William Kenny PC QC (14 January 1846 — 4 February 1921), was an Irish judge and Liberal Unionist politician.
He was born in Dublin, the only son of Edward Kenny, solicitor, of Kilrush, County Clare, and his wife, Catherine (née Murphy). Before he was called to the bar in 1868, he had graduated with a B.A. from Trinity College, Dublin and worked as a clerk in the Census Office.
He married Mary Coffey on 13 August 1873, and they had a family of eight children. He practiced on the Munster Circuit and became a Q.C. in 1885 and a Bencher of the King's Inns in 1890. He was mainly instrumental in establishing the Liberal Union of Ireland after the defeat of the Home Rule Bill of 1886, and in organising the visit of Lord Hartington and George Goschen to Dublin in 1887.
Kenny was returned to Parliament for Dublin St Stephen's Green in the 1892 general election over the nationalist candidate, George Noble Plunkett, aka Count Plunkett, whose son, Joseph Mary Plunkett, was a leader in the 1916 Easter Rising. Count Plunkett would later be elected to office as a Sinn Féin candidate, after the Rising.
Kenny served as Solicitor-General for Ireland from 1895 to 1898 in the Unionist administration of Lord Salisbury. In the House of Commons, he joined his cousin Matthew Joseph Kenny, who had been elected as a Parnellite in 1882.
In 1898 Kenny was appointed a Judge of the High Court and resigned as Solicitor-General and from his seat in the House of Commons. In 1902 he was sworn of the Irish Privy Council. He remained on the bench until his death at his Dublin residence, Marlfield, Cabinteely, on 4 February 1921, aged 75. His portrait by Sarah Purser hangs in the King's Inns.
Maurice Healy in his memoir The Old Munster Circuit described Kenny as stern and inflexible, but also a sound and learned lawyer with a strong sense of justice.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Thomas Alexander Dickson |
Member of Parliament for Dublin St Stephen's Green 1892 – 1898 |
Succeeded by James Campbell |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by Charles Hemphill |
Solicitor-General for Ireland 1895 – 1898 |
Succeeded by Sir Dunbar Plunket Barton |