Background
Born in 1901, the son of a Lisburn solicitor, he was educated at The Wallace High School and Trinity College Dublin from where he graduated with a Law degree (Doctor of Laws), and was called to the Northern Ireland bar in 1923.
Born in 1901, the son of a Lisburn solicitor, he was educated at The Wallace High School and Trinity College Dublin from where he graduated with a Law degree (Doctor of Laws), and was called to the Northern Ireland bar in 1923.
Trinity College.
He entered the Cabinet of Basil Brooke in 1945 when he became Minister of Labour. His stints as the Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Finance (de facto Deputy Prime Minister) left him favorite to succeed Brooke as Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. In the early 1950s however, Maginess became a hate figure for the Orange Order when he banned marches through Catholic areas in Counties Down and Londonderry.
Brooke demoted him to the non-Cabinet post of Attorney General in April 1956.
While Attorney General, Maginess was party to the case of Attorney General for Northern Ireland v Gallagher 3 All Er 299, which remains authority in the law of Northern Ireland and England & Wales for the principle that Dutch courage is not a defence in criminal law. Counsel for Gallagher were future Attorney General and Lord Justice, Basil Kelly, and future Stormont Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Criminal Bar Association in England, Richard Ferguson.
Having been appointed a King"s Counsel in 1946 he was appointed a County Court Judge in 1964 when he resigned from Parliament. He died three years later in Belfast"s Royal Victoria Hospital at age 65.