Mary McGee awarded the Praeses Elit prize
Posted on: 04 December 2023
The 50th anniversary of the legalisation of contraception in Ireland was marked by a conference in Trinity College Dublin focusing on the landmark McGee v Attorney General case which was decided on 19 December, 1973.
At the event, the litigant in the case Mary McGee was awarded the Praeses Elit prize by the Trinity College Law Society in recognition of her immense contribution to Irish law and society.
Mary McGee and her husband Seamus with her Praeses Elit prize. Photo: Zoya Kherani, Trinity College Law Society
Entitled ‘Contraception and the Constitution: Reproductive Autonomy and Constitutional Change after McGee’, the event was hosted by the Trinity Centre for Constitutional Governance (TriCON) at the School of Law and the Irish and British Chapter of the International Society of Public Law (ICON-S GBIE).
Professor Aileen Kavanagh, School of Law, organiser of the event, said: “It is now 50 years since the landmark decision in McGee v Attorney General which led to the legalisation of contraception in Ireland. It is therefore timely to reflect on the enormous social, ethical, political and legal changes which this case brought about in the 20th and 21st century.”
Eoin Ryan, Auditor of Trinity College Law Society added: “Mrs McGee is a trailblazer and as young people we owe her and her husband Mr. Seamus McGee the world of gratitude for changing the face of Irish society and helping to usher in a new and more progressive Ireland. The Praeses Elit Award was founded by former Auditor of the Law Society and first female president of Ireland Mary Robinson and is bestowed on those who have advanced societal and legal discourse. We cannot imagine anyone more deserving of the award than Mrs. McGee for her remarkable impact on Irish constitutional law and society as a whole.
“As law students, we spend so much time learning off cases that we often take for granted the courage and strength of individual litigants. The personal journey of Mrs. and Mr. McGee and their bravery in standing up for what is right has had a seismic impact on constitutional jurisprudence in Ireland and left a lasting social impact. Without individuals like Mrs McGee, such an important case and profound change could never have materialised.”
Speakers at the conference, included legal experts, historians and social policy researchers, who discussed the case and the broader constitutional change following the decision. These included Mr Justice Gerard Hogan of the Irish Supreme Court, Dr Andrea Mulligan (TCD); Prof. Mairéad Enright (University of Birmingham), Maeve Taylor (IFPA) and Prof. Mary Daly (UCD). See the full programme on the School of Law website.