Citizenship United Kingdom Nationality Northern Irish | Name Siobhan Keegan | |
Alma mater Queen's University Belfast Education Queen's University Belfast Awards Queen's Counsel, Order of the British Empire | ||
Dame Siobhan Roisin Keegan, DBE, QC, styled The Hon Mrs Justice Keegan, is a Northern Irish judge and former barrister specialising in family law. In October 2015, she was appointed one of the first female judges of the High Court of Northern Ireland; the other was Denise McBride.
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Early life
Keegan was educated at St. Clare's Primary School and Sacred Heart Grammar School, Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland.
She studied law at Queen's University Belfast and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree in July 1993. After further study, she was called to the Bar of Northern Ireland in September 1994.
Legal career
Keegan became a barrister when she was called to the bar in September 1994. She specialised in family law but has also had experience in criminal law and judicial review.
She was made a Queen's Counsel (QC) in June 2006. Between 2011 and 2013, she served as Chair of the Family Bar Association. In 2014, she was elected Vice Chair of the Bar Council of Northern Ireland.
Since 2013, Keegan has been one of barrister receiving the most legal aid funding in Northern Ireland. In the 2012/2013 financial year she received £504,177 and was ranked the fourth highest, in 2013/2014 she received £513,405 and was ranked fourth, and in 2014/2015 she received £427,632 and was ranked fourth.
On 23 October 2015, Keegan was appointed a judge of the High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland. She was sworn into office by Sir Declan Morgan, the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, at the same time as Denise McBride. This made Keegan and McBride jointly the first female high court judges of Northern Ireland.
On 23 November 2015, she was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE).