Over 1,000 pay last respects to ‘genial’ judge

MORE than 1,000 people packed a church in Co Cork yesterday to pay their last respects to a Circuit Court judge who was described as “a friend to everybody” and “a true man of the people.”

Judge Con Murphy died suddenly last Monday morning in the Bon Secours Hospital, aged 51.

The esteem he was held in could also be measured by the huge numbers who also turned up to his removal in Bandon the previous night. The removal was supposed to have reached the local parish church at 8.30pm but didn’t arrive until 11.40pm, such was the crowd which turned up to console his family.

It is believed that the judge knew more people in West Cork than just about anybody else, having been prominent in the GAA, in the legal profession and in politics.

The offertory gifts summed up the life of the “genial gentlemen”. They include a copy of the Constitution, a book on the history of hurling, a Bandon GAA Club flag, the Tricolour and a CD of classical music.

The chief mourners at the requiem mass were Con’s wife, Miriam, mother, Teresa, sister , Margaret and brothers Phil and Dan, who is a doctor in Galway.

The chief concelebrant at the mass was local PP Fr Denis O’Leary and it was presided over by the Bishop of Cork and Ross, Dr John Buckley.

Senior Counsel Tom Creed read out a lengthy and glowing oration to his friend, Con.

He said Con “was always a man of the people” which was why he was a successful politician (having served many years in Bandon Town Council) and as a solicitor always strove to serve the very same people.

He said the judge’s selfless manner made him an ordinary person who could converse with people in all levels of society.

“He wasn’t just Mister GAA in Bandon, he was Mister Bandon,” Mr Creed said.

“Everybody was the same to Con. To meet him was to like him. His transfer from a successful solicitor to the (Circuit Court) bench was completely seamless. He was an excellent judge with excellent judgement and he treated everybody in his court with the utmost courtesy,” the SC added.

The list of other mourners included the “who’s who” of the country’s judiciary. Among them were president of the Circuit Court, Matt Deery and the count’s judges Sean O Donnabháin, James O’Donoghue, Patrick Moran, Olive Buttimer, Carol Moran, Des Hogan and Michael White.

Retired High Court judge Brian McMahon was also in attendance at the Church of St Patrick and the Immaculate Conception in Bandon, along with District Court judges Olann Kelleher, James McNulty, Dave Riordan, Con O’Leary and Cork state solicitors Malachy Boohig, John Brosnan and Barry Galvin, a former head of legal affairs for the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB).

The gardaí were represented by Detective Chief Superintendent Tony Quilter, Chief Superintendent Tom Hayes and Superintendents Eddie MacEoin and Pat Maher.

There were also many from the world of politics, especially from Fianna Fáil, the party of which Judge Con Murphy was a life-longer member.

They included leader Micheal Martin, former agriculture minister Joe Walsh, a number of TDs, county councillors and town councillors.

Patricia Lenihan, widow of the former finance minister Brian Lenihan, who is also a Circuit Court judge, attended the requiem mass and the Labour Party was represented by Deputy Michael McCarthy.

Members of Con Murphy’s family and local GAA club members helped shoulder his coffin from the church to the adjoining cemetery where he was buried.