Conor Maguire

Conor Alexander Maguire (1889 – 26 September 1971) was an Irish politician, lawyer and judge.

Born in Castlebar, County Mayo, Maguire was educated at University College Dublin, where he was a founding member of the Legal and Economic Society (now known as the University College Dublin Law Society) in 1911.

He returned to Mayo where he practiced as a barrister and was instrumental in establishing Ireland's first working Republican Courts, which usurped the existing colonial courts, and allowed the people access to an impartial forum to try offenders, resolve grievances and adjudicate on land issues.^[1]

He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for the National University of Ireland constituency at the 1932 general election and was re-elected at the 1933 general election.^[2] He was appointed as Attorney General of the Irish Free State in March 1932.^[3] In November 1936, he resigned as Attorney General and as a TD on his appointment as President of the High Court. Where he also served as a member of the Presidential Commission, a three person collective vice-presidency of Ireland, from the adoption of the Constitution of Ireland to the inauguration of Douglas Hyde. In 1946, he was appointed as Chief Justice of Ireland, that is the president of the Supreme Court of Ireland, where he served until 1961.

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