TRIBUTES HAVE been paid to retired District Court judge John Garavan whose funeral took place in Castlebar, Co Mayo, yesterday.
Judge Garavan (77), who died at the weekend after a long illness, served in the Special Criminal Court and also in courts in Galway, Tuam, Headford and the Aran islands until 2003.
He was a grandnephew of James Daly, co-founder of the Land League and a former editor of Castlebar-based newspaper the Connaught Telegraph.
Born in Castlebar in 1933, he was educated at St Gerald’s College in the town and at Blackrock College, Dublin.
He graduated in law and politics from University College Dublin in 1955 and qualified as a solicitor in 1956. He established his practice in Castlebar the following year.
In 1967, he was elected as a Fine Gael member of Castlebar Urban Council, and served as chairman from 1970 to 1971. Principal celebrant at yesterday’s funeral Mass was his lifelong friend, Fr Colm Kilcoyne, a retired priest in the Tuam archdiocese. Judge Garavan is survived by his wife, Ann, sons Mark, Eoin and Hugh, daughter Jeananne, family and friends. Judge Mary Devins, Judge Mary Fahy and retired judges Jarlath Ruane, Bernard Brennan, and Harvey Kenny attended.