Helenus Milmo

Sir Helenus Patrick Joseph Milmo, DL (born Helenus Padraic Seosamh Milmo; 24 August 1908 – 30 August 1988) was a British lawyer and High Court judge.

He was born in County Limerick, Ireland on 24 August 1908, the third son of Daniel and Kathleen (née White) Milmo, but spent his early years in Furbogh, Galway Gaeltacht. Milmo attended St. Gerard's School, Downside School and Trinity College, Cambridge; he was called to the Bar and was later appointed QC in 1961.

During World War II, Milmo was a member of MI5. Having previously worked under Kim Philby, Milmo was selected to investigate Philby in 1951, when Philby's treason became increasingly obvious. Milmo failed to elicit definitive answers and concluded "that Philby is and has been for many years a Soviet agent. But the case remained unproven." Milmo's peers were not entirely forgiving. "Some felt", wrote Peter Carter-Ruck when Milmo died in 1988, "that he was perhaps too much of a gentleman for that daunting task."

Milmo was appointed to the High Court in 1964.

Milmo married Joan Frances Morley (9 March 1907 – June 1978), the second daughter of Francis Morley of Sloan Court, London, in 1933. The couple had five children:

• Deirdre (born 1934)
• Patrick, QC (born 1938), a barrister
• Verity (born 1941)
• Shaun (born 1943), a journalist
• Patricia (born 1949/1950), a solicitor; she married Bennett Umunna in 1976

Two grandchildren, Cahal and Daniel Milmo, are also journalists, while another, Chuka Umunna, has been a British Member of Parliament. A fourth grandchild, Marc, moved into Investment Banking and is a Director at finnCap.

Joan Milmo died in 1978, aged 71, from undisclosed causes. Helenus Milmo's second marriage, in 1980, was to Mrs Anne Brand the widow of Francis Bernard Brand. Mrs Brand was born Anne Gilmore O'Connell, the daughter of Maurice William O'Connell. Anne, Lady Milmo (born 27 May 1907 – died 28 November 2003) died at age 96.

Sir Helenus Milmo died in 1988 in Chichester, West Sussex, six days after his 80th birthday.