Outstanding Contribution to Legal Scholarship award for Dr Niamh Howlin
30 July 2025
(opens in a new window)Dr Niamh Howlin from the UCD Sutherland School of Law has been awarded a prize for Outstanding Contribution to Legal Scholarship at the Dublin Solicitors Bar Association Law Book Awards.
The Dublin Solicitors Bar Association is the largest Bar Association in Ireland, and its annual Law Book Awards recognises books published by legal authors.
Dr Howlin won the prize for her books Barristers in Ireland: An Evolving Profession Since 1921 and A Century of Courts: The Courts of Justice Act 1924.
She was presented with leather-bound copies of both books by Rossa Fanning, the Attorney General of Ireland, at a gala dinner to celebrate the awardees.
Huge congratulations to Dr Niamh Howlin who was last night awarded the DSBA 'Outstanding Contribution to Legal Scholarship for 2023 and 2024’ (opens in a new window)@UCDLawSchool (opens in a new window)@TheBarofIreland (opens in a new window)@MaryCarolanIT (opens in a new window)@IrishLegalNews (opens in a new window)@KingsInns (opens in a new window)@LawSocEdu (opens in a new window)@Orlaodo (opens in a new window)@LawSocIreland (opens in a new window)@lawsocgazette (opens in a new window)@KWSolicitors👏 (opens in a new window)pic.twitter.com/FeBi8ixDM7
— Four Courts Press (@FourCourtsPress) (opens in a new window)April 11, 2025
“I was honoured to receive this award,” said Dr Howlin.
“I believe there is great value in uncovering the histories of our lawyers and legal institutions. They have shaped not only today’s laws, but also today’s society and the modern State.”
The judges said that Barristers in Ireland is “an important contribution to the history and recent evolution of the legal profession in Ireland”.
The book is based on archival research, as well as face-to-face interviews with practising and former members of the Bar.
A Century of Courts – which Dr Howlin edited and contributed to – brings together legal scholars, historians and members of the judiciary to reflect on the legacies of the Courts of Justice 1924. This Act established the District Court, Circuit Court, High Court and Supreme Court in Ireland.
The book was produced as a result of collaboration between UCD, the Irish Legal History Society and the Courts Service.
Dr Howlin is Vice-President of the Irish Legal History Society and sits on the Irish Manuscripts Commission. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Fellow of Advance Higher Education.
By: Rebecca Hastings, Digital Journalist, UCD University Relations
To contact the UCD News & Content Team, email: newsdesk@ucd.ie
