Death Notice

Tributes have been paid to esteemed barrister Ivor McAteer KC who passed away suddenly on Monday. Mr McAteer called to the Bar of Northern Ireland in 1990 and took silk in 2020. He was also qualified south of the border, calling to the Bar of Ireland in 1999.

Well-known criminal law solicitor Robert Purcell has passed away. Mr Purcell, originally from Co Galway, was a partner at M.E. Hanahoe Solicitors and a familiar face in the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin.

Belfast solicitor Colette Diamond has passed away. Ms Diamond qualified as a solicitor in Northern Ireland in 1982 and worked in Francis Keenan Solicitors.

Omagh solicitor Joe McGarrity has passed away at the age of 57 after suffering a heart attack while driving. Mr McGarrity qualified as a solicitor in Northern Ireland in May 1996 and previously worked in Omagh firm McGale Kelly Solicitors.

Well-known Naas solicitor Tony Hanahoe, who retired from practice last year, has passed away. Mr Hanahoe co-founded Hanahoe & Hanahoe Solicitors with his wife Berna in 1979 and served as its managing partner until 2017, handing the reins to his son Luke.

Former chief justice John Murray has passed away at the age of 79. Mr Justice Murray twice served as attorney general in the 1980s and spent a combined total of 24 years on the benches of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the Supreme Court.

Retired Belfast solicitor James Wilson Russell has passed away at the age of 100. Mr Russell, known to many as Jay, qualified as a solicitor in 1944 after an apprenticeship with TG Mackintosh of Newtownards.

Solicitor Vicky McCarthy Keane, who publicly spoke and wrote about her battle with motor neurone disease (MND), has passed away. Mrs Keane died on Wednesday 28 December 2022 and her funeral took place on Monday at St Joseph's Church in Rathwire, Co Westmeath.

Retired Co Antrim solicitor Patrick Diamond has passed away. Mr Diamond was admitted to the roll in 1988, and practised in Randalstown-based Patrick Diamond & Co before retiring in 2009.

Retired Portadown solicitor Paul Connolly has passed away. Mr Connolly was admitted to the roll of solicitors in Northern Ireland in 1981. He set up as a sole practitioner in Portadown in 1994 before retiring in 2010.

Sir John MacDermott, a retired Lord Justice of Appeal in Northern Ireland, has passed away at the age of 95. A graduate of the University of Cambridge and Queen's University Belfast, Sir John was simultaneously called to the bar in England and Wales and in Northern Ireland in 1949. He became a QC in

Barrister Alan Toal has died at the age of 60. While he was believed to be under threat from a violent criminal, gardaí are not treating his death as suspicious.

Retired Belfast solicitor Kevin Eugene Hart, founding partner of Hart & Co Solicitors, has passed away at the age of 92. Hart & Co Solicitors was founded in 1970 and is a now a well-established firm offering services in the areas of conveyancing, commercial property, litigation, liquor and g

Retired Belfast solicitor Louise Craig, a former partner at McKinty and Wright, has passed away. Mrs Craig, née Taylor, was admitted to the roll of solicitors in Northern Ireland in 1992 and was an apprentice, solicitor, and partner in McKinty and Wright, which was acquired by DWF in 2021.

Patricia Kerr, a solicitor and well-known legal costs consultant in Belfast, has passed away. The Law Society of Northern Ireland said Mrs Kerr died on Sunday 11 September 2022.