“The story goes that a wealthy client once invited Paddy MacEntee SC to his home for a late-night consultation the day before a trial. Before getting down to business, the client ­explained that he had opened a ­Chateau Palmer, about €500 a bottle, the night before and offered the barrister a glass from it.
MacEntee sniffed at the proffered glass and then said to his host: “Maybe wine from a freshly-opened bottle would be more appropriate?” And so a new bottle was fetched to accommodate him.

“He was in so much demand as a barrister and so committed to the ­cases he took that clients were prepared to overlook such expensive ­indulgences.

“Patrick MacEntee, who has died at the age of 89, was probably the most feared barrister in the Special Criminal Court and the Four Courts for over two decades, defending a procession of IRA terrorists, murderers, kidnappers, officials facing corruption charges and ordinary decent criminals. He was christened ‘the godfather of Irish criminal law’.”

Read the full obituary here