Catherine Donnelly SC

Catherine Donnelly was called to the Bar of Ireland in 2007 and was called to the Inner Bar in 2020.

She undertook her LL.B. in Trinity College Dublin and is a former scholar of the College. She completed a B.C.L. in Oxford, at Magdalen College, followed by an LL.M. and Fellowship in Harvard. She practised as a litigation attorney at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York from 1999-2001 and was admitted to both the New York State and Federal Bars (Eastern and Southern Districts). During this time, she also taught an asylum law workshop at Columbia Law School and worked on pro bono projects for the Yale Law Clinic and Human Rights Watch. From 2001-2004, she completed a D.Phil. in Oxford, again at Magdalen College, during part of which time she held a college lectureship shared between Corpus Christi College and St John’s College, Oxford.

She was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2003 (Gray’s Inn) and from 2004-2005, she undertook pupillage at Blackstone Chambers, where she is currently a member.

She joined the Law Faculty of the University of Oxford in 2005 as a University Lecturer and Fellow in Law at Wadham College, teaching Administrative, Constitutional and European Union Law. She joined the Law School of Trinity College Dublin in January 2007 and is a Fellow and Associate Professor there.

She was a legal advisor to the Bill of Rights Forum Northern Ireland (2007) and to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission on its proposals for a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland (2008-2010).

She was called to the Bar of Northern Ireland in 2012.