John Eoin MacMenamin (born 25 November 1952) is a retired Irish judge who served as a Judge of the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

from 2012 to 2022 and a Judge of the High Court from 2004 to 2012.

Early career

MacMenamin was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

in 1952 and educated at

Terenure College Terenure College is a Carmelite-run secondary school located in the suburb of Terenure, Dublin, Ireland. The school was founded in 1860 and had an associated primary school until 2017. It is one of the "big six" Leinster Schools Rugby-playing ...

. He studied history 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 ...

, where he was involved with the UCD L&H. He subsequently attended the

King's Inns The Honorable Society of King's Inns () is the "Inn of Court" for the Bar of Ireland. Established in 1541, King's Inns is Ireland's oldest school of law and one of Ireland's significant historical environments. The Benchers of King's Inns aw ...

. He was called to the

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

in 1975, and became a Senior Counsel in 1991. He was a council member of the

Free Legal Advice Centres Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC) is a non-profit human rights organisation that provide pro bono publico assistance via a network of legal advice clinics throughout the Republic of Ireland. They have been involved in a number of notable law cases ...

while studying. While working at a FLAC centre in

Tallaght Tallaght ( ; , ) is a southwestern outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The central village area was the site of a monastic settlement from at least the 8th century, which became one of medieval Ireland's more important monastic centres. Up to th ...

, he spoke to the mother of a young defendant who had not had representation and initiated contact with other lawyers on the matter which eventually led to the case ''State (Healy) v Donoghue''. The case established a

constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

right to legal aid in criminal cases. At the bar, he had a mixed practice, with an emphasis on administrative law, defamation and commercial law. He represented the '' Sunday Independent'' in a libel case taken by

Proinsias De Rossa Proinsias De Rossa (born 15 May 1940) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as Minister for Social Welfare from 1994 to 1997, leader of Democratic Left from 1992 to 1999 and leader of the Workers' Party from 1988 to 1992. He ...

and again in the first blasphemy case taken since the country's foundation in '' Corway v. Independent Newspapers''. He was a legal adviser to the

Medical Council of Ireland The Medical Council () is the regulator of the medical profession in Ireland. It maintains the register of medical practitioners licensed to practice, and has the power to place restrictions on or revoke such licences, in cases of questions abo ...

and was involved in a long-running case involving neurosurgery at

Beaumont Hospital, Dublin Beaumont Hospital () is a large teaching hospital located in Beaumont, Dublin, Ireland. It is managed by RCSI Hospitals - one of the hospital groups established by the Health Service Executive. Its academic partner is the Royal College of Su ...

. He appeared for several clients at the

Mahon Tribunal The Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters and Payments, commonly known as the Mahon Tribunal after the name of its last chairman, was a public inquiry in Republic of Ireland, Ireland established by Dáil Éireann in 1997 to investiga ...

and for the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

at the Laffoy Commission. He was Chairman of the Bar Council from 1997 to 1999. During his tenure, there was an increase in the fees paid to barristers taking part in the criminal legal aid scheme, following a dispute between the government and the barristers. He was a member of the board of the VHI between 1995 and 1997.

Judicial career

High Court

He was appointed a High Court judge in 2004 on the same day as future

colleagues Frank Clarke and

Elizabeth Dunne Elizabeth Dunne (born 12 January 1956) is an Irish judge who has served as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ireland since July 2013. She previously served as a Judge of the High Court from 2004 to 2013 and a Judge of the Circuit Court from 1996 ...

. He presided primarily over

judicial review Judicial review is a process under which a government's executive, legislative, or administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. In a judicial review, a court may invalidate laws, acts, or governmental actions that are in ...

and

cases. He was a member of the

Special Criminal Court The Special Criminal Court (SCC; ) is a juryless criminal court in Ireland which tries terrorism and serious organised crime cases. Legal basis Article 38 of the Constitution of Ireland empowers the Dáil to establish "special courts" with ...

from 2009. Towards the end of his time at the High Court he was the Judge-in-Charge of the Minors' List, dealing with sensitive cases involving children.

Supreme Court

He was appointed to the Supreme Court in March 2012. In January 2020, he marched in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, with other senior judges from across

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

arising out of issues surrounding the

2015 Polish Constitutional Court crisis Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number) *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album), 2007 * ''15'' (Phatfish album), 2008 * '' ...

. He carried letters of solidarity from the Association of Judges of Ireland. MacMenamin retired in November 2022.

Personal life

He married Lia O’Hegarty, a lawyer, in 2004, in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. They have one daughter. He was formerly involved with

Fine Gael Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, Christian democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil Éireann. The party had a member ...

, working as speechwriter for

Taoiseach The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

Garret FitzGerald Garret Desmond FitzGerald (9 February 192619 May 2011) was an Irish Fine Gael politician, economist, and barrister who served twice as Taoiseach, serving from 1981 to 1982 and 1982 to 1987. He served as Leader of Fine Gael from 1977 to 1987 an ...

and a lead adviser to Michael Noonan during the 2002 general election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macmenamin, John 1952 births Living people Irish Senior Counsel Judges of the Supreme Court of Ireland Alumni of University College Dublin Lawyers from County Dublin High Court judges (Ireland) Alumni of King's Inns People educated at Terenure College People from Ranelagh 20th-century Irish lawyers 21st-century Irish judges