Conor Maguire (judge)

Conor Alexander Maguire (16 December 1889 – 26 September 1971) was an Irish politician, lawyer and judge who served as Chief Justice of Ireland from 1946 to 1961, a Judge of the Supreme Court from 1946 to 1961, President of the High Court, a Judge of the High Court from 1936 to 1946 and Attorney General of Ireland from March 1932 to November 1932. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the National University of Ireland constituency from 1932 to 1936.

Maguire was born in Claremorris, County Mayo, in 1889. He was educated at Clongowes Wood College and University College Dublin (UCD). At UCD, he was a founding member of the Legal and Economic Society (now known as the University College Dublin Law Society) in 1911.

He then returned to County Mayo, where he practised as a barrister and was instrumental in establishing Ireland's first working Republican Courts, which usurped the existing courts, and created a forum to try offenders, resolve grievances and adjudicate on land issues.

He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil TD for the National University constituency at the 1932 general election and was re-elected at the 1933 general election. He was appointed as Attorney General of the Irish Free State in March 1932. In November 1936, he resigned as Attorney General and as a TD on his appointment as President of the High Court and a Judge of the High Court. 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.