Séamus Henchy

Henchy was born in 1917 to shopkeepers Patrick and Margaret in Corofin, County Clare as one of seven children.[1][2] He attended primary school in Corofin and for secondary school wen to St Mary's College, Galway.[1][3]

His university education began at University College Galway, where he obtained a BA in Celtic studies. He then concurrently studied for a MA in Galway, an LL.B. at University College Dublin and to become a barrister at the King's Inns. He completed a PhD at UCD in 1943, supervised by D. A. Binchy, on the law of fosterage.[4] Using his Irish name, Séamus Ó hInnse and as part of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, he published Miscellaneous Irish annals in 1947.[4][5]

He was called to the bar in 1943 and primarily practiced in the West of Ireland.[6][7] He became a senior counsel in 1959.[1] His practice involved civil cases and prosecutions on behalf of the State.[2]

Alongside his legal practice, he was appointed a part-time professor of law at University College Dublin in Roman law, jurisprudence and legal history.[1][8] He published on "The Communist Theory of Law" in Studies in 1957 and was the first Irish academic published in the Modern Law Review.[4][9] He also wrote about the role of Visitor and the National University of Ireland.[8]

His judicial career began in 1962 upon his appointment to the High Court.[7][10] He presided over many personal injuries cases and heard at first instance as part of a panel of three judges the case of State (Nicolaou) v. An Bord Uchtála.[4][11] He was the judge in the second trial related to the Arms Crisis in 1970, where Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney stood accused of conspiracy to import arms.[12] The trial required him to have 24-hour Garda protection.[13]

In 1965 he was the chairperson of a commission, joined by Felix Ermacora and Peter Papadatos, convened by the International Commission of Jurists to investigate allegations of racism in the public service of Guyana. They concluded that racial discrimination had occurred.[14] He also chaired the Mental Illness Commission.[15]

He was elevated to the Supreme Court of Ireland in 1972, following the retirement of Richard McLoughlin.[4][16] He was frequently president of the Court of Criminal Appeal during the 1970s.[1]

He was best known for his time on the court coinciding with significant constitutional law cases and his opinions in them.[7][17] He was seen to be a liberal in relation to social issues.[2] His first major decision was in McGee v. The Attorney General which invalidated a law prohibiting the sale of contraceptives in Ireland.[1] In 1983, he issued a dissent in Norris v. Attorney General where the majority upheld a criminal ban on homosexuality.[1] He said that the relevant parts of the legislation were unconstitutional "on the ground that by their overreach and lack of precision and of due discrimination, they trench on an area of personal intimacy and seclusion which requires to be treated as inviolate".[18] He wrote a concurring opinion with the Chief Justice Tom O'Higgins in 1980 in Cahill v. Sutton which established the rule of standing in Irish constitutional law.[19]

He also contributed to decisions establishing the right to legal aid in criminal trials and in the case of Crotty v. An Taoiseach which established the need for a referendum to incorporate new European Union treaties into Irish law.[6][17]

He retired from the court in October 1988.[20]

Henchy was married to Averil Graney.[1] He lived in Monkstown, County Dublin and was a member of the Royal Irish Yacht Club.[6]

He died at the age of 91 in April 2009. His funeral was attended by the Chief Justice of Ireland John L. Murray, the Attorney General of Ireland Paul Gallagher and aides-de-camp to the President of Ireland and the Taoiseach. He is buried at Shanganagh Cemetery.[25]