Dixon, Kevin (1902–59), barrister and judge, was born 22 June 1902 in Dalkey, Co. Dublin, son of Martin Dixon, quantity surveyor and builder, and his wife Ellen, née Sheridan. Educated at Belvedere College, Dublin, UCD, and the King's Inns, he graduated B.Sc. (chemistry and physics) in 1923 and was called to the bar in 1926.
In his early years at the bar briefs were few, and he had to augment his income by teaching at Crawley's Crammer and as a King's Inns examiner (up to 1942). Co-author with Hector Hughes (qv) of The Landlord and Tenant Act, 1931 (1932), he took silk on 2 April 1940 and was made a bencher of the King's Inns in 1942. On 10 October 1942 he was appointed attorney general. During the second world war he was the Rathfarnham director of the Co. Dublin ARP service.
In April 1946 he became a judge of the high court. Initially dealing with common-law cases, he began dealing with chancery issues in 1951 and showed a particular aptitude for them. His obituary in The Times credited him with ‘a penetrating knowledge of the principles of equity’. A first-rate judge, he was remembered for his kindliness and understanding as well as his excellent judicial qualities. His judgment against the plaintiff in O'Byrne v. Minister for Finance [1959] (Irish Reports), in which he found that judges’ salaries were not constitutionally exempt from income tax, was upheld by a 3–2 majority in the supreme court. He was also an authority on the rules of the high court having been an active member of the rules-making committee.
A former chief registrar of the high court, P. J. Dunphy, when asked who was the judge he most admired of those whom he had served, had no hesitation in nominating Dixon. Although to some extent a forgotten judge, the Irish Reports testify to his ability. The kind of chancery litigation which was common in his time (such as actions relating to obscure conveyancing and title problems, or actions relating to construction of wills with particular reference to charitable gifts) later went out of fashion, which partly explains why he has been so rarely cited. Nevertheless some of the cases which he tried involved interesting issues of law and fact. In a case heard by him in July 1956, he analysed in considerable detail the historical origins and nature of the order of Discalced Carmelite nuns with reference to a claim for tax exemption in respect of a legacy to the order's convent in Blackrock, Co. Dublin. But the primary reason that he was later so rarely cited is that his career on the bench predated the major developments in Irish constitutional jurisprudence. By 1959, the year of his untimely death, there had been remarkably few constitutional cases of any importance. One of the exceptions was Foley v. The Irish Land Commission [1952], Irish Reports, 118. In that case, which he heard in the high court, he delivered an elegant and well reasoned judgment but, significantly, displayed a somewhat conservative and strict constructionist approach both to the constitution and to the particular land act he was construing.
Dixon married (1931) Ognae O'Flynn; they had one son and lived at Dorden, 5 Merrion Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin. He died 25 October 1959 at home, leaving estate valued at £7,116.