Five certificates covering Mary Robinson(MR)'s path into Law: Leaving Certificate Examination results 1961; certificate admitting MR to Honorable Society of Kings Inns, and degree of Barrister-at-Law, Dublin, Trinity Term 1967, dated 29/05/1973; certificate admitting MR to Honourable Society of Middle Temple 06/06/1973 and calling her to the bar 19/07/1973 [The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple is one of four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to Call their members to the Bar of England and Wales]; official certificate from Taoiseach Cathal Ó hEochaidh [Charles Haughey] welcoming MR to the Silk [also called Senior Counsel], 05/02/1980; certificate of MR's election as Honorary Bencher of the Honorable Society of Kings Inn, 18/04/1991.

Material originally housed in folder labelled "Silk" relating to Mary Robinson (MR) being called to the Inner Bar in 1980. Includes correspondence with Gov applying for patent of Precedence for admission to Inner Bar; several letters of congratulations; menu from celebration dinner in Royal Hibernian Hotel, Dublin 29/02/1980 signed by all present including Henry, Aubrey and Adrian Bourke [MR's brothers], Ann Lane, Eddie McParland, Ruth Montgomery, Nick Bourke [possibly MR's husband, Nicholas Robinson, jokingly signing as Nick Bourke], Barbara MacKenzie and [Hope?] Mont[gomery]; newspaper cutting from 17/10/1986 referring to MR as only practising woman Senior Counsel.

Folder labelled "Children First" consists of correspondence, newsletters, meeting agendas and other material related to the organisation, formed in 10/05/1974, concerned with the welfare of children in adoption, and with proposed amendments to the Adoption Bill 1974. It includes correspondence between Vera Stokes, PRO [Public Relations Officer] Children First, and Minister for Justice, [Mr Cooney], 07/06/1974; correspondence between R Charles Mollan, member of Children First, and Mary Robinson (MR), introducing the organisation, its aims and recommendations, and requesting informal meeting, 08/06/1974 and further correspondence 21/06/1974; proposed constitution for Children First, 197[4?]; memorandum sent to every senator by Children First, [06/1974]; letter of thanks from Vera Stokes to MR, following her meeting with the Committee of Children First, 06/1974; correspondence between Nan Avery, Mary Heffernan, Children First, and MR including various case studies outlining examples of issues with adoption law*, 26/06-19/07/1974; Children First 1st progress report 05-11/1974; submission from Children First to Task Force on Child Care Services, with cover letter to Senator MR from Anne Larkin, Secretary, Children First, 31/01/1975 which also mentions sudden death of Vera Stokes in previous October; 2nd progress report 12/1974-05/1975; Agenda for AGM, 28/05/1975 and 17/04/1978; Children First newsletters Winter 1975-6, Summer 1976, Autumn 1976, Winter 1976-7, Special issue on Proceedings of the Children First Conference on Substitute Parenting, Spring 1977 with supplement, Summer 1977, Autumn 1977, Winter 1977-8, Summer & Autumn 1978, Spring 1979 with supplement, Summer & Autumn 1979, Winter 1978-9 and Winter 1979-80; flyers for symposium "Working Together for our Sick and Handicapped Children", 18/11/1976, Children First seminar "From Birth to Three the Most Vulnerable Years", 03,04/11/1978, and flyer for Bernardo’s Adoption Advice Service, 197[?].

*Non anonymised case studies have been removed to closed file.

Folder labelled "Acts": material related to and including Adoption Bills for Ireland, and Northern Ireland, and amendments including copy of Adoption Bill 1971 (proof); 4 copies of Adoption Bill, 1974, as introduced; copy of Adoption Bill, 1974, as amended in Committee; copy of Adoption Bill, 1976 as initiated; Minister's Speech [Minister for Justice, Mr Cooney?], at Second Stage of Adoption Bill, 1974, in Seanad Éireann (SÉ) [upper house of Irish parliament, Senate]; parliamentary debates, SÉ, official report, 09/07/1974 which includes "Adoption Bill, 1974: Second Stage (resumed)", in which Mary Robinson (MR) refers to case histories shared with her by Children First, (see P143/1/3/4/1); research material including typed memorandum by UK Ministry of Home Affairs for the guidance of registered adoption services in relation to Adoption of Children Act (N.I.) [Northern Ireland], 1950, photocopies of Adoption Act (Northern Ireland), 1967 and 1969, Draft Practice Memorandum Section 3 Adoption Act, 1974, report "Adoption in Ireland", by Vivienne Darling, Social Studies Department, Trinity College Dublin (MR referenced this in SÉ), 1974 and report from Irish Adoption Workers conference, Limerick, "Aspects Of Adoption - Some Basic Principals", Limerick Conference 1974; handwritten notes; questions to Senator MR in relation to Adoption Bill, n.d.; carbon copy of letter sent to Owen Mulholland, solicitor, thanking him for allowing MR look at his file on adoption and submissions from representatives of adoption societies, in a briefing ahead of considering the Government's Bill in SÉ, 16/07/1974; typed summary of speech by Fr O'Mahoney at Cork Speakers Club, October 197[?], on subject "Some aspects of adoption" at which MR and Sr Paul (St Annes Adoption Society) also attended; typed notes on comparative legalisation on adoption in Northern Ireland, n.d. [197?]; text of two lectures "The Status of Children under the adoption Acts 1952-1964" and "recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Divorce Decrees", Senator MR, Reid Professor of Constitutional and Criminal Law, Trinity College Dublin, delivered at seminar in Waterford, of The Society of Young solicitors, 4/11/1972; lecture "A New Children act", Rev James Good, Director, UCC, Education Centre, Limerick, 03/05/1972; address of Minister for Justice, Mr Patrick Cooney, TD [Teachta Dála, member of Dáil Éireann, lower house of Irish parliament] and the Irish Adoption Workers' conference, Limerick, 25/04/1974 which was quoted by MR in SÉ.

Material in this file, labelled "6th Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1978", relates to a Private Members Bill, put forward by the Labour party "in an attempt to place beyond any doubt the constitutional validity of… (a) Adoption orders and other decisions made by the Adoption Board...(b) the provisions of the 1974 and 1976 Adoption Acts which place the child's welfare first in cases of custody disputes", and includes background document for Labour Party press conference given by Frank Cluskey, TD [Teachta Dála, member of Dáil Éireann, lower house of Irish parliament], Leader of Labour Party, 22/06/1978; extract of address/article by Mary Robinson "Adoption: A Missed Opportunity" on procedure to amend constitution, 197[8?]; copies of Sixth Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1978 as initiated; speech by Minister for Justice at 2nd stage of 6th Amendment of the Constitution (Adoption) Bill [Government's own Bill subsequently?]; handwritten note "the Dept of Justice thinking on the adoption of legitimate children today is on a par with the Dept of Justice thinking on the adoption of illegitimate children 40 years ago", n.d., writer unknown; copy of Sixth Amendment of the Constitution (Adoption) Bill, 1978 as initiated; order paper for Seanad Éireann [upper house of Irish parliament, Senate], 07/03/1979, including hearing of Bill.

Folder labelled "Maintenance Orders Bill" consisting of correspondence and bills including copy of Maintenance Orders Bill, as introduced; copy of Maintenance Orders Bill, as amended in committee; copy of Maintenance Orders Bill, as passed by Dáil Éireann [lower house of Irish parliament]; copy of Maintenance Orders Bill, Committee Amendments, and orders of the day, Seanad Éireann (SÉ) [upper house of Irish parliament, Senate] 03/07/1974; paper by Dermot Hewson, Huggard, Lambe and Co solicitors, on importance of foreign maintenance orders, with cover letter to Mary Robinson 17/06/1974 and reply 20/06/1974; handwritten notes on the Bill; speech by Minister for Justice on the Bill at Second Stage (SÉ ), with notation 197[4?]. See also P143/1/3/4/1.

Correspondence (with Mary Robinson unless otherwise stated) relating to change in adoption Laws, 1970s, including correspondence from the following: "An Adopted Child" (anonymous, 30/10/1971; [Sir?] George E Mahon, Christian Science Committee on Publication, 03/11/1971; Phyllis Heut, Honorary Secretary, and Mona McAuley, Joint Committee of Women's Societies and Social Workers, 06/11/1971, 29/04/1974; Lawrence S McDermott, member of An Bord Uchtála [The Adoption Board], 21/12/1972-03/02/1973, and includes photocopies of correspondence he received from Minister for Justice, Desmond O'Malley; Mrs Jane M Strange, Secretary, Association of Interchurch Families, 02/03-29/06/1973; Fr James Good, 25/08/1973-29/07/1974; Norman TJ Spendove, Society of Young Solicitors, 12/03-25/10/1973; Rev Brian D'Arcy, The Cross [monthly magazine published by the Passionist Fathers], 22/10-29/11/1973; Rev Martin Coen, 28/02-05/03/1974; PF O'Connor, which includes cutting of letter he wrote to Hibernia newspaper, 21/06/1974 outlining his family's case, 21/06-02/07/1974; GD Connolly, An Bord Uchtála [The Adoption Board], including memorandum on annual report of the board, 30/12/1970-20/07/1974; Rev John O'Mahony, St Anne's Adoption Society, 18-31/07/1974; Deirdre McDevitt, Honorary Secretary, AIM [Action Information Motivation] Group, 15-16/01/1975 and Patricia Waldron, Hon Secretary, Irish Association of Social Workers, 22/07/1976.

Correspondence with Mary Robinson relating to the need for change in adoption Laws from members of public.

[Archivist's Note: Some material is restricted due to personal nature of contents and/or to protect identity of senders or 3rd parties referred to within. To request possible access to restricted material, please consult with archivist.]

Correspondence, reports and newsletters relating to the status of Adoption Law in Ireland, 1980s. Material includes Spring 1980, and Winter/Spring 1981 newsletters from the organisation Children First (see P143/1/3/4/1), and flyer on conference "The Family Experience of Adoption and Fostering", 16,17/05/1980; Consultative Paper on Adoption of Children in Northern Ireland, Children's and Young Persons Review Group, 1980; photocopies of sections of the Adoption Act 1976, and correspondence from Máirín Lindsey, member of Council of Adoptive Parents Association, 13/06/1983 and from Helen Scott, Honorary Secretary, Adoptive Parents Association of Ireland, 01/04/1986.

Correspondence with Mary Robinson relating to change in adoption laws from members of public. Material is either restricted or closed due to personal nature of contents and/or to protect identity of senders or 3rd parties referred to within.

To request possible access to restricted material, please consult with archivist.