Susan Denham


Susan Jane Denham SC is a retired Irish judge who served as Chief Justice of Ireland from 2011 to 2017, she was the first woman to hold the position. She served as a Judge of the Supreme Court from 1992 to 2017, and was the longest-serving member of the court on her retirement. She also served as a Judge of the High Court from 1991 to 1992.

Early and personal life

Susan Gageby was born in Dublin in 1945 and educated at Alexandra College, Dublin. She is the daughter of the former editor of The Irish Times, Douglas Gageby, the sister of another barrister Patrick Gageby and maternal granddaughter of Seán Lester. She is from a Church of Ireland background.
She attended Trinity College, Dublin, the King's Inns, and the Law School of Columbia University, New York City. She is married to paediatrician Dr Brian Denham and they have four children. From 1996 to 2010, Denham was a Pro-Chancellor of Trinity College, Dublin.

Legal career

She was called to the bar in July 1971 and became a Senior Counsel in October 1987. She was the fourth woman to enter the Inner Bar. She worked on the Midland circuit until 1979, following which she was based in Dublin. She was involved in a number of leading cases while a junior barrister and a Senior Counsel particularly in the area of judicial review. She became a High Court judge in 1991. In 1992, she was the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court. She made two dissents early on in her period on the Court.
From 1995 to 1998, she chaired the Working Group on a Courts Commission, which was responsible for a significant reform of the organisation of the courts since the foundation of the state. It led to the establishment of the Courts Service. She was on the Interim Board of the Court Service and served on the Board of the Court Service from its inception, and chaired the board from 2001–04.
From 2006, she chaired the Working Group on a Court of Appeal. The report of the group was published by the government in August 2009. It recommended the establishment of a general Court of Appeal. This was ultimately established in 2014, after a referendum in 2013.
Denham was part of the Irish delegation which, with the Netherlands and Belgium, established the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary and she continues an involvement in this Network. From 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2016, she was President of the Network of the Presidents of the Supreme Judicial Courts of the European Union which is an association of Supreme Court Presidents and Chief Justices of EU Member States.
She wrote the judgment in McD v. L, upholding the parental rights of a sperm donor.

Chief Justice

On 4 July 2011, she was nominated by Taoiseach Enda Kenny to become Chief Justice of Ireland, she was appointed as Chief Justice by President Mary McAleese on 25 July 2011. She was the first woman appointed to the office and as a member of the Church of Ireland, she was the first non-Catholic to hold the position. She was also the first graduate of Trinity College, Dublin to have been appointed; Chief Justices have largely been graduates of University College Dublin. She retired from the position in July 2017, and was succeeded by Judge Frank Clarke.