Kevin Lynch (24 June 1927 – 31 October 2013) was an Irish judge and barrister 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 1996 to 1999 and a Judge of the High Court from 1984 to 1996. In 1984, he was the sole member of the Kerry Babies tribunal.

Early life and career

Lynch 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 1927. His father,

Fionán Lynch Fionán Lynch (; 17 March 1889 – 3 June 1966) was an Irish revolutionary, barrister, politician and judge of the Circuit Court (Ireland), Circuit Court from 1944 to 1959, Leas-Cheann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann from 1938 to 1939, Minister for ...

, was a member of the

First Dáil First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and a judge of the

Circuit Court Circuit courts are court systems in several common law jurisdictions. It may refer to: * Courts that literally sit 'on circuit', i.e., judges move around a region or country to different towns or cities where they will hear cases; * Courts that s ...

. He attended St. Mary's College, Dublin and received a degree from

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 ...

. He 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 ...

where he won the John Brooke Scholarship. 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 1949, and became a senior counsel in 1970. His practice was centred on the Midland circuit.

Judicial career

High Court

Lynch became a judge of the High Court in 1984. In December 1984, he was appointed the sole member of the tribunal into the Kerry Babies case. He was among three judges who sat in a divisional High Court which heard an unsuccessful challenge by Des Hanafin to result of the 1995 divorce referendum. He heard the High Court hearing of '' Bula Ltd v Tara Mines Ltd (No 6)'' in 1996 which ran for 277 days.

Supreme Court

Lynch was appointed to the

Supreme Court of Ireland The Supreme Court of Ireland () is the highest judicial authority in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is a court of final appeal and exercises, in conjunction with the Court of Appeal (Ireland), Court of Appeal and the High Court (Ireland), Hig ...

in April 1996. He was delayed from first sitting on the court as the ''Bula'' case had not yet completed. He retired in December 1999.

Personal life

He was married to Bernadette, with who he had five children. He died at the age of 85 in a nursing home near

Croom, County Limerick Croom () is a village in County Limerick, Ireland. It is located just off the N20 (which has bypassed the town since 2001) on the River Maigue. It is 8 km southeast of Adare on the N20. The village is in a townland and civil parish of ...

, in 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, Kevin 1927 births 2013 deaths Lawyers from County Dublin Irish Senior Counsel Alumni of University College Dublin Alumni of King's Inns High Court judges (Ireland) Judges of the Supreme Court of Ireland 20th-century Irish judges People educated at St Mary's College, Dublin