Máire Pádraigín Mhic Giolla Íosa = Mary Patricia McAleese

Educated at Queen's University Belfast (QUB), the Inn of Court of Northern Ireland, Trinity College, Dublin, and the Institute of Linguists. She became a member of the Bar in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. In 1975 she was appointed Reid Professor of Criminal Law, Criminology and Penology in Trinity College Dublin, succeeding Mary Robinson. She held that position until 1979 when she joined RTÉ, the national state-owned radio and television broadcaster, as a journalist and presenter. She remained full-time in RTÉ until 1981 when she returned to the Reid Professorship while still working for RTÉ in a part-time capacity for a further four years. In 1987 she became the director of the Institute of Professional Legal Studies at QUB, a position she held until 1997, she was Pro-Vice Chancellor of Queen's from 1994 to 1997. A nationalist and a committed Roman Catholic, she was a member of the Catholic Church Episcopal Delegation to the New Ireland Forum in 1984 and a member of the Catholic Church delegation to the North Commission on Contentious Parades in 1996. She has also been a director Channel 4 Television, the Northern Ireland Electricity and the Royal Group of Hospitals Trust. In 1997 McAleese defeated former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds in an election for the Fianna Fáil nomination for the presidency. After a stormy campaign she outpolled her four rivals to succeed Mary Robinson. This was the first time in history that a woman had succeeded another woman as an elected head of state anywhere in the world. On 11 Nov 1997, Mary McAleese was inaugurated as the eighth President of Ireland. Biography source: [1]