Judge and Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. Born in Inverness, Irvine was educated at Inverness Academy, Hutchesons' Grammar School (Glasgow) and Glasgow and Cambridge Universities.
He taught law at the London School of Economics (1965-9). He was called to the Bar (1967), appointed a QC (1978) and became a judge and life peer in 1987. Irvine was appointed Lord High Chancellor (pre-eminent judge, government minister responsible for legislative matters and Speaker of the House of Lords) in the Blair administration (1997). He chose Lairg for his barony because his maternal family lived in the village.
He is an honorary fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge and has an honorary degree from the University of Glasgow.