John O’Donnell SC

UCD Alumni Award in Law 2024

BCL 1980

John O’Donnell graduated with a bachelors in law degree from UCD and received a masters in law from Cambridge. John has distinguished himself across various fields, reaching the pinnacle of his legal career while also earning numerous awards and accolades for his literary contributions. He commenced practice at the Bar in 1983, becoming a Senior Counsel in 2001. A Bencher of King’s Inns, he has a diverse practice in civil and corporate litigation and his book Examinerships is the leading text on corporate insolvency and rescue.

John’s literary work has been published widely. Awards include the Hennessy Award for Poetry and the Hennessy Award for Emerging Fiction, the Irish National Poetry Prize, New Irish Writing Awards for Poetry and Fiction, the Ireland Funds prize and the RTÉ Francis McManus Short Story Award. He has published five poetry collections. His first short story collection Almost the Same Blue was a Sunday Independent Book of the Year. Rainbow Baby, an RTÉ radio play, won a New York Festivals Radio Award. His documentary about the 1979 Fastnet disaster, ‘Back To The Rock’, was broadcast on RTÉ’s Doc On One. An Irish Writers’ Centre Novel Fair winner in 2024, his debut novel Second Skin is forthcoming, as is a new short story collection. John has been a member of the board of Poetry Ireland, and has served on the board of the Arts Council.