The oil painting, commissioned by fellow members of the legal community and painted by artist Miseon Lee, is now on display in the Gallery’s Room 23.

Ms Justice McGuinness was born in Belfast and educated at Alexandra College, Trinity College Dublin and the King’s Inns. She was called to the Bar in 1977, and to the Inner Bar in 1989.

She worked for the Labour Party in the 1960s, but was elected as an independent candidate to Seanad Éireann for the Dublin University constituency in 1979, and served a senator until 1987. In 1988, she was appointed to the Council of State by President Patrick Hillery, a position she held until 1990.

In 1994, Ms Justice McGuinness became the first woman to be appointed as a judge of the Circuit Court, and two years later was elevated to the High Court. In January 2000, she was promoted to the Supreme Court, where she served as a judge until 2006.

She was appointed adjunct professor of law at NUIG in 2005, and in the same year became president of the Law Reform Commission, a position she held until 2011.

Gallery director Sean Rainbird said: “To add this impressive work by highly respected artist Miseon Lee to the national portrait collection today is a pleasure. Justice Catherine McGuinness is an inspiration to so many, and we are thrilled to be able to display this portrait of her on the walls of the National Gallery of Ireland.

“We are grateful to the generous private donor who has made this acquisition possible. Our colleagues in the Gallery’s development team are always happy to start a conversation about ways to support the future of our institution and the national collection, so I encourage anyone who might be interested in finding out more to get in touch.”