Mary Eleanor Laffoy, SC, retired Irish judge who is currently President of the Law Reform Commission, is born on North Circular Road, Dublin, on June 17, 1945. She previously serves as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ireland from 2013 to 2017, and a Judge of the High Court from 1995 to 2013. She chairs the Citizens’ Assembly between 2016 and 2018.

Laffoy moves to Manorhamilton and Swinford, before returning to Dublin to live in Donabate following the death of her father. She attends Tourmakeady College in Toormakeady, County Mayo.

Initially after leaving school Laffoy tries primary school teaching at Carysfort College and joins the civil service. She is subsequently educated at University College Dublin (UCD) and King’s Inns. She receives the John Brooks Scholarship at the Inns for achieving the highest marks. She receives a BA from UCD in 1968 and a BCL in 1971.

Laffoy is called to the Bar in 1971 and to the Inner Bar in 1987. She devils for Brian McCracken. She becomes a Senior Counsel on the same day as future Supreme Court colleagues Susan Denham and Liam McKechnie and at the time is only one of four women seniors.

Laffoy’s expertise at the Bar is in property law. She appears in the Cityview Press case which clarifies the law on the nondelegation doctrine in Ireland. In 1983, she is appointed by the Supreme Court to argue against the constitutionality of the Electoral (Amendment) Bill 1983 following a reference made by President Patrick Hillery under Article 26 of the Constitution of Ireland. She appears in another Article 26 reference made by Mary Robinson regarding the Matrimonial Home Bill 1993. For both references, the Supreme Court finds for her side.

In 1986, Laffoy appears on The Late Late Show in a simulated court case to argue for a vote against the Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland.

Laffoy is appointed as a judge of the High Court in 1995, primarily presiding over cases involving chancery law.

Laffoy presides over the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse from 1999 to 2003, an inquiry into child abuse. Her decision to resign as chair before the commission completes its report is controversial. In her letter of resignation from the commission of September 2, 2003, she outlines her belief that the actions of the Government and the Department of Education have frustrated her efforts and have slowed the commission’s work. She feels that “the cumulative effect of those factors effectively negated the guarantee of independence conferred on the Commission and militated against it being able to perform its statutory functions.” The commission is chaired from 2003 to 2009 by Judge Sean Ryan.

Laffoy presides over the High Court hearing in A v Governor of Arbour Hill Prison, ordering the release of a prisoner convicted of statutory rape due an earlier finding that the offence he was convicted of was contrary to the Constitution of Ireland. Her decision is overturned on appeal to the Supreme Court. In 2012, she dismisses an action taken by Thomas Pringle regarding the legality of the European Stability Mechanism. The European Court of Justice, after reference from the Supreme Court, also rejects his claim. During her time at the High Court, ten percent of reported judgments are written by her.

Laffoy is appointed to the Supreme Court of Ireland in July 2013. She retires from the Supreme Court on June 16, 2017. A portrait of her is unveiled in the King’s Inns in March 2020.

In July 2016, Laffoy is appointed by Taoiseach Enda Kenny to chair the Citizens’ Assembly, which she chairs until June 2018. She becomes the president of the Law Reform Commission in 2018.