Pioneering photographer Pat Maxwell - who had strong links to The Irish Times - died in hospital on Tuesday after a long illness.
He was 84, and is survived by his wife Marie, daughters Anne, Yvonne and Susan and sons Mark and Tony.
His agency, Maxwell Photography, was the first to have a wire service. This facilitated the dissemination of news pictures to newspapers all over the world. During the 1980s, he was the first photographer to buy a digital camera. It cost £28,000.
Maxwell started his working career in The Irish Times advertising department during the 60s before applying for a staff photographer's job and taking a cut in his salary to accept it. He met his wife Marie in the newspaper as she was the secretary to the general manager at the time.
He left the newspaper to set up Maxwell Photography. Marie continues to work there. During a career that spanned half a century, he got a world exclusive of the Beatles when they came to Dublin, and took the last picture of Earl Mountbatten on his fishing boat before the IRA detonated the bomb on board that killed him.