Medico-Legal Society of Ireland

Formation of the Society

The Medico-Legal Society of Ireland was founded in August 1956 following a meeting held in the Royal Marine Hotel, Dun Laoghaire, County Dublin . It was agreed that a need then existed for a society in which doctors and lawyers would meet and discuss topical issues of mutual interest. The meeting was called by Dr J.P. Brennan, Coroner, who was elected as the first President of the Society. Others present at that initial meeting included Mr. Justice Murnaghan who took the chair, Dr. Patrick Meenan BL, Dr. Maurice Hickey, Mr. Michael Leech, Solicitor, Mr. L. Trant McCarthy, Solicitor, Dr. C.S.P. Hamilton and Dr. Brennan. The then Chief Justice of Ireland , Mr. Justice Conor A. Maguire became the first Patron of the Society. 

A notable event in the early years was a reception hosted by the Society in 1957 to mark the visit to Ireland of the American Bar Association, led by Earl Warren, then Chief Justice of the United States of America. 

The First Elected Officers Of The Society

President: Dr. J.P. Brennan 

Vice-Presidents: 
          Mr. Ian Fraser FRCSI, 
          Mr. D. O‘Donovan, Chief State Solicitor 
          Professor R.A.Q. O‘Meara 
          Mr. D. Costigan, Commissioner of An Garda Siochà na 
          Judge J. A. McCarthy 

Honorary Secretary: Mr. M. Leech 
Honorary Treasurer: Mr. J.A. Kelly 
Editor of Debates: Dr. J. F. Fleetwood 

Council: 
          Mr. E. Fahy BL 
          Mr. Sean Hooper SC 
          Dr. P.N. Meenan BL 
          Dr. M. Hickey MD 
          Dr. D.A. McErlean MD 
          Dr. Francis McLaughlin MD 

The Inaugural Meeting

The inaugural meeting of the Society was held in the Dolphin Hotel, Dublin on the 29th October, 1956 when a paper entitled “The Mind and Crime“ was delivered by Judge J.A. McCarthy, a Vice-President of the Society.