Material in this series relates to Mary Robinson’s work as part of the legal profession, is further subdivided and includes reports, correspondence, cuttings, photographs and official court judgements.

It includes material relating to Robinson’s path into Law (P143/1/1); her work as a barrister and special council including many of her precedent-setting cases (P143/1/2); her work in the area of Family Law (P143/1/3), the Law Reform Commission (P143/1/4) and the Euro Avocats, Brussels, of which she was a member from 1989-1990 (P143/1/6); her work as a member of the Inner Chamber, 2 Hare Court [one of the four Inns of Court, England and Wales] (P143/1/5); material relating to the Irish Centre for European Law which she co-founded with her husband Nicholas (P143/1/7), to the International Academy of Trial Lawyers (P143/1/8) and to her time as General Rapporteur, “Human Rights and the Dawn of the 21st Century”, Council of Europe, Strasbourg, 1993-1995 (P143/1/9); material relating to the International Commission of Jurists, Geneva of which she was a member from 1987-2014, and President from 2008-2011 (P143/1/10); material relating to the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights which later became Human Rights First (P143/1/11) and HLCLEP [High Level Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor] of which Robinson was also a member (P143/1/15).

This series also includes material relating to Irish and European Court judgements from 1960s to 1990s (P143/1/12 and P143/1/13); Ireland v Council of European Communities 1973-1995 (P143/1/14) and general material covering events, correspondence, reports and press as they relate to the legal profession and Robinson’s work in that field (P143/1/16-19).

Material in this series relates to Mary Robinson (MR)’s role as President of Ireland (December 1990 - September 1997). Ireland’s 7th president, she was the first woman to hold this office and the first non-Fianna Fáil [Irish political party founded in 1926] candidate elected. During her seven-year presidency she transformed and expanded the role, assisted in large part by her knowledge and understanding of the Irish constitution. In particular, her legal expertise allowed her to differentiate between imagined and existing legal constraints. She developed new political, cultural, and economic links with other countries, reached out to local communities at home and abroad, and used her platform to bring attention to suffering of others such as her visit to Somalia in 1992.

The series is further subdivided into 18 subseries and includes correspondence, reports, press cuttings, photographs, programmes and agendas. Material relating to MR’s nomination jointly by the Labour party and the Workers Party as their candidate and to her election campaign can be found in P143/4/1 and material in P143/4/2 covers the resulting official inauguration. The six subseries which follow consist of daily engagement schedules (P143/4/3); briefing notes, background information and reports (P143/4/4); material relating to official state visits (P143/4/5); correspondence with her secretary Peter Ryan, with the Government including the Taoisigh [Irish prime ministers] and members of the public including children and VIPS (P143/4/6); photographs (P143/4/7) and press cuttings (P143/4/8).

P143/4/9 and P143/4/10 consist of material relating to staff and administration at Áras an Uachtaráin [the official residence of the President of Ireland] and to the building itself and its surrounding grounds respectively. The remaining subseries consists of material relating to MR’s addresses as president (P143/4/11); events excluding official state visits (P143/4/12); gifts given and received during her presidential term (P143/4/13); legal documentation predominantly relating to Acts passed in Dáil Éireann [lower house of parliament] and the Council of State (P143/4/14); role of the president (P143/4/15); Northern Ireland during MR’s presidential term including Co-operation North [a non-political, non-denominational all-island charity dedicated to peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland, later renamed Co-operation Ireland] (P143/4/16), theses and other studies on MR’s term as president (P143/4/17) and ephemera (P143/4/18).

[Archivist’s Note: People featured throughout this series include Peter Ryan, Secretary to the President; Joe Brennan, Deputy Secretary to the President; Bride Rosney, Special Adviser to the President; Ann Lane, Personal Assistant to the President; Kay Gleeson, Personnel Officer, Áras an Uachtaráin; Dermot Nally, Secretary to the Government; Frank Murray, Assistant Secretary to the Government, later Secretary (from 03/1993); Brian McCarthy, Assistant Secretary to the Government (from 03/1993) and Noel Dorr, Secretary, Department of Foreign Affairs.]

Ref: P143/4