Background and family life Born Mary Patricia Leneghan (), in Ardoyne, north Belfast to Paddy Leneghan from Croghan, County Roscommon and Claire McManus from County Antrim. She is a Catholic but grew up in a largely Protestant neighbourhood. Loyalists forced her family to leave the area when the Troubles broke out. She was educated at St Dominic's High School, an all-girls Catholic grammar school in Belfast. She studied law at Queen's University Belfast, graduating in 1973 with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB Hons) degree. She was called to the Bar of Northern Ireland in 1974, and was later called to the Irish Bar.
Background and family life Born Mary Patricia Leneghan (), in Ardoyne, north Belfast to Paddy Leneghan from Croghan, County Roscommon and Claire McManus from County Antrim. She is a Catholic but grew up in a largely Protestant neighbourhood. Loyalists forced her family to leave the area when the Troubles broke out. She was educated. at St Dominic's High School, an all-girls Catholic grammar school in Belfast. She studied law at Queen's University Belfast, graduating in 1973 with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB Hons) degree. She was called to the Bar of Northern Ireland in 1974, and was later called to the Irish Bar