Former Chief Justice Frank Clarke inaugurated as Pro-Chancellor
Posted on: 01 April 2022
Barrister and former Chief Justice Frank Clarke was inaugurated as a new Pro-Chancellor of Trinity at a special ceremony in the Provost’s House on Thursday 31 March. He joins the University’s five other Pro-Chancellors: The Honorable Sir Donnell Deeny, Prof Jane Grimson, Dr Stanley Quek, Prof Shane Allwright and Prof Ignatius McGovern.
Frank Clarke is an Irish barrister who was Chief Justice of Ireland from July 2017 to October 2021. Clarke had a successful career as a barrister for many years, with a broad practice in commercial law and public law. He was appointed to the High Court in 2004 and he became a judge of the Supreme Court in February 2012. Following his retirement from the bench, he returned to work as a barrister. Across his career as a barrister and a judge, he has been involved in many seminal cases in Irish legal history.
Clarke studied Economics and Maths at undergraduate level in University College Dublin (UCD), while he concurrently studied to become a barrister at King’s Inns. He was the first of his family to attend third level education and was able to attend university by receiving grants. He joined Fine Gael after leaving school and was a speechwriter for Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald and election agent for George Birmingham. He subsequently ran for election to Seanad Éireann. He was called to the Bar in 1973 and to the Inner Bar in 1985. He had a practice in commercial, constitutional and family law. Two years after commencing practice he appeared as junior counsel for the applicant in State (Healy) v Donoghue before the Supreme Court, which established a constitutional right to legal aid in criminal cases.
Clarke was the chair of the Bar Council of Ireland between 1993 and 1995. Between 1999 and 2004, he acted as chair of Council of King’s Inns. He was a Professor at the Kings’s Inns between 1978 and 1985 and was appointed an Adjunct Professor at University College Cork in 2014. He has also been an Adjunct Professor at Trinity College Dublin. Clarke was appointed as a High Court judge in 2004. He was appointed to the Supreme Court on the 9 February 2012 and served as Chief Justice from October 2017 until his retirement on 10 October 2021. In his role as Chief Justice, he was involved in the second inauguration ceremony of President Michael D. Higgins on 11 November 2018 at Dublin Castle. He read out the Declaration of Office for Higgins to sign and then presented the president with his seal of office.
Mary Carolan of The Irish Times said that under his leadership the Supreme Court is “perhaps the most collegial it had been in some time“.
Following his retirement, he returned to work as a barrister and rejoined the Bar of Ireland. He is married to Dr Jacqueline Hayden, Assistant Professor in Trinity’s Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences and Philosophy.
Appointment to the office of Chancellor or Pro-Chancellor is considered to be the highest accolade the University can bestow. In practice the office is reserved for the most distinguished graduates and academic members of staff who have made exceptional contributions to the College over the course of their career, or for illustrious members of the external community notable for their special contribution to society. Pro-Chancellors have all the powers and privileges of the Chancellor when acting in place of the Chancellor, such as when awarding degrees of the University of Dublin, but they also hold office in their own right.