Masters of the Bench

Frank Clarke was appointed the 12th Chief Justice of Ireland on the 28th July, 2017.

He was educated at Drimnagh Castle CBS and University College Dublin where he was awarded a B.A. in Mathematics and Economics (1972).

Having completed his legal studies at King's Inns he was called to the Bar in 1973 and to the Inner Bar in 1985.

While at the Bar he served for many years on the Bar Council including a term of two years (1993-1995) as its Chair. He also served as Chair of the Council of King's Inns from 1999 until 2004. He was a member of the Council of the International Bar Association from 1997 to 2004, serving as co-Chair of the Forum for Barristers and Advocates from 1998-2002.

He has been a Bencher of the Honourable Society of the King's Inns since 1994. He was elected as an honorary member of the Canadian Bar Association in 1994, and admitted as an honorary member of the Australian Bar Association in 2002.

He was appointed a judge of the High Court in November 2004 and a judge of the Supreme Court in March 2012.

Since 2013, he has been a representative of the Supreme Court on the Association of Supreme Administrative Courts of the European Union.  On his appointment as Chief Justice, he became a Member of the Network of the Presidents of the Supreme Judicial Courts of the European Union.

In the academic field Mr. Justice Clarke was a professor at King's Inns from 1978 to 1985 and has been Judge in Residence at Griffith College Dublin from 2010 to date.  He was appointed Adjunct Professor in the Law School in Trinity College, Dublin in September 2012, and Adjunct Professor of University College Cork in 2013.  He was awarded the Griffith College Distinguished Fellowship Award in 2017.