Conor Maguire (judge)

{{Short description|Irish politician, lawyer and judge (1889–1971)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}

{{Use Hiberno-English|date=September 2022}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| image = Conor_Maguire.jpg

| office = Chief Justice of Ireland

| term_start = 1 June 1946

| term_end = 11 June 1961

| nominator = Government of Ireland

| appointer = Seán T. O'Kelly

| predecessor = Timothy Sullivan

| successor = Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh

| office1 = Judge of the Supreme Court

| term_start1 = 4 May 1946

| term_end1 = 11 June 1961

| nominator1 = Government of Ireland

| appointer1 = Seán T. O'Kelly

| office2 = President of the High Court

| term_start2 = 11 March 1936

| term_end2 = 4 May 1946

| nominator2 = Government of Ireland

| appointer2 = Domhnall Ua Buachalla

| predecessor2 = Timothy Sullivan

| successor2 = George Gavan Duffy

| office3 = Judge of the High Court

| term_start3 = 11 March 1936

| term_end3 = 4 May 1946

| nominator3 = Government of Ireland

| appointer3 = Domhnall Ua Buachalla

| office4 = Attorney General of Ireland

| president4 = Éamon de Valera

| term_start4 = 10 March 1932

| term_end4 = 2 November 1932

| predecessor4 = John A. Costello

| successor4 = James Geoghegan

| office5 = Teachta Dála

| term_start5 = February 1932

| term_end5 = 8 March 1936

| constituency5 = National University

| birth_date = {{birth date|1889|12|16|df=y}}

| birth_place = Claremorris, County Mayo, Ireland

| death_date = {{death date and age|1971|9|26|1889|12|16|df=y}}

| death_place = Sandymount, Dublin, Ireland

| resting_place = Shanganagh Cemetery, Shankill, Dublin, Ireland

| nationality = Irish

| party = Fianna Fáil

| spouse = {{marriage|Nora Whelan|1917}}

| children = 3

| education = Clongowes Wood College

| alma_mater = {{Ubl|University College Dublin|King's Inns}}

|}}

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.{{cite web|url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/maguire-conor-alexander-a5354|title=Maguire, Conor Alexander|work=Dictionary of Irish Biography|last=Coleman|first=Marie|access-date=28 September 2022}} 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.{{Cite web |title=Document NO. W.S. 708 |url=https://ojp.edu.pl/o/BMH.WS0708.pdf |access-date=19 May 2021 |website=Bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie}}

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.{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Conor-Alexander-Maguire.D.1932-03-09/|title=Conor Maguire|work=Oireachtas Members Database|access-date=27 January 2009|archive-date=2018-11-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107010517/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Conor-Alexander-Maguire.D.1932-03-09|url-status=live}} He was appointed as Attorney General of the Irish Free State in March 1932.{{cite web|url=http://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=1735|title=Conor Maguire|work=ElectionsIreland.org|access-date=27 January 2009|archive-date=11 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070911005930/http://www.electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?id=1735|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite web |title=Attorney-General's Judicial Appointment – Dáil Éireann (8th Dáil) |url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1936-11-04/42/ |website=Houses of the Oireachtas |access-date=10 April 2022 |date=4 November 1936}} 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.