Thomas E. O'Donnell is a judge of the Irish Circuit Court since 2011. Prior to his appointment, he was a judge of the Irish District Court from 1998. Born in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

of a distinguished legal family he was educated at

Crescent College Crescent College Comprehensive SJ, formerly known as the College of the Sacred Heart, is a Catholic secondary school located on of parkland at Dooradoyle, Limerick, Ireland. The college is one of a number of Jesuit schools in Ireland. The ...

, Limerick and at

Mungret College Mungret College was a Jesuit apostolic school and a lay secondary school near Limerick, Ireland. Located on the western outskirts of the modern-day suburban town of Raheen, it was operational from 1882 until 1974 when it closed as a school fo ...

, Limerick. He studied law at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

and was enrolled as a solicitor in 1976. He was assigned as judge of the District Court for Limerick City in 1999, where he was "highly regarded". In 2014, he was assigned as the sole Judge for the South Western circuit, which includes the counties of

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

and Kerry, and in part coincides geographically with the old

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

Circuit described by

Maurice Healy Maurice Healy (3 January 1859 – 9 November 1923) was an Irish nationalist politician, lawyer and member of parliament (MP). As a member of the Irish Parliamentary Party, he was returned to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great ...

. Judge O'Donnell has three sons. His second son, Mark O'Donnell, represented the Qatar International Rugby team in the 2016 West Asian Division 3 Championship, having qualified under the three year residency rule.

Good Friday Ruling

On, March 25 2010, Judge Tom O’Donnell upheld the application made by some 100 vintners in Limerick city and surrounding urban areas to allow them open their premises on Good Friday, April 2. An application was put before the court under section 10 of the Intoxicating liquor Act 1962, where an area exemption was sought to allow pubs to trade on Good Friday. In a Landmark Ruling Judge O’Donnell delivered his ruling stating that the “genesis of the application was that a Magners League game between Munster and Leinster was on in Thomond Park on Friday, April 2, Good Friday, and that local vintners sought to open their pubs for a period of time, between 6pm and midnight on that day.He commented that he was satisfied that the match had the attributes and vestiges of a special event. “I’m granting the application, but subject to one condition, and it is to amend the trading hours to 6pm to 11.30pm”.

Reaction to verdict

Solicitor for the applicants Gearoid McGann of Sweeney McGann Solicitors called it "a groundbreaking decision".Limerick traders celebrated by selling t-shirts bearing slogans such as "Officially bigger than the Catholic Church: Munster Rugby", "Mass will now take place at Thomond Park" and "We have no bishop, no minister and no hurling team, but we can drink on Good Friday", referring to the scandal-hit Donal Murray ( sexual abuse scandal in Limerick diocese),

Willie O'Dea William Gerard O'Dea ( ; born 1 November 1952) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Limerick City constituency since 2011, and previously from 1982 to 2011 for the Limerick East constituency. He has ser ...

( "brothelgate") and an internal dispute involving the county's

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

team. Mayor Kiely asked that the law be updated to allow alcohol on all religious occasions: Mayor Kiely told the religious and anti-drinkers to "get real" and invited people from across Ireland to come to the city to drink on the day. Former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...

Mick Loftus Michael Loftus (9 August 1929 – 22 April 2023) was an Irish Gaelic footballer, referee and Gaelic games administrator. His league and championship career at senior level with the Mayo county team lasted four seasons from 1949 until 1953. Ea ...

expressed his disappointment "in the light of the huge alcohol problem which this country is battling". Father Adrian Egan lamented: "Good Friday was a special day and a different day in our culture and our history – a day to slow down and reflect". Prayer vigils and

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...

rituals were planned to be performed outside the stadium by the religious.

References

External links

Irish Courts ServiceUniversity College Dublin
{{DEFAULTSORT:ODonnell, Thomas E. Living people Lawyers from Limerick (city) Circuit Court (Ireland) judges Alumni of University College Dublin 1954 births People educated at Crescent College People educated at Mungret College