Peter Smithwick (15 February 1937 – 8 March 2022) was an Irish judge who served as chairman and the sole member of the Smithwick Tribunal, a Tribunal of Inquiry into the events surrounding the killing of Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Robert Buchanan of the

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the ...

(RUC). Smithwick was born on 15 February 1937. Prior to his appointment as Chairman of the Smithwick Tribunal in 2005, he was President of the

District Court District courts are a category of courts which exists in several nations, some call them "small case court" usually as the lowest level of the hierarchy. These courts generally work under a higher court which exercises control over the lower co ...

for 17 years. Smithwick was a director and the ninth generation of his family to be associated with Smithwick's, the famous beer brewed by his family firm. He appears to have been extremely well-liked and respected. He was a Freeman of the city of Kilkenny. He grew up in Kilcreene Lodge, and was educated at

Castleknock College Castleknock College () is a voluntary Vincentian secondary school for boys, situated in the residential suburb of Castleknock, west of Dublin city centre, Ireland. Founded in 1835 by Philip Dowley, it is one of the oldest boys' schools in ...

and

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 ...

. His family was prominent as part of the landed gentry of

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is named after the City status in Ir ...

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. Smithwick died on 8 March 2022, at the age of 85.

References

1937 births 2022 deaths 20th-century Irish lawyers Alumni of University College Dublin District Court (Ireland) judges Lawyers from County Kilkenny People educated at Castleknock College People from Inistioge {{Ireland-law-bio-stub