Mary Rose Gearty is an Irish judge and lawyer who has served as a Judge of the High Court since December 2019. She was previously practiced as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

involved primarily in criminal trials involving serious offences.

Education

Gearty attended secondary school at Muckross Park College and she obtained a BCL law 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 ...

in 1990. She subsequently studied at 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 ...

and

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

Legal career

She 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 1992 and commenced practice in 1993, predominantly on the

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 ...

Circuit. She became a senior counsel in 2009. Gearty specialised in criminal law. She prosecuted and defended in trials involving murder, manslaughter and sexual offences. She was one of two senior counsels to act for the Director of Public Prosecutions in the prosecution of

David Drumm David Kenneth Drumm (born November 1966) is an Irish banking executive. He was the CEO of Anglo Irish Bank from 2005 to 2008. In 2018, he was convicted of fraud for actions during his time there related to the Anglo Irish Bank hidden loans contro ...

. After 86 days of trial, he was found guilty of false accounting and conspiracy to defraud the public. She acted for the DPP in actions arising from the prosecution of Tony Walsh. In 2014, she was appointed by the Minister for Justice and Equality as the sole member and chair of the MacLochlainn Commission. Her role was to investigate the shooting of Ronan MacLochlainn by members of the

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace") is the national police and security service of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards". The service is headed by the Garda Commissio ...

in 1998 during an attempted robbery. After receiving four extensions, her final report was published in December 2018. She found that the shooting was justified but that the Garda investigation had deficiencies. She provided legal advice for a scoping inquiry into the

CervicalCheck cancer scandal The CervicalCheck cancer scandal first emerged in 2018 and involved several women in Ireland suing the Health Service Executive (HSE) after they received incorrect smear test results for cervical cancer. Background In 2011, Vicky Phelan, a ...

. She served as vice chair of the Bar Council and during her time as a barrister chaired committees on internal and external relations, advanced advocacy, and professional services. She was a director of

Our Lady's Hospice Our Lady's Hospice & Care Services is a hospice and health care provider with three locations: one at Harold's Cross, Dublin and satellite facilities at Blackrock, County Dublin and Magheramore, County Wicklow in Ireland Ireland (, ; ; ...

, filling a vacancy left by

Donal O'Donnell Donal Gerard O'Donnell (born 25 October 1957) is an Irish jurist who has served as the Chief Justice of Ireland since October 2021. He has served as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ireland since January 2010. He practised as a barrister between ...

. She lectured at the King's Inns and

Griffith College Dublin Griffith College Dublin (GCD) () is one of the longest-established private third level (higher education) colleges in Dublin, Ireland. Established in 1974, with four campuses in Dublin, Cork and Limerick. Overview Griffith College is the ...

and was a founder of the Irish Criminal Bar Association.

Judicial career

Gearty was appointed to the High Court in December 2019. She has heard cases involving tax law, judicial review, family law, injunctions, bail and defamation. Since 2020, she is the Director of Judicial Studies for the Irish judiciary. She is the judge in charge of the Hague Convention List of the High Court.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gearty, Mary Rose Living people High Court judges (Ireland) Alumni of University College Dublin Alumni of King's College London Alumni of King's Inns 21st-century Irish judges 21st-century Irish women judges Year of birth missing (living people)