A native of Ballinamona, Calry, Co Sligo, Ms Feeney graduated with an LLB from NUI Galway in 1994 and subsequently took up employment in the United States. First as a judicial intern at the Los Angeles Federal Court then as a judicial clerk in the Child Protection Division of Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago.

She gained an LLM from John Marshall Law School in Chicago in 1997 and returned to Ireland qualifying as a solicitor in 2001. She worked for Francis X. Burke & Co. after qualifying and lately with Feeney and Corcoran LLP in Dublin.

Ms Feeney was married to her husband, Robert Kennedy-Cochrane, for 18 years.

Tributes were paid to Ms Feeney at Sligo District Court on Thursday morning where Judge Cunningham extended his condolences to her friends and family.

Ms Feeney is survived by her husband Robert and brothers JJ and Pat. She is predeceased by her parents John and Bridget.