Michael Anthony Moriarty, SC (born 10 August 1946) is a retired Irish judge who served as a Judge of the High Court from 1996 to 2018 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 ...

from 1987 to 1996.

Early life and career

Michael Moriarty was born in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

to James and Nora Moriarty. He moved to

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 1960 and was educated at

Blackrock College Blackrock College () is a voluntary day and boarding Catholic secondary school for boys aged 13–18, in Williamstown, Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland. It was founded by French missionary Jules Leman in 1860 as a school and later became al ...

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 ...

and

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

Irish Bar The Bar of Ireland () is the professional association of barristers for Ireland, with over 2,000 members. It is based in the Law Library, with premises in Dublin and Cork. It is governed by the General Council of the Bar of Ireland, commonly c ...

in 1968, and became a Senior Counsel in March 1982. He specialised in criminal law at the bar. He was appointed Chairman of the Employment Appeals Tribunal in 1986.

Judicial career

He became a

judge in 1987. He was subsequently appointed a High Court judge in March 1996. He was the chairperson of the Lord Mayor's Commission on Crime. He is best known as Chair of the

Moriarty Tribunal The Moriarty Tribunal, officially called the Tribunal of Inquiry into certain Payments to Politicians and Related Matters, was an Irish Tribunal of Inquiry established in 1997 into the financial affairs of politicians Charles Haughey and Mich ...

, which he chaired between 1997 and 2010. The Tribunal investigated the financial affairs of former

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 ...

Charles Haughey Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who led four governments as Taoiseach: December 1979 to June 1981, March to December 1982, March 1987 to June 1989, and June 1989 to February 1992 ...

and former Minister

Michael Lowry Michael Lowry may refer to: * Michael Lowry (politician) Michael Lowry (born 13 March 1953) is an Irish independent politician who has served as a Teachta Dála (TD) since 1987, currently for the Tipperary North constituency. He previously se ...

. The first report, in 2006, found that Haughey had misappropriated funds. The second report, delivered in 2011, found that Lowry had shared information with

Denis O'Brien Denis O'Brien (born 19 April 1958) is an Irish billionaire businessman, and the founder and owner of Digicel. He was listed among the World's Top 200 Billionaires in 2015 and was Ireland's richest native-born citizen for several years. His bus ...

"of significant value and assistance" to aid in the awarding of a mobile telephone licence. He retired in April 2018, following 31 years as a judge.

Personal life

He was formerly married to

Mary Irvine Mary Irvine (born 10 December 1956) is a retired Irish judge who served as President of the High Court between 2020 and 2022, a Judge of the High Court from 2007 to 2014, and 2020 to 2022, a Judge of the Supreme Court from 2019 to 2020, and a ...

, with whom he has three children. He subsequently married Doreen Delahunty.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moriarty, Michael 1946 births Living people Irish Senior Counsel Alumni of University College Dublin High Court judges (Ireland) Circuit Court (Ireland) judges People educated at Blackrock College Lawyers from Belfast Alumni of King's Inns Lawyers from County Dublin 20th-century Irish judges 21st-century Irish judges