There were 294 solicitors with practising certificates (PCs) at the firm as of 31 December 2018, up by 20 on the same date in 2017.

The Dublin-based firm reclaimed the top spot from A&L Goodbody, who had 292 practising solicitors (down by 1) and had topped the table in 2017.

The new figures, published in the latest edition of the Law Society Gazette, also reveal that the number of practising solicitors in Ireland increased by 4.8 per cent to 2,653 last year.

The full breakdown of law firms is as follows:

Writing in the Gazette, Ken Murphy, director general of the Law Society, said: “The bragging rights of being the ‘largest firm’ have been passing back and forth between Arthur Cox and A&L Goodbody. The neck-and-neck nature of this contest could be seen starkly in 2016 when each had exactly the same number of practising solicitors (275).

“A&L Goodbody surged ahead in 2017 by a margin of no less than 19, but the Arthur Cox number rebounded strongly in 2018, with the effect that, on 31 December, it was ahead by 294 to 292 – a margin of just two.”