Charles Lysaght

Charles Lysaght is an Irish lawyer, biographer,and occasional columnist He is the foremost writer of obituaries in Ireland.

Lysaght was born in Dublin on 23 september 1941 and educated there with the Holy Ghost Order at St Michael's Preparatory School, the Jesuits at Gonzaga College, before reading law and economics at University College Dublin(M.A), and at christ's college cambridge(M.Litt). He qualified as a barrister at the King's Inns Dublin, and then at Lincoln's Inn London. A keen student debater he won the Irish Times Trophy for university debating(1960-1) and the gold medal of the Literary and Historical society in University College Dublin(1961-2). He was elected auditor of the law students debating society of Ireland, King's Inns(1961-2) and president of the cambridge union(Easter term 1964) defeating Vince Cable by a large majority. Between 1967 and 1970 he lectured in law at King's College London and University college London while practising at the Bar. He was part-time professor of law at King's Inns. where he an honorary bencher) from 1970 to 1975 and joined the Irish Department of External Affairs as a legal adviser in 1970 moving to the law Reform commission for 10 years in 1978. From 1981 until 2009, he seerved on the board of the Irish Civil Service Building Society. Subsequently he was a member of an Irish government committee on EU Fisheries Policy chaired by Dr TK Whitaker and a member of the Advisory Board of the national Archives of Ireland. A keen cricketer, he played for Pembroke cricket club, County Meath, the Cambridge crusaders, the Refreshers and the Leprechauns, a nomadic club of which he was president in 1998, its 50 anniversary year.

He was first chairman of the Cambridge Society Irish branch and is now chairman of the Oxford and Cambridge Society of Ireland.