SENIOR MEMBERS of the judiciary and representatives of the President and the Taoiseach joined the family of former judge of the Supreme Court, Mr Justice Séamus Henchy, as his remains were removed to St Patrick’s Church in Monkstown, Dublin yesterday. Mr Justice Henchy died in the early hours of Sunday morning, aged 91.
Mourners were led by his wife,Averil, his sister-in-law, nieces and nephews and their children.
The Chief Justice, Mr Justice John Murray, the president of the High Court, Mr Justice Richard Johnson, Supreme Court judges Mr Justice Hugh Geoghegan, Mr Justice Nial Fennelly and Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman, retired Supreme Court judge and president of the Law Reform Commission Mrs Justice Catherine McGuinness, High Court judges Ms Justice Mary Finlay Geoghegan, Mr Justice Roderick Murphy, Mr Justice Vivian Lavan and the Attorney General, Paul Gallagher SC, were among the mourners.
The President was represented by her aide-de-camp, Capt Niamh O’Mahony, and the Taoiseach by his aide-de-camp, Comdt Michael Treacy.
The parish priest, Fr Martin Clarke, recalled that he had been a solicitor’s apprentice in the 1960s when Mr Justice Henchy was a highly respected judge of the High Court. “When I came here four decades later I was delighted to find him and Averil [Mrs Henchy] among the congregation,” he said.
“He was a man of strong faith and deeply rooted kindness, an absolute gentleman to his finger-tips and for someone who had achieved so much, always so friendly and self-effacing,” he said.
He then handed over to Fr Cearbhaill Mulvihill, Mr Justice Henchy’s nephew and a parish priest in London, who had flown in to conduct the funeral service today.
Fr Mulvihill said that in recent times Ireland, including the church, seemed to have lost its way, and the contribution of Mr Justice Henchy, who did not lose his way, could now be held up as an example. He said he took the law very seriously and law was of great importance to any civilised society.
The funeral Mass takes place today at 10am, followed by burial in Shanganagh Cemetery.