondary school for boys aged 13–18, in Williamstown, Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland. It was founded by French missionary Jules Leman in 186 ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, and later graduated from

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 member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

(UCD) in 1953, with a BA in Modern History. He was called to the Bar in 1954 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 jurisdictio ...

in 1970. He was appointed as a Judge of the High Court in July 1979. He was head of the Tribunal of Inquiry into the

Stardust fire The Stardust fire was a fatal fire which took place at the Stardust nightclub in Artane, Dublin, Ireland, in the early hours of 14 February (Valentine's Day) 1981. Some 800 people had attended a disco there, of whom 48 died and 214 were injure ...

in 1981, and chairman of the

Law Reform Commission A law commission, law reform commission, or law revision commission is an independent body set up by a government to conduct law reform; that is, to consider the state of laws in a jurisdiction and make recommendations or proposals for legal chang ...

from 1987 to 1992. He has published many legal texts and papers, and participated in Council of Europe programmes developing legal systems in Post-Communist Europe. He was elevated to the Supreme Court in 1996, becoming Chief Justice in 2000. Chief Justice Keane received an

Honorary Doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

from UCD in 2001, and has been an adjunct professor at

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

since his retirement. In 1962, Keane married Therese O'Donnell, who, as

Terry Keane Terry Keane (1939 – 1 June 2008), born in Guildford, UK, was an Irish social columnist and fashion journalist. Life Born Ann Teresa O'Donnell in Guildford, Surrey, UK in 1939, Keane studied medicine at Trinity College, Dublin. She dropped out ...

, became a fashion journalist and later a social diarist. They had three children together, and later became close to Terry's daughter, who had been adopted. The couple separated in the 1980s but remained amicable. Their son Tim died suddenly in 2004. In 1999, Terry revealed on '' The Late Late Show'' her affair beginning in 1972 with sometime

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the o ...

Charles Haughey Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach on three occasions – 1979 to 1981, March to December 1982 and 1987 to 1992. He was also Minister for the Gaeltacht from ...

. Ronan and Terry's daughter Justine Keane is married to

Diarmuid Gavin Diarmuid Gavin (born 10 May 1964) is an Irish garden designer and television personality. He has presented gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show on nine occasions from 1995 to 2016, winning a number of medals, including gold in 2011. He has als ...

, the Irish garden designer and television personality. Keane was for some years the Independent Chairman of the Appeals board of the Turf Club of Ireland.

References

Publications

* * * *
Judges as lawmakers – the Irish experience
Address to NUI, Galway Law Society on 1 October 2003
30 years of Law Reform 1975–2005
Lecture To Mark the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Law Reform Commission At Farmleigh House,

Phoenix Park The Phoenix Park ( ga, Páirc an Fhionnuisce) is a large urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its perimeter wall encloses of recreational space. It includes large areas of grassland and tre ...

, Dublin 23 June 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Keane, Ronan 1932 births Living people Chief justices of Ireland Alumni of University College Dublin People educated at Blackrock College High Court judges (Ireland) Alumni of King's Inns