Michael Walsh is the Chair of the Byrne Wallace Shields LLP Property Law team and is widely regarded as one of Ireland’s leading real estate lawyers.

Michael is an accomplished practitioner with extensive experience in real estate engagements including development, investment acquisitions and disposals, in the PRS, residential, hotel, office and warehousing and logistics sectors.

Michael has unrivalled experience in the forward sale and forward funding of residential and mixed-use schemes. The earlier part of his career was focused primarily on retail-focused developments and investments, having led out on a number of large and high-profile projects, including Dundrum Town Centre and Athlone Town Centre. Michael enjoys the challenge of complex transactions and projects, particularly those involving multi-disciplinary teams.

Michael has been a regular contributor over the past twenty years to the Law Society’s Continuing Professional Development and Diploma programmes. He is a contributing author to the Law Society’s “Complex Conveyancing” manual and several other industry standard contracts and documents. He was an active member of the Law Society’s prestigious Conveyancing Committee (2015-2025) and its Vice-Chair (2020-2021) and Chair (2021-2023) and the Law Society’s representative on the

Housing For All Conveyancing and Probate Reform Implementation Group (2024/2025).

Key transaction experience

• Acted for Castlethorn Construction in the Forward Fund of excess 900 residential units across two development sites in Dublin involving a major approved housing body, with the support of the Housing Finance Agency
• Acted for Castlethorn Construction in the Forward Fund of a large residential scheme in Dublin involving Dublin City Council and Aurium Captial and a landmark €73m investment from Ingka Investments, the investment arm of Ingka Group, owner of IKEA Ireland
• Acting for Lidl Ireland in the sale and leaseback to ICG Real Estate of a Pan-European portfolio including several supermarkets across Ireland in a transaction valued excess €200m
• Acted for the European Union via the European Parliament in its forward purchase of its flagship premises on Chatham Street, Dublin
• Acted for the owner of Killeen Castle in its landmark strategic partnership with the Corscadden family’s Romantic Castles of Ireland which will see the restoration and redevelopment of the historically distinguished 800-year-old Castle in Dunsany, County Meath
• Acted on Twinlite's forward sale to a well-known German investment fund of c 101 new build residential units at Dalkey, County Dublin  
• Acted for Patrizia Immoblien in its purchase of substantial offices in Mount Street, Dublin
• Acted for Aviva Life & Pensions in two large retail investment disposals 
• Acted for Twinlite on its forward sale to Tristan Capital, of 372 new build residential units at Clongriffin, Dublin  
• Acted for Cinamol in the forward sale of one of the first dedicated Build to Let (BTL) residential developments in Dublin to Avestus
• Acted for Davy Hickey Properties in the forward sale of a substantial residential scheme at Citywest, Dublin to Urbeo and two forward sales of bulk residential units to an approved housing body
• Acted for Patrizia Immoblien in its forward purchase of a PRS scheme and commercial units in Dublin’s South Docklands
• Acted for international tech company Qualtrics on its major office space letting at Chatham & King, Dublin
• Acted for Patrizia Immoblien on the purchase of the Oval Dublin, a large office dominated mixed use commercial scheme
• Acted for Glenveagh Properties PLC on acquisition mandates across several holdings for the development of several thousand residential units and in the individual housing unit sales at Citywest Village, Dublin
• Acted for Targeted Investments ICAV (Oaktree Capital) on the purchases of Newhall Retail Park, County Kildare and Waterford Retail Park, County Waterford 
• Acted for Irish Life Assurance Plc in acquisition of several retail and office investments
• Acted for the European Commission regarding its Dublin office requirements
• Acted for Kennedy Wilson Europe plc on the purchase and sale of office blocks in well-known Dublin office park 
• Acted for Ornua (formerly Irish Dairy Board) on its acquisition and sale of land and the development of a manufacturing facility in Cork 
• Acted in the acquisition of 30+ industrial and logistics units for EQT Real Estate
• From project inception to 2018, acted as lead lawyer on the major Dundrum Town Centre project, incorporating Ireland's largest shopping centre (opened in 2005 and acquired by Hammerson and Allianz in 2016) 
• Acted as lead lawyer on the development of several retail and mixed-use schemes including: Athlone Town Centre, South King Street Centre (Dublin) and Gorey Town Centre
• Acted as lead lawyer on the Pavilions, Swords, Phase 2 extension (opened 2007) and overseeing the asset management of the Pavilions Shopping Centre from 2006 for over 10 years

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL), University College Cork, 1991
• Bachelor of Law (LLB), University College Cork, 1992
• Qualified as a Solicitor, Law Society of Ireland, 1995
• Diploma in Company Direction, Institute of Directors, Dublin, 2024

Memberships & CSR

• Dublin Solicitors Bar Association
• The Law Society of Ireland
• Board of Directors Member - Chamber Choir Ireland, a registered charity (2010 to 2014) (Chair 2011-2014)
• The Law Society of Ireland’s Conveyancing Committee (2015 to 2025) (Chair 2021-2023)
• Member of Institute of Directors in Ireland
• Member of Urban Land Institute (ULI) Executive Committee

Recommendations

"Michael knows the law, is very commercial and he is always looking out for the best interests of his clients.”
Chambers Europe, 2026

“Michael Walsh — fantastic. A great leader with an unquenchable desire to provide the best service to his clients.”
Legal 500, 2025 - Ranked as a Leading Partner for Real Estate

“Michael Walsh is very commercially minded and is an excellent communicator.”
Chambers Europe, 2024

“Michael Walsh has experience at the highest level, and is invaluable at scoping projects and dealing with challenging issues.”
Legal 500, 2024

“Michael Walsh is invaluable in tough negotiations of a complex real estate deal. He demonstrates excellence and sound advice on all legal aspects of the transaction and provides an excellent understanding of the local commercial context. His accessibility to the client is impeccable.”
Legal 500, 2023 — Leading Individual, Real Estate

“Michael Walsh is one of the finest real estate lawyers in Ireland and he has built a team of dedicated professionals that are, quite literally, always on-call to deliver.”
Legal 500, 2021