Liam Hamilton
Irish judge and barrister (1928–2000)
title: "Liam Hamilton" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1928-births", "2000-deaths", "lawyers-from-county-cork", "chief-justices-of-ireland", "alumni-of-university-college-dublin", "presidents-of-the-high-court-(ireland)", "alumni-of-king's-inns", "20th-century-irish-judges", "people-from-mitchelstown", "irish-senior-counsel"] description: "Irish judge and barrister (1928–2000)" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liam_Hamilton" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Irish judge and barrister (1928–2000) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| office | Chief Justice of Ireland |
| term_start | 22 March 1994 |
| term_end | 1 June 2000 |
| nominator | Government of Ireland |
| appointer | Mary Robinson |
| predecessor | Thomas Finlay |
| successor | Ronan Keane |
| office1 | Judge of the Supreme Court |
| term_start1 | 1 March 1994 |
| term_end1 | 1 June 2000 |
| nominator1 | Government of Ireland |
| appointer1 | Mary Robinson |
| office2 | President of the High Court |
| term_start2 | 22 July 1985 |
| term_end2 | 1 March 1994 |
| nominator2 | Government of Ireland |
| appointer2 | Patrick Hillery |
| predecessor2 | Thomas Finlay |
| successor2 | Harry Whelehan |
| office3 | Judge of the High Court |
| term_start3 | 12 May 1974 |
| term_end3 | 1 March 1994 |
| nominator3 | Government of Ireland |
| appointer3 | Patrick Hillery |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Mitchelstown, County Cork, Ireland |
| death_date | |
| death_place | Donnybrook, Dublin, Ireland |
| resting_place | Shanganagh Cemetery, |
| Shankill, Dublin, Ireland | |
| party | Labour Party |
| spouse | |
| children | 3 |
| alma_mater | |
| :: |
| image = | office = Chief Justice of Ireland | term_start = 22 March 1994 | term_end = 1 June 2000 | nominator = Government of Ireland | appointer = Mary Robinson | predecessor = Thomas Finlay | successor = Ronan Keane | office1 = Judge of the Supreme Court | term_start1 = 1 March 1994 | term_end1 = 1 June 2000 | nominator1 = Government of Ireland | appointer1 = Mary Robinson | office2 = President of the High Court | term_start2 = 22 July 1985 | term_end2 = 1 March 1994 | nominator2 = Government of Ireland | appointer2 = Patrick Hillery | predecessor2 = Thomas Finlay | successor2 = Harry Whelehan | office3 = Judge of the High Court | term_start3 = 12 May 1974 | term_end3 = 1 March 1994 | nominator3 = Government of Ireland | appointer3 = Patrick Hillery | birth_date = | birth_place = Mitchelstown, County Cork, Ireland | death_date = | death_place = Donnybrook, Dublin, Ireland | resting_place = Shanganagh Cemetery, Shankill, Dublin, Ireland | party = Labour Party | spouse = | children = 3 | alma_mater = |}} Liam Hamilton (8 September 1928 – 29 November 2000) was an Irish judge and barrister who served as Chief Justice of Ireland and a Judge of the Supreme Court from 1994 to 2000, President of the High Court from 1985 to 1994 and a Judge of the High Court from 1974 to 1994.
Early life
He was born in Mitchelstown, County Cork, to Richard Hamilton and Mary Ellen Hamilton (née Lyons). He was educated at C.B.S. Mitchelstown, University College Dublin and King's Inns. He initially worked as a civil servant and was called to the Bar in 1956 and to the Inner Bar in 1968.{{Cite news| title = Judge beat odds to gain highest office | newspaper = The Irish Times| location = Dublin| date = 31 January 2000| access-date= 6 February 2021 | url = https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/judge-beat-odds-to-gain-highest-office-1.239691}}
Legal career
As a barrister, he acted for Neil Blaney when Blaney and Charles Haughey were charged with conspiracy to import arms in 1970. He was a member of the Labour Party and acted as its legal advisor.
Judicial career
After the Labour Party formed a coalition government with Fine Gael in 1973, he was appointed a High Court judge. He was one of the key members of the judiciary who made findings against Nicky Kelly and others and in support of the State in what became one of the State's most infamous miscarriages of justice.
He was regarded as sociable and visited former legal colleagues after becoming a judge. In 1985, on the nomination of the Labour Party, he was appointed President of the High Court, where he was successful in reforming procedures and clearing a backlog of cases.
He was the sole member of a tribunal of inquiry established by the government in 1991 to investigate allegations of illegal activity, fraud and malpractice in the beef processing industry, known as the Beef Tribunal, which sat from 1991 to 1994. Shortly after the report of the tribunal, he was nominated as Chief Justice. In 1999, he was asked by Minister for Justice John O'Donoghue to investigate the Philip Sheedy Affair.
On retirement as Chief Justice in 2000, he was appointed to the enquiry into the 1974 Dublin, Monaghan and Dundalk bombings, but stepped down on health grounds. He died on 29 November 2000.
References
|years = 1994–2000}}
References
- "Former Chief Justices". Supreme Court of Ireland.
- (2 December 2000). "Chief Justice who presided over beef tribunal and whose inquiry led to the resignation of two judges". The Irish Times.
- Patsy McGarry, 29 January 2022, 'Judiciary – not just gardaí – face questions about past actions', ''The Irish Times'', https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/judiciary-not-just-gardai-face-questions-about-past-actions-1.4788124
- Maddock, John. (3 December 2000). "Large attendance at funeral Mass of former Chief Justice Hamilton". Irish Independent.
- (30 November 2000). "Former Chief Justice, Mr Justice Liam Hamilton, dies". RTE.
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