President Michael D. Higgins hosted a reception at Áras an Uachtaráin to mark the centenary of the calling of the first women to the Bar in Ireland.
On 1 November 1921, Frances Kyle and Averil Deverell were called to the Bar, the first women to achieve this either in Ireland or Britain. In the year of her call to the Bar, Frances Kyle achieved first place in her Bar examinations, while Averil Deverell was the first woman to practise as a barrister on either island.
To mark the centenary, President Higgins welcomed a number of prominent women who have served in the Law in Ireland to Áras an Uachtaráin, including the President of the High Court, Ms Justice Mary Irvine; the President of the Circuit Court, Judge Patricia Ryan; retired Judge of the Supreme Court Ms. Justice Fidelma Macken’; the first female Attorney General and Judge of the Court of Appeal, Ms Justice Máire Whelan; and the Chair of the Council of the Bar of Ireland, Ms Maura McNally S.C..
