Barristers in Ireland

An evolving profession since 1921

Niamh Howlin

Barristers played significant roles in Irish public life in the twentieth century as lawmakers, politicians, civil servants, broadcasters, judges, academics and social reformers. This book is the first to examine the profession from the turbulent twenties until the Celtic Tiger years. It looks at who the barristers were, how they worked and how they were perceived. It also examines the impact of partition, the experiences of women at the bar, and traces how the profession changed over the course of the twentieth century. Drawing upon interviews conducted with barristers, published memoirs, records of the Bar Council and the King’s Inns, government publications and archival sources, this book paints a picture of a profession that was rooted in tradition yet constantly evolving.

Niamh Howlin is an associate professor at the Sutherland School of Law, UCD. She has published books on various aspects of Irish legal history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.