Frank Clarke

George Bernard Francis Clarke (born 10 October 1951 ) 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.

Clarke was born on 10 October 1951, in Walkinstown, Dublin.

He is the son of a customs officer who died when he was aged eleven; his mother was a secretary.

He was educated at Drimnagh Castle Secondary School, a Christian Brothers secondary school in Dublin.

He won the Dublin Junior High Jump Championship in 1969.

He studied Economics and Maths at undergraduate level in University College Dublin, 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.

While attending University College Dublin, he lost an election to Adrian Hardiman to become auditor of the L&H.

He joined Fine Gael after leaving school.

He was a speechwriter for Taoiseach Garret Fitzgerald and election agent for George Birmingham, he then subsequently, himself, 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.

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 acted as a chair of the Employment Appeals Tribunal while still in practice.

He was also a steward of the Turf Club and was the chairman of Leopardstown Racecourse.

He was due to take over as senior steward of the Turf Club but did not do so due to his appointment to the High Court.

He campaigned against the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland in 1983 and in favour of the unsuccessful Tenth Amendment of the Constitution in 1986.

He argued on behalf of the Law Society of Ireland in a referral regarding the Adoption (No. 2) Bill 1987.

Clarke represented Michael McGimpsey and his brother Christopher in a challenge against the constitutionality of the Anglo-Irish Agreement, which was ultimately unsuccessful in the Supreme Court in 1988.

He appeared for the plaintiff with Michael McDowell and Gerard Hogan in Cox v Ireland in 1990, where the Supreme Court first introduced proportionality into Irish constitutional law and discovered the right to earn a livelihood.

He represented Seán Ardagh and the Oireachtas Subcommittee formed after the death of John Carthy in a constitutional case which limited the powers of investigation of the Oireachtas, which led to the unsuccessful Thirtieth Amendment of the Constitution.

In an action taken by tobacco companies to challenge the legality of bans on tobacco advertising, he appeared for the State.

Clarke was twice appointed by the Supreme Court for the purpose of Article 26 references.

He was the chair of the Bar Council of Ireland between 1993 and 1995.

He was Chairman of the Bar Council of Ireland from 1993 to 1995.

In 1994, President Mary Robinson requested him to provide her with legal advice on the presidential prerogative to refuse to dissolve Dáil Éireann.

He was external counsel to the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse and represented the Flood Tribunal in its case against Liam Lawlor and the State in Charles Haughey's challenge to the legality of the Moriarty Tribunal.

He and George Birmingham also appeared for Fine Gael at the Flood Tribunal, and he represented the public interest at the Moriarty Tribunal.

He was a legal advisor to an inquiry into Deposit interest retention tax conducted by the Public Accounts Committee, along with future judicial colleagues Paul Gilligan and Mary Irvine.

He chaired a meeting of family lawyers in 1995 supporting the successful second referendum on divorce.

He was appointed by the Supreme Court to appear to argue on behalf of the rights of the mother in In re Article 26 and the Regulation of Information (Services outside the State for Termination of Pregnancies) Bill 1995.

Between 1999 and 2004, he acted as chair of Council of King's Inns.

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 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.