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Séamus Francis Egan (1 December 1923 – 23 January 2004) was an Irish judge and barrister who served as a Judge of the Supreme Court from 1991 to 1995 and a Judge of the High Court from 1984 to 1991.

Early life

Egan was born in 1923 in Dublin to James Egan and Christian O'Donnell. He attended Blackrock College and received a degree from University College Dublin. He attended the King's Inns to train to become a barrister.

Legal career

He was called to the bar in 1945 and became a senior counsel in 1962. He spent the early part of his career practising on the Western Circuit.

Between 1963 and 1964, he acted for Gladys Ryan in the case of Ryan v. The Attorney General, challenging the constitutionality of the fluoridation of water in Ireland. Though she was unsuccessful, the case established the right to bodily integrity under the Constitution of Ireland and developed the principles of unenumerated rights. In 1979, he represented Francis McGirl who was acquitted of the murder of Louis Mountbatten.

Judicial career

High Court

He made his judicial declaration of office to become a judge of the High Court on 2 July 1984.

In addition to his duties in the High Court, he began presiding over trials in the Special Criminal Court in 1988.

Supreme Court

Egan was appointed to the Supreme Court of Ireland in 1991. He was one of five judges who decided the X Case in 1992, allowing the appeal of the girl, and in 1995 he issued a dissenting opinion in Re. a Ward of Court where he held that the removal of a tube providing food to a woman would be equivalent to killing her. He also wrote a dissent in a case involving Patricia McKenna challenging the constitutionality of the government's campaigning for the Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland.

He retired on 30 November 1995. He was replaced by Donal Barrington.

Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal

Following his retirement, he was appointed to chair the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal.

Personal life

Egan was married to Ada Leahy with whom he had seven children. He built a house on Shrewsbury Road which he sold in 1989. He died in January 2004 at the age of 80. His removal was attended by the Chief Justice Ronan Keane, the Attorney General Rory Brady and the aide-de-camp to the President.

References

1. "Former Judges of the Supreme Court". www.supremecourt.ie. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
2. ^ "Highly popular and well-respected judge". The Irish Times. 31 January 2004. Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
3. TAF (23 February 2004). "Seamus Egan". The Irish Times. p. 15.
4. ^ "Mr Justice Egan, former Supreme Court judge, dies". The Irish Times. 24 January 2004. Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
5. "The Bar Review" (PDF). Vol. 9, no. 2. April 2004. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
6. Ryan v. The Attorney General 1 IR 294.
7. Mac Cormaic, Chapter 4.
8. Mac Cormaic, Ruadhan. "A pillar of the nation-building project". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
9. "Seamus Egan SC (1979)". RTE. 5 July 2012. Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
10. "The new High Court judge..." The Irish Times. 3 July 1984. p. 8. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
11. ^ "Supreme Court judge retires". The Irish Times. 1 December 1995. p. 4. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
12. Mac Cormaic, Chapter 14.
13. Browne, Vincent. "Judgment on funding may cause havoc in election". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
14. "Barrington for Supreme Court". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
15. "Paying for our Sins". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
16. "Buyer on Shrewsbury plans to demolish Killowen and start over". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 9 November 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
17. Newman, Christine. "Judge remembered as a man of humility". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021.

Works cited

• Mac Cormaic, Ruadhán (2016). The Supreme Court. Ireland. ISBN 9781844883417.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

• 1923 births
• 2004 deaths
• Lawyers from County Dublin
• Irish Senior Counsel
• People educated at Blackrock College
• Alumni of University College Dublin
• Alumni of King's Inns
• High Court judges (Ireland)
• Judges of the Supreme Court of Ireland
• 20th-century Irish judges