The Society’s first President was Sir Joseph Kemp.

 

He was born in Dublin in 1874, and educated at Dublin High School, before later studying law at Cape University, South Africa and London University. He moved to Hong Kong in 1898 to serve as a cadet in the Colonial Office. In 1915, he was appointed the Attorney General of Hong Kong, before later being appointed as the Chief Justice of Hong Kong in 1930.

On his retirement as Chief Justice, Kemp was elected the first President of the Society in 1934. His election was the beginning of a rich history of the Society. Following him, just as Kemp, each of the Presidents have gone on to both contribute immensely to Hong Kong and preserve and celebrate Ireland’s culture and traditions overseas, through their involvement and leadership of the St Patrick’s Society of Hong Kong. 

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Sir Joseph Kemp, C.B.E. 1931

Col. C. D. Myles, O.B.E. 1932

Prof. F. A. Redmond 1933

Dr. W. B. A. Moore, O.B.E. 1934

Mr. B. H. C. Hallowes 1935

Mr. F. P. R. James 1936

Sir Ernest Williams 1937

Dr. G. W. Pope 1938

Mr. C. G. Perdue 1939

Mr. J. C. M. Grenham, M.B.E. 1940

Hon. C. E. M. Terry, O.B.E. 1941

Mr. P. J. A. Hamilton 1942

Dr. The Hon. P. J. Fehily, O.B.E. 1947

Mr. W. La B. Sparrow1948

Hon. D. J. S. Crozier, C.M.G. 1949

Mr. F. G. Maunder 1950

Sir John Griffin, Q. C. 1951

Mr. E. R. Farrell 1952

Mr. F. Shanks, O.B.E. 1953

Dr. J. H. McElney 1954

Miss Elma Kelly 1955

Hon. H. D. M. Barton, M.B.E. 1956

Mr. B. T. Flanagan 1957

Professor B. Harrison 1958

Dr. A. W. Dawson-Grove, M.B.E. 1959

Mr. J. A. Fox 1960

Sir Michael Hogan, Kt., C.M.G. 1961

Professor Sean Mackey, O.B.E. 1962

Mr. J. F. Lindsay 1963

Mr. Justice B. Jennings 1964

Prof. E. O’F. Walsh 1965

Mr. J. A. O’Hanrahan 1966

Hon. C.E.M. Terry, O.B.E., O.ST.J., J.P. 1967

Mr. D. R. Bland 1968

Mr. G. I. McCabe 1969

Mr. T. B. P. O’Connell 1970

Mr. B. F. Slevin, Q.P.M., J.P. 1971

Mr. K. B. O’Sullivan 1972

Prof. Sean Raferty 1973

Mr. L. Power, Q.P.M. 1974

Mr. S. G. Elliott 1975

Mr. J. P. MacMahon., C.P.M. 1976

Mrs. B. M. M. Murray 1977

Mr. T. A. Fitzpatrick 1978

Mr. T. Frawley 1979

Mr. B. Keown 1980

Mr. McDermott 1981

Mr. H. Williams 1982

Mr. G. Fields 1983

Mr. B. Griffin 1984

Mrs. B. McKenzie 1985

Mr. D. Agnew1986

Mr. J. R. P. Breen 1987

Mrs. E. Shannon 1988

Mr. J. N. McCaffrey 1989

Mr. A. Mackay 1990

Mr. P. Hurley 1991

Mr. P. McMahon 1992

Mr. G. McEnery 1993

Mr. Robert Farrell 1994

Ms. Molly Donoghue 1995

Mr. Dan Manning 1996

Ms. Fiona Loughrey 1997

Mr. Ian Candy 1998

Mrs. Thérèse Beresford 1999

Mr. Harry O’Neill 2000

Mr. Darach Haughey 2001

Mr. Tom Mulvey J.P. 2002

Mr Ronan Delaney 2003

Ms Anne Noonan 2004

Mr Ian Carroll 2005

Mrs Orla Thomas 2006

Mr Noel Smyth 2007

Ms Dorraine Dempsey 2008

Mr Damian McManamon 2009

Ms. Orla Gilroy 2010

Mr. Ian Lawlor 2011

Comdt. Graeme Martin 2012

Comdt. Graeme Martin 2013

Ms. Kayte Candy 2014

Mr Noel Smyth 2015

Mrs Lynne Mullholland-Ul 2016

Mr Fergal Power 2017

Mr Mat Gallagher 2018

Mr Mat Gallagher 2019

Mrs Marilouise Hughes-King 2020 - 2024

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