Both firms were considerably ahead of Arthur Cox on 333, Mason Hayes & Curran on 313 and McCann FItzGerald on 290, according to figures published today in the Law Society Gazette.

William Fry was in sixth place with 216 practising solicitors, followed by the Chief State Solicitor’s Office with 199, ByrneWallace (prior to becoming Byrne Wallace Shields) with 153, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions with 132 and the Legal Aid Board with 121.

In 11th place was the Central Bank of Ireland with 119, followed by Eversheds Sutherland and Maples and Calder, both on 107, and RDJ on 105.

Beauchamps and Allied Irish Banks plc are tied in 15th place with 98 solicitors each, followed by Philip Lee with 84, Dillon Eustace with 82, Hayes Solicitors with 81 and Addleshaw Goddard with 80.

Matheson and A&L Goodbody have regularly swapped the title of largest law firm, with ALG holding it for the last two years.

In total, there were 12,175 valid practising certificates on 31 December 2024, with 54 per cent of them being women — though women made up just 37 per cent of partners.