Masters of the Bench

Susan Denham was appointed the eleventh Chief Justice of Ireland in July 2011 and is the first woman to hold that position in the history of the State.  She read legal science at Trinity College Dublin, read for the Bar in the King's Inns, Dublin and did post-graduate studies at Columbia University, New York.  She was appointed Senior Counsel in Ireland in 1987 and became a High Court Judge there in 1991, with a rapid promotion to the Supreme Court a year later, at the age of 47.  As a member of that Court, she has made particular contributions in the areas of constitutional, administrative and human rights law.  She is passionate about the independence of the judiciary and has had a major impact in several areas of law reform.  She has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Four Jurisdictions Law Conference for many years.