The prominent late judge, buried yesterday, sat on the bench between 1971-90 and subsequently became a part-time member of Ireland’s Law Reform Commission.

In his career as a defence lawyer, he acted for the last man to receive the death penalty before capital punishment was abolished in Northern Ireland. As a judge, he presided over infamous paramilitary cases, including the trial of the so-called Shankill Butchers.

Two of his children, Donal and Turlough, followed him into the legal profession. Donal O’Donnell became the second and youngest person in Ireland to be promoted from the Bar to the Supreme Court. Turlough O’Donnell SC is ex-chair of the Bar Council of Ireland.