It is with deep sadness that we share the passing of Mr Justice Declan Budd, a brilliant legal mind and a devoted Vice President of the College Historical Society. His life was marked by an extraordinary dedication to the law and to the Hist, where his vision and commitment shaped some of the Society’s most significant milestones. He will be sorely missed by all who had the privilege to know him.
What follows is a tribute written by Ian Ashe, Auditor of the Bicentenary Session in 1970, who worked closely with Declan during those formative years. In these words, we honour Declan’s lasting contributions to the Society and remember with pride the legacy he leaves behind.
A young Declan Budd, who served as the Hist’s Record Secretary in our 198th Session.
MR JUSTICE DECLAN BUDD – A GRATEFUL APPRECIATION
AUGUST 25, 2025
“Declan Budd and Ross Hinds were joint compilers of an anthology of Trinity’s College Historical Society, entitled The Hist and Edmund Burke’s Club covering the period from 1747-1997. The anthology was published in 1998
A full thirty years before the book’s publication, however, both Declan Budd and Ross Hinds performed an absolutely crucial role for the Hist in forming the nucleus of the Society’s Bicentenary Sub-Committee, together with Alan Craig, Treasurer. This Sub-Committee had been established in 1968 by William A. C. Stanford, Auditor of the Hist, following conversations with Declan. William Stanford was succeeded by David F. Ford, Auditor 1969 and, eventually, the task of staging the celebrations resided with Ian Ashe, Auditor for the Bicentenary 1970.
This Sub-Committee operated under the Chairmanship of K.F.G. Purcell and the President of the Hist, Dr. F. H. Boland, Chancellor, University of Dublin, and former President of the United Nations General Assembly.
I can safely record, with enormous gratitude, the vital contribution of voluntary time and competence that Declan Budd offered to the College Historical Society Bicentenary 1970 celebrations as Convenor and Secretary. Headliners for those events were Taoiseach Jack Lynch, US Senators Edward Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy, Andreas Papandreou, Michael Foot, Conor Cruise O’Brien, Erskine Childers, John Hume and Gerry Fitt. The week became a renowned success in the life of Declan’s beloved Hist. The celebrations included an exhibition, Art and Oratory, which was hosted by the National Gallery of Ireland under Dr James White, Director, and organized by Richard Marriott of the Hist. All this was accomplished while Declan was in his early career in the highly competitive legal profession.
The Anthology of 1998 displayed for future generations the historic national and international debating and cultural events of that 1970 Bicentenary time. The work cemented the celebrations as truly significant. The debt owed by the Hist to Ross Hinds and Declan is profound. The Anthology also included extensive excerpts from T.S.C. Dagg’s College Historical Society, A History. Dagg was Auditor of the Hist in 1906 and he wrote on the period from 1770-1920. That history was delivered to the Hist as a gift by his nephew, C. Noel Dagg, in 1970, the year of the Society’s 200th Session. The most recent publication on The Hist is Oratory and Debate 1770-2020, published in 2020, and authored by Patrick Geoghegan for the Hist’s 250th Session. The book had been commissioned earlier by Professor Emeritus David McConnell, then President of the Hist who was a former Auditor and Press Officer of the Bicentenary Sub-Committee.
The Hist’s Bicentenary success, as recorded here, could not have been achieved without the perseverance of Declan. His many friends in the Hist, and the Hist itself, will surely miss him greatly.”
Ian Ashe, Auditor, Bicentenary 1970
You can leave your own message in Justice Budd’s online condolence book until the 21st of October: