Thomas Aloysius Finlay is a former Irish

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 Fine Gael

Fine Gael

Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...

 politician and Chief Justice

Chief Justice of Ireland

The Chief Justice of Ireland is the president of the Supreme Court of Ireland.Under Constitution of Ireland, the Chief Justice of Ireland also occupies several positions ex officio, these include;* A possible judge of the High Court....

 of the Supreme Court. He is the second son of Thomas Finlay, a politician and senior counsel whose career was cut short by his early death in 1932. He was educated at Clongowes Wood College

Clongowes Wood College

Clongowes Wood College is a voluntary secondary boarding school for boys, located near Clane in County Kildare, Ireland. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1814, it is one of Ireland's oldest Catholic schools, and featured prominently in James Joyce's semi-autobiographical novel A Portrait of the...

, University College Dublin

University College Dublin

University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...

 and King's Inns

King's Inns

The Honorable Society of King's Inns , is the institution which controls the entry of barristers-at-law into the justice system of Ireland...

. While in UCD, he was elected Auditor of the University College Dublin Law Society

University College Dublin Law Society

The UCD Law Society is one of the largest student societies in Europe. Established in 1911 as 'The Legal and Economic Society', it has over 4100 members drawn from the various faculties of the University. Weekly Tuesday night debates during term are the Society's core activity...

. He was called to the Bar

Bar council

A bar council , in a Commonwealth country and in the Republic of Ireland, the Bar Council of Ireland is a professional body that regulates the profession of barristers together with the King's Inns. Solicitors are generally regulated by the Law society....

 in 1944 and to the Inner Bar in 1961. He was elected to Dáil Éireann

Dáil Éireann

Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...

 as a Fine Gael Teachta Dála

Teachta Dála

A Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...

 (TD) for the Dublin South Central

Dublin South Central (Dáil Éireann constituency)

Dublin South–Central is a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas. The constituency elects 5 deputies...

 constituency at the 1954 general election

Irish general election, 1954

The Irish general election of 1954 was held on 18 May 1954. The newly elected members of the 15th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 2 June when the new Taoiseach and government were appointed....

. He lost his seat at the 1957 general election

Irish general election, 1957

The Irish general election of 1957 was held on 5 March 1957, just over three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 4 February. The newly elected members of the 16th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 20 March when the new Taoiseach and government were appointed.The general election took place...

. In 1971 he was appointed a Judge of the High Court and was appointed President of the High Court in 1974. He served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 1985 to 1994. He is a member of a legal dynasty: his father and brother William were both Senior Counsel as is his son John; both his brother-in-law John Blayney

John Blayney

John Joseph Blayney, KSG was a Justice of the Supreme Court of Ireland from 1992 until 1997, when he retired from a long legal career, and his position on the bench was filled by Justice Henry Denis Barron...

 and his son-in-law Hugh Geoghegan

Hugh Geoghegan

Hugh Geoghegan was a justice of the Supreme Court of Ireland of Ireland from 8 March 2000 , having been nominated by the Government of Ireland on 22 February 2000 until May 2010 when he retired. He replaced Mr Justice Donal Barrington...

 were judges of the Supreme Court (as was Hugh's father James Geoghegan

James Geoghegan

James Geoghegan was an Irish politician, and later a justice of the Supreme Court.He was first elected to Dáil Éireann in a by-election on 13 June 1930 as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála for the Longford–Westmeath constituency. He served in Éamon de Valera's first cabinet in 1932–33 as Minister for...

) and his daughter Mary Finlay Geoghegan is a judge of the High Court.