Patrick James Connolly (25 May 1927 – 7 January 2016) was an
Irish barrister
A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...
who served as
Attorney General of Ireland
The attorney general of Ireland () is a constitutional officer who is the legal adviser to the Government and is therefore the chief law officer of the State. The attorney general is not a member of the Government but does participate in cabine ...
from March 1982 to August 1982.
Early life and career
Connolly was born on 25 May 1927, the elder of the two sons of a headmaster and a teacher in
Fingal
Fingal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is one of three successor counties to County Dublin, which ...
, in Dublin. He was educated at
St Joseph's College,
University College Dublin
University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...
and the
King's Inns
The Honorable Society of King's Inns () is the "Inn of Court" for the Bar of Ireland. Established in 1541, King's Inns is Ireland's oldest school of law and one of Ireland's significant historical environments.
The Benchers of King's Inns aw ...
, after which he was called to the Bar in 1949. His practice, which focused on
personal injury
Personal injury is a legal term for an Injury (law), injury to the body, mind, or emotions, as opposed to an injury to property. In common law, common law jurisdictions the term is most commonly used to refer to a type of tort lawsuit in which the ...
cases, was widely successful. On 9 March 1982,
Charles Haughey
Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who led four governments as Taoiseach: December 1979 to June 1981, March to December 1982, March 1987 to June 1989, and June 1989 to February 1992 ...
named him as
Attorney General of Ireland
The attorney general of Ireland () is a constitutional officer who is the legal adviser to the Government and is therefore the chief law officer of the State. The attorney general is not a member of the Government but does participate in cabine ...
.
MacArthur Scandal
Connolly resigned on 17 August 1982 after
Malcolm MacArthur
The acronym GUBU, standing for grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented, refers to a strange series of incidents in Ireland in the summer of 1982 which culminated in a double-murderer, Malcolm MacArthur, being apprehended in the home ...
, who had been a house-guest of Connolly's, was arrested for murder. MacArthur, the domestic partner of Connolly's friend
Brenda Little, had committed a horrific double murder in the midst of a botched carjacking and robbery in 1982. Though Connolly was not implicated in the murder or in knowingly harbouring the assassin, he was forced to resign at midnight the night of MacArthur's arrest and never again served in government.
Later life and death
Connolly returned to practice at the Irish bar and to work as a
senior counsel in
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
. Connolly died aged 88 on 7 January 2016. Though he never married, he had a very close relationship with his extended family, including his nephew and two nieces who spoke at his
funeral Mass
A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect the ...
. He was buried in
Deansgrange Cemetery
Dean's Grange Cemetery (; also spelled ''Deansgrange'') is situated in the suburban area of Deansgrange in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, County Dublin, Ireland. Since it first opened in 1865, over 150,000 people have been buried there. It is, toge ...
.
References
Attorneys general of Ireland
2016 deaths
Irish barristers
Irish Senior Counsel
People from Dalkey
1927 births
Alumni of King's Inns
People educated at Garbally College
Lawyers from County Dublin
20th-century Irish lawyers
21st-century Irish lawyers
{{Ireland-law-bio-stub