The sudden nature of Diarmuid's death was a great shock to his family and friends and we are still struggling to come to terms with the passing of this most amiable and popular of men. The blow was all the greater given that over the past dozen years we had become inured to the many near-death experiences associated with DB's medical condition. As we noted with wonder, he rebounded every time, showing an even greater determination to enjoy life to the full.
DB would not have wanted those he left behind to be too sad, or at least not for too long. He would have wanted them to celebrate with him a life well lived and elegantly concluded. He died with those he loved around him, swiftly and without pain. The previous night he had attended the annual dinner of the Bar Golfing Society, in whose activities he had rejoiced in every capacity over many years. He had just returned from a holiday in the sun with his beloved Sara and was relishing his return to work on the bench. He was on top of his game and was thus spared any lengthy period of disability or the chore of deciding what to do when his retirement came up in July (the only issue which induced a sense of despondency in him).
If he had to go - and we wish he had been spared to us longer - there is some solace for us in these thoughts. He would certainly have been very (no, hugely) pleased with the record numbers who attended his obsequies but even more pleased with the wonderful eulogy delivered at the funeral Mass by his son David.
Diarmuid was educated at St Mary's College, Rathmines and was, as one would expect of any pupil of St Mary's, a keen sportsman who, given his height, was a natural rugby player, although he also liked cricket. On leaving school he played rugby for the senior club and was deprived only by injury in the semi-final from playing in the St Mary's side captained by Joe Fanagan which won the Leinster Senior Cup final in 1958. He was a member of Grange Golf Club, its captain in 1979 and vice-president in 2005. He would have become president in 2006 but felt constrained to decline that honour because of the uncertain state of his health.
Diarmuid attended UCD and King's Inns and was called to the Bar in 1959. He became one of the hardest working members of the Midland Circuit and made his mark there in competition with some of the brightest and most formidable legal titans of the time. My recollection of my devilling year with DB in 1969 relates more to Diarmuid's driving to and from circuit destinations, when his elbows always seemed to be in contact with the roof of the car and every garage stop required a careful annotation of the car mileage in a special notebook maintained for that purpose. Quite how he combined his very full enjoyment of the social aspects of circuit life with the immaculate preparation of his cases for the following day (in copious notes underwritten in blue, red and green) remains a mystery.
These Herculean endeavours continued when, as a senior counsel, he went on circuit to Galway, Sligo and Dundalk, and also after his appointment to the High Court in 1996. Just before his death Diarmuid was engaged in a long-running medical negligence case. A gap in the hearing occurred when, for a few days, witnesses were unavailable. In circumstances where many a judge would gratefully have welcomed the break to catch up on other work, Diarmuid immediately sent for another case so that no additional burden would fall on any colleague. In other tributes to Diarmuid, reference has been made to specific cases in which he excelled, both as a barrister and as a judge, so perhaps here one may simply acknowledge instead the great service he gave to the State by his contribution in difficult times and in difficult cases to the Special Criminal Court.
For 39 years Diarmuid was married to Ann, herself a remarkable and gifted woman, and they had three boys: Derry, now a busy senior counsel, Donough and David, both of whom have gone on to successful medical careers. Sadly, Ann died in 2001.
A somewhat lonely future beckoned for Diarmuid at that time and I recall some days when his customary good spirits were noticeably flagging. However, a miracle was to occur when some years later he developed a friendship with a leading senior counsel, Sara Moorhead, which ultimately resulted in their marriage in Rome and ushered in a period of great happiness for them both. Diarmuid's pride and joy in Sara most definitely calls into question the adequacy of the Oxford Dictionary definition of the word "uxorious". Their time together was not to be that long, but the quality of those years and the happiness Sara brought to Diarmuid may provide some consolation for her in this difficult time of loss. We all sympathise deeply with her, his sons, his daughters-in-law, and the wider O'Donovan family.
Diarmuid was very human and brought great optimism to bear on life. He never complained or grumbled about his many medical setbacks but instead enjoyed what health he had. He valued companionship and friendship and received it back in abundance. He was enormously proud of his family and his grandchildren. He loved to socialise. We will miss those tell-tale utterances of his, such as "Tell me this and tell me no more", his valediction on leaving a party that "flights of angels sing thee to thy rest"; even his regular "ahems" from the body of the congregation or audience during any lengthy service or performance could convey a sometimes pointed resonance.
His colourful invocation of "Judas" in moments of frustration (usually when a short putt struck with his broom-handle putter slipped past the hole) will be remembered, as will his equally colourful range of socks for golfing and indeed all other occasions.
It is these little things which catch us out now in recollection and touch our emotions. Sara and his family will know this all too well, but among his wider circle of friends I suspect I am far from alone in feeling quite broken-hearted at his passing.
NJK