Ronan Keane

Ronan Colman Keane (born 20 July 1932 ) is a retired Irish judge who served as Chief Justice of Ireland from 2000 to 2004, a Judge of the Supreme Court from 1996 to 2004 and a Judge of the High Court from 1979 to 1996.

Keane was educated at Blackrock College, Dublin, and later graduated from University College Dublin (UCD) in 1953, with a BA in Modern History. He was called to the Bar in 1954 and has been an adjunct professor at Trinity College Dublin since his retirement.

In 1962, Keane married Therese O'Donnell, who, as Terry Keane, became a fashion journalist and later a social diarist. In 1999, Terry revealed on The Late Late Show her affair beginning in 1972 with sometime Taoiseach Charles Haughey. Ronan and Terry's daughter Justine Keane is married to Diarmuid Gavin, the Irish garden designer and television personality.

Keane was for some years the Independent Chairman of the Appeals Board of the Turf Club of Ireland.