[1] Finnegan was technically the second highest ranking judge in Ireland while he was President of the High Court and was an ex officio member of the Supreme Court that he was subsequently appointed to as a full member.
Joseph Gerald Finnegan was born on 1 October 1942.
[2] He was educated at Synge Street CBS[3] and St. Mary's College Dundalk.
He was Assistant Secretary of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland from 1968 to 1973.
He practised mainly in general common law and chancery matters.