Bernard Thomas Moynahan Jr.

Senior Judge, Eastern District of Kentucky, 1963-d. 1999

Bernard Thomas Moynahan, Jr. served as a judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky from 1963 to 1999. Moynahan was born in Akron, Ohio on December 29, 1918. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of Kentucky in 1935 and a law degree from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1938. After graduation, he practiced law in Lexington for one year and in Nicholasville for two years. During World War II, Moynahan served as a US Army first lieutenant in the Air Corps from 1942 to 1945. After the War, Moynahan was elected as county attorney for Jessamine County, serving in the role from 1946 to 1954. He then practiced law in Nicholasville from 1954 until 1961. Moynahan became the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky in 1961. On September 16, 1963, President John F. Kennedy nominated Moynahan to serve on the Eastern District Court of Kentucky, to a seat vacated by Judge Hiram Church. The Senate confirmed his nomination on November 4, 1963. Moynahan served as chief judge from 1969 to 1984. He assumed senior status on September 30, 1984 and returned to private practice in Nicholasville. He practiced law until his death on September 30th, 1999.