Chief Justice of Ireland

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Republic of Ireland

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The Chief Justice of Ireland^[1] is the president of the Supreme Court of Ireland.

Under Constitution of Ireland, the Chief Justice of Ireland also occupies several positions ex officio, these include;

• A possible judge of the High Court (to date the Chief Justice has never sat as such).
• A member of the Council of State (a position retained on retirement).
• A member of the Presidential Commission.

[edit] List of Chief Justices

Name	Took Office	Left Office
Hugh Kennedy	1924	1936
Timothy Sullivan	1936	1946
Conor Maguire	1946	1961
Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh	1961	1973
William Fitzgerald	1973	1974
Thomas O'Higgins	1974	1985
Thomas Finlay	1985	1994
Liam Hamilton	1994	2000
Ronan Keane	2000	2004
John L. Murray	2004	(Current Incumbent)

[edit] Footnote

1. ^ The Constitution of Ireland only uses the term "Chief Justice" however in practice "Chief Justice of Ireland" is the accepted long form of the name; whilst "Chief Justice of the Supreme Court" is rarely used. The corresponding office of the Irish Free State was the "Chief Justice of the Irish Free State".