Mary Finlay Geoghegan

She was admitted as a solicitor in 1973.[12] She practised at McCann, FitzGerald, Roche and Dudley, where she was a partner.[5]

Finlay was subsequently called to the bar in 1980.[12] She devilled for Peter Kelly.[5] As a junior counsel practice included commercial, injunctive and insolvency matters,[13][14] including representing the Irish government in proceedings related to the 1985 collapse of the Insurance Corporation of Ireland.[15] She was called to the Bar of England and Wales at Middle Temple in May 1987.[16]

She became a Senior Counsel in 1988.[12] She was called to Bar of Northern Ireland in 1989.[17] She was also called to the New South Wales Bar Association in 1992.[12] She continued practising in commercial matters, including employment and tax law disputes.[18][19] She also appeared in immigration and personal injuries cases.[20][21] She represented Paul McGuinness and Windmill Lane Productions in the judicial review of a decision of the Independent Radio and Television Commission to revoke a licence to establish TV3.[22]

Finlay Geoghegan acted as an independent legal adviser to the State on matters of EC law in 1996.[23] She acted for the Attorney General of Ireland in a reference made by President Mary Robinson under Article 26 of the Constitution of Ireland to the Supreme Court regarding the Employment Equality Bill of 1997.[24] She appeared for RTÉ in constitutional cases in the Supreme Court regarding the need for equal time in referendums coverage.[25]

She is a bencher at the King's Inns since 1996 and Middle Temple since 2012.[16]

Finlay was appointed chair of the National Consumer Advisory Council in 1976.[7] She has been a board member of the Dublin Gas Board, the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital and the Temple Street Children's University Hospital, where she was chair between 2001 and 2004.[26][27][28]

She joined the Law Reform Commission in October 1980 as a part-time member to serve a five-year term.[29] She was a convenor of the Constitution Review Group from 1995.[30]

She is currently a board member of the National Children's Research Centre and a governor of the Royal Hospital, Donnybrook.[28]

She was appointed to the High Court in July 2002, following in the footsteps of her father.[31] Her appointment came at the same time as Michael Peart, who was said to be the first solicitor to be appointed to the High Court, though she had previously been a solicitor.[32] She was assigned to the Commercial list in 2004.[33] Together with Peter Kelly, they were the first judges to preside over a newly established Commercial Court within the High Court in 2004 to hear cases which were complex or with a claim in excess of €1 million.[34] She also has been in charge of the Examiners Court list and The Hague Convention on Child Abduction list.[33]

She was an ad hoc judge of the European Court of Human Rights between 2009 and 2010.[12] She was a member of the court which heard A, B and C v Ireland which found that Ireland had breached Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights for failure to provide abortion services.[35]

The establishment of the Court of Appeal in 2014 led to her appointment as one of the first six ordinary judges to be appointed to the court.[36] She was also a member of a working group convened prior to its foundation.[12]

She served as chairperson of the Referendum Commission for the 31st Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland.[4]

On 7 November 2017, the Government of Ireland nominated her for appointment by the President of Ireland to the Supreme Court.[37] She was appointed by the President on 1 December 2017.[38]

Finlay Geoghegan retired as a judge on 16 June 2019.[39] The Chief Justice Frank Clarke described her judicial contribution as "meticulous and firm" and marked by "an overlay of lightness and a deep underlay of humanity".[26] Upon her retirement, she reflected on her belief in the need for more members of the judiciary to be appointed in Ireland in order for justice to be properly administered.[5]