Kevin Boyle - Legacy endures

The legacy of world-renowned human rights lawyer and scholar, the late Professor Kevin Boyle, endures at NUI Galway. On 28 November 2014, his personal archive was launched by Attorney General, Máire Whelan, S.C. The archive contains a wealth of material and unique insights into the field of human rights, legal research and scholarship.

Kindly donated by the Boyle family since Kevin’s untimely passing in 2010, the archive has now been catalogued by the University’s James Hardiman Library, and represents a major resource for the study and teaching of human rights.

Professor Boyle, who came originally from Newry, began his career at Queen’s University Belfast, where he was deeply engaged in the civil rights movement. In the late 1970s, he joined NUI Galway where he co-founded the Irish Centre for Human Rights with Denny Driscoll in 1980. He also served as a special advisor to Mary Robinson from September 2001, when she was UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

An international symposium, hosted by NUI Galway’s School of Law and the Irish Centre for Human Rights, also took place to celebrate Professor Boyle’s career. The keynote address was provided by Professor Sir Nigel Rodley, Chair of the United Nations Human Rights Committee.