Death Notice

Retired lawyer and judge John P. Shearer has passed away, the Law Society of Northern Ireland has said. Mr Shearer, originally from Glasgow, was admitted to the roll of solicitors in Northern Ireland in 1954.

Retired Coleraine solicitor John Lawson Baxter has passed away, the Law Society of Northern Ireland has announced. Mr Baxter, who was admitted to the roll of solicitors in November 1964, passed away on Saturday.

Retired lawyer Catherine Rossmann Archbold, née McHale, has passed away suddenly. Ms Archbold, a legal executive, joined Co Kildare firm Coughlan White & Partners in the late 1980s and became head of its debt collection and licensing department.

Retired solicitor Roisin Doris (née McGrath) has passed away, the Law Society of Northern Ireland has confirmed. Ms Doris was a former principal in private practice (PPP) with E&L Kennedy Solicitors in Belfast city centre.

Retired Bangor solicitor Cynthia Baxter, also known as Cynthia Hopkirk, has passed away at the age of 84. Ms Baxter was admitted to the roll of solicitors in 1975 and was a partner in the Bangor office of Wilson Nesbitt until her retirement in 1992.

Barrister, commentator and law lecturer Paul Anthony McDermott SC has passed away at the age of 47, the Law Library has said. Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan led tributes on Twitter, writing that he was "deeply saddened" by the loss of "a very talented barrister, popular lecturer and entertaining

Retired Belfast solicitor Robert Watts has passed away at the age of 96. Mr Watts joined C&J Black Solicitors in the 1940s after serving in World War II, eventually becoming a senior partner.

Prominent human rights lawyer Patrick Fahy has passed away at the age of 75. Mr Fahy, who founded Patrick Fahy & Co Solicitors in 1970, acted for the families of Troubles victims in a series of high-profile cases.

Tributes have been paid to the late barrister Philip Mooney QC, who passed away on Friday and was buried yesterday. Mr Mooney was called to the Bar of Northern Ireland in 1965, having studied at Trinity College Dublin. He took silk in 1983.

Mr Justice Richard Johnson, former president of the High Court, has passed away at the age of 81. The late judge qualified as a barrister at the King's Inns in 1960 and was called to the Inner Bar in 1977, prior to his appointment to the High Court bench in 1987.

Professor Robert Elgie, lecturer in the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University (DCU), has passed away at the age of 54. The university announced his passing on Twitter yesterday evening.

Writer and barrister Noel Whelan, a prominent figure in the campaign for marriage equality, has passed away at the age of 50. Mr Whelan called to the Bar in 1998 and to the Inner Bar in 2018, practising in Dublin, Wexford and Waterford.

Sir Anthony Hart, the retired High Court judge who chaired the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry, has passed away. His 2017 report on abuse at 22 residential homes for children between 1922–95 recommended a redress scheme for abuse survivors, which has still yet to be implemented.

Northern Ireland solicitor William Rogers, a former senior partner in Carson McDowell, has passed away. Mr Rogers was admitted to the roll of solicitors in 1960 and once played a leading role in what is now Northern Ireland's largest independent law firm.

Northern Ireland solicitor Olivia McKeown has passed away, the Law Society of Northern Ireland has said. Ms McKeown was admitted to the roll of solicitors in September 1979 and passed away in late March.