Mella Carroll
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
6 March 1934
Mella Carroll | |
|---|---|
| Judge of the High Court | |
| In office 6 October 1980 – 12 July 2005 | |
| Nominated by | Government of Ireland |
| Appointed by | Patrick Hillery |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Mella Elizabeth Laurie Carroll 6 March 1934 Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | 15 January 2006 (aged 71) Dublin, Ireland |
| Resting place | Waterville, County Kerry, Ireland |
| Alma mater | |
Mella Elizabeth Laurie Carroll, SC (6 March 1934 – 15 January 2006) was an Irish judge who served as a Judge of the High Court from 1980 to 2005.
She was the first woman to serve as a High Court judge in Ireland.
Carroll was born in Dublin in 1934, her parents were Patrick Carroll (founder member and Commissioner of the Garda Síochána from May 1967 until his retirement in September 1968) and Agnes Mary Caulfield. Her siblings were Milo, Paddy, and Una.[1]
Carroll attended Sacred Heart Convent School of lower Leeson Street and then University College Dublin, where she graduated in French and German.[citation needed]
She then studied at the King's Inns, where she came top in the examination for the high-profile Brooke scholarship. She was called to the Irish Bar in 1957, building a large practice and in 1976, was called to the Bar of Northern Ireland.[citation needed]
Legal career
In 1977, she became a Senior Counsel in the Republic of Ireland. For a time, she was the only female Senior Counsel practising in the Irish state.[2] In 1979, she was the first woman to be elected a bar bencher of King's Inns and chairman of the Bar Council.[3]
