A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialize in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching the law and giving legal opinions.
A King's Counsel is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarch is a woman, the title is Queen's Counsel (QC).
Seán Thomas O'Kelly, originally John T. O'Kelly, was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as the second president of Ireland from June 1945 to June 1959. He also served as deputy prime minister of Ireland from 1932 to 1945, Minister for Local Government and Public Health from 1932 to 1939, Minister for Finance from 1939 to 1945 and Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann from 1919 to 1921. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1918 to 1945.
The attorney general of Ireland is a constitutional officer who is the legal adviser to the Government and is therefore the chief law officer of the State. The attorney general is not a member of the Government but does participate in cabinet meetings when invited and attends government meetings. The current attorney general is Rossa Fanning, SC.
In England and Wales, a litigant in person is an individual, company or organisation that has rights of audience and is not represented in a court of England and Wales by a solicitor or barrister. Instructing a barrister and not a solicitor, for example through the Public Access Scheme, however, does not prevent the party on whose behalf the barrister had been instructed from being a litigant in person.
Dermot Gleeson SC is an Irish barrister who served as Attorney General of Ireland from 1994 to 1997.
Barristers in England and Wales are one of the two main categories of lawyer in England and Wales, the other being solicitors. Barristers have traditionally had the role of handling cases for representation in court, both defence and prosecution.
Alexander Martin Sullivan, SL was an Irish lawyer, best known as the leading counsel for the defence in the 1916 treason trial of Roger Casement. He was the last barrister in either Ireland or England to hold the rank of serjeant-at-law, hence his nickname The Last Serjeant.
The Bar of Northern Ireland is the professional association of barristers for Northern Ireland, with over 600 members. It is based in the Bar Library, beside the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast, together with the Bar Council of Northern Ireland and the Executive Council. The Executive Council has taken on many of the functions formerly exercised by the Benchers of the Inn of Court of Northern Ireland, which was established at a meeting of the Bench and Bar held on 11 January 1926.
Richard (Dick) Ferguson QC, SC was a Northern Irish barrister and Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician.
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 called the Bar Council of Ireland, which was established in 1897. The Council is composed of twenty-five members: twenty who are elected, four co-opted, and the Attorney-General, who holds office ex officio. Every year, ten members are elected for two-year terms; five by senior counsel and five by junior counsel.
George Bernard Francis Clarke is an Irish barrister and judge who served as Chief Justice of Ireland from 2017 to 2021.
Thomas Teevan was an Irish barrister and judge who served as a Judge of the High Court from 1954 to 1971 and Attorney General of Ireland from 1953 to 1954.
Sir James Peter Comyn was an Irish-born barrister and English High Court judge. The scion of a prominent Nationalist legal family, Comyn was sent to England after they fell out with Éamon de Valera. Considered by many to be "the finest all-round advocate at the English bar", Comyn was appointed to the High Court of Justice in 1978, serving on the bench until his retirement in 1985.
Peter Mitchel Andrew Charleton is an Irish judge who has served as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ireland since June 2014. He previously served as a Judge of the High Court from 2006 to 2014.
Gerard William Augustine Hogan, is an Irish judge, lawyer and academic who has served as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ireland since October 2021. He previously served as Advocate General of the European Court of Justice from 2018 to 2021, a Judge of the Court of Appeal from 2014 to 2018 and a Judge of the High Court from 2010 to 2014. Hogan first worked as a barrister and lecturer in law specialising in constitutional and administrative law.
Paul Anthony McDermott, SC was an English-born Irish lawyer and academic. He was a prominent criminal barrister who often prosecuted cases in the Irish superior courts. He was also known as a lecturer in law at University College Dublin and for frequent commentary on legal matters in the Irish media.
Alexander Owens is an Irish judge who has served as a Judge of the High Court since February 2019. He formerly worked as a barrister with an expertise in criminal law.
Diarmuid Rossa Phelan is a farmer, senior counsel, professor at the School of Law, Trinity College Dublin, fellow of Trinity College Dublin, and a former member of Trinity College Dublin's Board, to which he was twice elected. He was also twice elected Chairman of Trinity College Dublin's Board of Fellows.
John Cooke was an Irish judge who served as a Judge of the High Court from 2008 to 2013 and Judge of the Court of First Instance from 1996 to 2008 and the High Court from 2008 to 2013.
