Geoghegan, Hugh, 1938-2024, former Jesuit novice
- IE IJA ADMN/20/81
- Person
- 16 May 1938-07 July 2024
Born: 16 May 1938, Carne Lodge, Cowper Gardens, Rathmines, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1956, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Died: 07 July 2024, Cherryfield Lodge, Milltown Park, Dublin
Left Society of Jesus: 25 June 1958
Father was a Supreme Court Judge and died in 1951.
Older of two boys.
Educated at a Convent school in Bray for three years, and then a further three at Willow Park, Blackrock, he then went to Clongowes Wood College Sj for six years.
https://rip.ie/death-notice/hugh-geoghegan-dublin-561762
The death has occurred of
Hugh GEOGHEGAN
Dublin
Peacefully. Beloved and loving husband of Mary, father of Caren, Sarah and James. Much loved also by his brother Ross, sons-in-law Kris and Bobby, daughter-in law Claire, his grandchildren Mary, Jane, Hugh, Eva, Harry, Laoise, Lila, Moya and Beth, sisters-in-law Suzanne, Joan, Ruth, Caroline and Geraldine, and brothers-in-law Tom, John and Liam, cousins, nephews, nieces, relatives and many friends.
Removal on Wednesday morning (July 10) to the Church of the Holy Name, Beechwood Avenue arriving for Funeral mass at 10.00 o’c followed by burial at Glasnevin Cemetery.Family flowers only.
Date Published:
Monday 8th July 2024
Date of Death:
Sunday 7th July 2024
Retired Supreme Court judge Mr Justice Hugh Geoghegan has died at the age of 86.
Mr Justice Geoghegan came from a family steeped in law. His father, James, was also a Supreme Court judge and in 1981 Mr Justice Geoghegan himself married another retired Supreme Court judge, Ms Justice Mary Finlay Geoghegan, also from a well-known legal family.
Mr Justice Geoghegan received his education at Clongowes Wood College, University College Dublin and the King’s Inns.
He was called to the Bar in 1962 and became a senior counsel in 1977, practising in Dublin and the Midland Circuit. He appeared as counsel before the tribunal into the Stardust fire disaster and chaired a commission that recommended the formation of the Labour Relations Commission.
He was appointed a judge of the High Court in 1992 and became a judge of the Supreme Court eight years later.
In an address to the International Prison Chaplains Conference in 2003, Mr Justice Geoghegan criticised media accusations of alleged “soft” sentencing of criminals and comparisons with the treatment of victims.
t was “an absurd idea that because a judge or other powers-that-be demonstrate concern for the rehabilitation of a criminal, they are thereby showing lack of respect or lack of concern for the victim”, he said.
The constant media contrasting of the two was the “most damaging and dangerous of all the errors that are made in an ill-thought-out public perception of the criminal system”, he said.
He said “victim impact and the distress caused to a victim are important factors in sentencing” but the potential of rehabilitating the offender so as to prevent future crimes was “equally important”.
“The one clear message that should be got across is that rehabilitation is always to the benefit of the public even more than it is to the benefit of the prisoner,” he said.
When he retired from the Supreme Court bench in 2010, senior counsel Michael Collins, the then chairman of the Bar Council, said “kindness” was the one word that summed up Mr Justice Geoghegan’s judicial and personal qualities. His judgments were infused with a deep sense of humanity and compassion, he said.
Mr Justice Geoghegan, who died on Sunday, is survived by his wife and three children – Fine Gael Councillor and Dublin Lord Mayor James Geoghegan; senior counsel Caren Geoghegan; and Sarah Geoghegan, a paediatrician.
https://www.lawsociety.ie/gazette/top-stories/2024/july/death-of-retired-supreme-court-judge
etired Supreme Court judge Mr Justice Hugh Geoghegan died yesterday (7 July) aged 86.
He died yesterday and is survived by his wife, retired Supreme Court judge Mrs Justice Mary Finlay Geoghegan, and three children, Caren, Sarah and James, who is a Fine Gael Dublin City councillor.
Inner Bar
The deceased was called to the Bar in 1962 and to the Inner Bar in 1977, becming a High Court judge in 1992.
In 2000 he was appointed to the Supreme Court.
His removal will take place on Wednesday morning (July 10) to the Church of the Holy Name, Beechwood Avenue, Ranelagh, Dublin 6, for funeral Mass at 10 am. The funeral will be followed by burial at Glasnevin Cemetery.
'Learned and kind'
Justice minister Helen McEntee said: “It is with deep sadness that I learned of the passing of retired Supreme Court judge Mr Justice Hugh Geoghegan.
“I want to extend my heartfelt sympathy to his wife, Judge Mary Finlay Geoghegan, to their family, Caren, Sarah and James, extended family and loved ones.
“Hugh Geoghegan was a very learned, kind and gentle man who served the State with huge distinction from his appointment to the High Court in 1992, going on to serve on the Supreme Court bench in 2000 until his retirement in 2010.
“I know he will be sadly missed by all who had the privilege of knowing him.
Suaimhneas síoraí dá anam dílis.”
Statement by Minister for Justice Helen McEntee, TD on death of retired judge Hugh Geoghegan
From Department of Justice
Published on 9 July 2024
Last updated on 9 July 2024
“It is with deep sadness that I learned of the passing of retired Supreme Court judge the Hon Mr Justice Hugh Geoghegan.
"I want to extend my heartfelt sympathy to his wife, Judge Mary Finlay Geoghegan, to their family, Caren, Sarah, and James, extended family and loved ones.
"Hugh Geoghegan was a very learned, kind and gentle man who served the State with huge distinction from his appointment to the High Court in 1992, going on to serve on the Supreme Court bench in 2000 until his retirement in 2010.
"I know he will be sadly missed by all who had the privilege of knowing him.
"Suaimhneas síoraí dá anam dílis.”
Retired Supreme Court judge Hugh Geoghegan remembered at funeral Mass as man ‘of boundless curiosity’
Congregation hears that judge’s ‘only regret in life’ was not having met his wife sooner
A retired Supreme Court judge, Hugh Geoghegan, was remembered as a loving husband and father, a loyal friend, and a man of “boundless curiosity” at his funeral Mass on Wednesday.
He died last Sunday aged 86.
At his 60th birthday celebration, her father said his only regret in life was that he had not met Mary, his wife of 43 years, sooner, senior counsel Caren Geoghegan said.
Her Dad was an “amazing father” who invented many stories and games for his three young children but, “rather than I spy, we were quizzed about the capital cities of the most obscure countries”.
No subject was off limits at family dinners and she recalled her father saying to her mother: “Mary, I will not be censored,” Ms Geoghegan said.
James Geoghegan, Fine Gael councillor and Dublin lord mayor, said the family were overwhelmed by the many tributes to his father emphasising his compassion and kindness.
His father was a man of “boundless curiosity” who was “obsessive” about current affairs. He recalled being in a car with a radio antennae stuck outside the window as his father tried to find out if the Belfast Agreement had been signed.
Above all, his father “absolutely adored Mum and loved his family”, he said. “Dad, in the fullest of health, was a permanent source of amusement and fun, he made us laugh so much, he adored conversation and controversy.”
Both siblings were speaking at a Mass of thanksgiving in Dublin for the judge. .
The chief celebrant was Fr Michael Sheil SJ, a lifelong friend of the late judge since they met as students of Clongowes Wood College.
His friend’s judgments had been described as “infused with humanity and compassion” which summed him up very well, Fr Sheil said. “He brought so much gentle happiness and laughter into people’s lives.”
The chief mourners were the judge’s wife Mary Finlay Geoghegan, also a retired Supreme Court judge, son James, daughters Caren and Sarah, brother Ross, and extended family including nine grandchildren.
President Michael D Higgins and Taoiseach Simon Harris were represented by their aides de camp.
Attorney General Rossa Fanning was among the packed congregation as were many serving and retired judges of the superior courts, including Chief Justice Donal O’Donnell, Court of Appeal president George Birmingham and High Court president David Barniville.
Former chief justice Susan Denham and former High Court presidents Mary Irvine and Peter Kelly, many barristers and solicitors, and Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik also attended.
A native of Dublin, Hugh Geoghegan was called to the Bar in 1962 and became a senior counsel in 1977, practising in Dublin and the midlands circuit. He was appointed a judge of the High Court in 1992 and a judge of the Supreme Court eight years later.