William FitzGerald (Irish judge)

{{Short description|Irish lawyer, judge and barrister}}

{{Use Hiberno-English|date=July 2021}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| image =

| office = Chief Justice of Ireland

| term_start = 25 September 1973

| term_end = 17 Oct 1974

| nominator = Government of Ireland

| appointer = Éamon de Valera

| predecessor = Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh

| successor = Tom O'Higgins

| office1 = Judge of the Supreme Court

| term_start1 = 12 May 1966

| term_end1 = 17 October 1974

| nominator1 = Government of Ireland

| appointer1 = Éamon de Valera

| birth_date = {{birth date|1906|1|4|df=y}}

| birth_place = Cork, Ireland

| death_date = {{death date and age|1974|10|17|1906|1|4|df=y}}

| death_place = Dublin, Ireland

| resting_place = Deansgrange Cemetery, Dublin, Ireland

| nationality = Irish|

| spouse = {{marriage|Clare O'Brien|1928}}

| children = 9

| education = Belvedere College

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

|}}

William O'Brien FitzGerald (4 January 1906 – 17 October 1974) was an Irish lawyer, judge and barrister who served as Chief Justice of Ireland from 1973 to 1974 and a Judge of the Supreme Court from 1966 to 1974.{{cite web |url=http://www.supremecourt.ie/SupremeCourt/sclibrary3.nsf/pagecurrent/B8E6388E466B6FB680257315005A41D3?opendocument&l=en |title=Former Chief Justices |work=Supreme Court of Ireland |accessdate=22 December 2010 |archive-date=17 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180917215319/http://www.supremecourt.ie/supremecourt/sclibrary3.nsf/pagecurrent/B8E6388E466B6FB680257315005A41D3?opendocument&l=en |url-status=live }}

He was born in Cork in 1906, and was educated in Belvedere College, Dublin, and King's Inns. He was called to the Bar in 1927 and to the Inner Bar in 1944. He was appointed directly to the Supreme Court of Ireland. In 1972, on the retirement of Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, FitzGerald was appointed as Chief Justice of Ireland. He had a relatively brief tenure as Chief Justice and died suddenly on 17 October 1974.