Rónán Kennedy researches and teaches environmental law, information technology law, and the intersections between these. He has a background in information technology and information systems, including spending much of the 1990s working in the industry as a programmer, analyst and webmaster. His involvement in environmental protection include establishing the Ecology Society in what was then University College Galway as an undergraduate, and his membership of the Cloughjordan Ecovillage, including a period as chair of its board of directors. In 2016, he was appointed to the Advisory Committee of the Environmental Protection Agency on the nomination of the Irish Environmental Law Association.

He worked as Executive Legal Officer to the Chief Justice of Ireland, Mr Justice Ronan Keane, from 2000 to 2004. During this time, he was editor of “The Supreme Court of Ireland: A History”, first editor of the Judicial Studies Institute Journal from 2001 to 2003, and was involved in a number of initiatives to expand the use of information technology in the courts. Before coming to the Law Faculty in NUI Galway, he taught environmental law and public international law in the University of Limerick. He was the co-ordinator of the LL.M. in Law, Technology and Governance from 2008 to 2014 and was Associate Head for Development and Promotion for the School from April 2009 to April 2010.

Rónán Kennedy holds a degree in commerce and a higher diploma in systems analysis from University College Galway, an LL.B. with first class honours from the National University of Ireland, Galway, an LL.M. from New York University and a Ph.D. from University College London. He also studied for the degree of Barrister-at-Law in the King’s Inns and was called to the Bar of Ireland in 2003. He was a visiting PhD student in the Tilburg Institute for Law and Technology in 2010, and a Visiting Scholar at the School of Law at the University of California at Berkeley in 2017. In 2020, he was a Science Foundation Ireland Public Service Fellow in the Oireachtas Library and Research Service. In 2022, he was awarded both the College of Business, Public Policy and Law and the NUI Galway President’s Award for Teaching Excellence.