About our People

King’s Inns prides itself in having a strong academic team. All tutors and lecturers on the King’s Inns teaching team have impressive qualifications (including many LLMs from colleges including Harvard, Oxbridge and the London School of Economics, as well as several PhDs from reputable universities worldwide). 

Many tutors and lecturers are also practising Barristers and Solicitors, and therefore have a keen understanding of how the law works in the real world.

Throughout all courses, we have a range of visiting speakers from legal, business and communication industries, including senior members of the judiciary, who are all willing to share their vast knowledge and experience with our students. 

Below are some members who make up our faculty team. 

The School of Law

Mary Griffin

CEO and Under Treasurer

Mary Griffin

Mary Griffin took up the position of CEO and Under Treasurer in June 2018. Prior to joining, Mary held the position of interim CEO with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland. Mary was instrumental in setting up CORU, the regulator of health and social care professionals.

A qualified executive coach, Mary is passionate about developing people, identifying talent and enabling people to be the best they can be.

A native of County Clare, Mary holds a B.Sc. in Economics and Management and an MBA.

Dr. Eimear Brown

Dean of School of Law

Dr. Eimear Brown

Eimear Brown LLB, BL, PhD was called to the Bar in 2003 and practised mainly in the area of civil law. Having been Academic Coordinator / Course Leader of the Diploma in Legal Studies, Eimear assumed the role of Dean of School of Law in 2015.

A Lecturer in Human Rights Law and Introduction to the Legal System, she is currently focused on research in the areas of Human Rights Law and innovations in teaching and learning.

Marcella Higgins

Registrar

Marcella Higgins

Marcella Higgins BA, HDipEd, MEd has held senior management and lecturing positions in a number of third level and professional education institutions. From 2000 to 2008 she was Director of Education at King’s Inns.

As Registrar since 2008, Marcella’s responsibilities include: regulation compliance and developments, management of accreditation of courses, quality assurance, admissions to courses and admissions to the degree of Barrister–at–Law, and all aspects of examinations.

Renate Ní Uigín

Librarian

Renate Ní Uigín

Renate Ní Uigín LL.B is the Librarian. Having qualified and practised as a Solicitor, she subsequently retrained as a librarian, acquiring a HDipLIS from UCD. She worked in the Law Library for ten years prior to moving to King’s Inns.

Diane Sutton

Member Relations Officer

Diane Sutton

Diane Sutton has over twenty years’ experience in the leisure industry including member services, event management, training & development and marketing. She holds a B.Sc. in Education & Training from DCU.

Diane is responsible for developing member services for benchers, judges, barristers, and Barrister–at–Law students through a variety of social events, workshops and talks, and providing engagement opportunities across the King’s Inns graduate network.

Ciarán Patton

Academic Coordinator / Course Leader, Diploma in Legal Studies

Ciarán Patton

Ciarán Patton LLB (Ling. Ger.), BL graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 1997 and was called to the Bar in 1999. Having been teaching the Criminal Law at the King’s Inns since 2005, he assumed the role of Academic Coordinator / Course Leader of the Diploma in Legal Studies in 2015.

His research interests include the Criminal Law, the Law of Evidence and Equity and the Law of Trusts.

Dáithí Mac Cárthaigh

Comhordaitheoir Dlí agus Gaeilge / Law and Irish Coordinator

Dáithí Mac Cárthaigh

Dáithí Mac Cárthaigh BA, MA, LLB, BL graduated from NUIG and was called to the Bar in 1998. He practices both civil and criminal law in Irish and English.

Dáithí has published articles on areas as diverse as statutory interpretation, white collar crime and planning.

Áine Shannon

Criminal Practice Course Coordinator, Degree of Barrister–at–Law

Áine Shannon

Áine is a graduate of NUI Galway (BA, LLB), University of London (LLM) and the Inns of Court School of Law. She practised at the bar in London for a number of years before returning to Ireland in 1999, when she commenced practice at the Irish Bar.

Dr. Mark Byrne

Criminal Practice Course Coordinator, Degree of Barrister–at–Law

Dr. Mark Byrne

Mark Byrne, LLB (Dubl.), BL (King’s Inns), PhD (Dubl.), was called to the Bar of Ireland in 2003 and the Bar of England and Wales in 2013.

In addition to his course coordinator role at King’s Inns, Mark is a member of the International Protection Appeals Tribunal, Ireland, a Fee–paid Judge of the Employment Tribunals (England and Wales) and a Fee–paid Judge of the First–tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber), United Kingdom.