John MacMenamin

John Eoin MacMenamin (born 25 November 1952) is a retired Irish judge who served as a Judge of the Supreme Court from 2012 to 2022 and a Judge of the High Court from 2004 to 2012.

Early career MacMenamin was born in Dublin in 1952 and educated at Terenure College. He studied history at University College Dublin, where he was involved with the UCD L&H. He was called to the Bar in 1975, and became a Senior Counsel in 1991. The case established a constitutional right to legal aid in criminal cases.

At the bar, he had a mixed practice, with an emphasis on administrative law, defamation and commercial law. He was a legal adviser to the Medical Council of Ireland and was involved in a long-running case involving neurosurgery at Beaumont Hospital, Dublin.

He appeared for several clients at the Mahon Tribunal and for the Department of Education at the Laffoy Commission.

He was Chairman of the Bar Council from 1997 to 1999. He presided primarily over judicial review and constitutional cases. He was a member of the Special Criminal Court from 2009.

In January 2020, he marched in Warsaw, Poland, with other senior judges from across Europe arising out of issues surrounding the 2015 Polish Constitutional Court crisis. He carried letters of solidarity from the Association of Judges of Ireland.

MacMenamin retired in November 2022.

Personal life He married Lia O’Hegarty, a lawyer, in 2004, in Rome. They have one daughter.

He was formerly involved with Fine Gael, working as speechwriter for Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald and a lead adviser to Michael Noonan during the 2002 general election.