THE OLDEST PRACTISING lawyer in Ireland has died at the age of 100.

Maurice Gaffney, who was born on 11 October 1916, died last night. He had worked as a barrister for 62 years, after becoming a lawyer at the age of 38.

He had continued to work right up to shortly before his death.

The Bar of Ireland, the representative body for barristers, paid tribute to Gaffney for his work as a lawyer and for being a “wonderful colleague and a natural gentleman”.

“Maurice was a brilliant constitutional and criminal lawyer who had many successes in important cases in the High and Supreme Courts in his 62 years of practice,” said Paul McGarry, the chairman of the Council of the Bar of Ireland.

“His drive for excellence and determination, his can-do spirit and his commitment to the Bar will inspire and stay with us always.”

Gaffney was known as the Father of the Bar because of his status as the oldest lawyer in the country.

He was born in Meath but moved to Dublin in 1917, first to Stoneybatter, then to Gardiner Street and then to Finglas.

Before training as a lawyer, he worked as a teacher. He was called to the bar in 1954, when there were around 250 barristers in Ireland. Today there are more than 2,000.

In an interview with the Irish Times earlier this year, Gaffney said that his job had sustained him throughout his life.

“I enjoy it and would be lost without it,” he told journalist Colm Keena. “I know I will have to give it up some day but as long as I can do it… It keeps me alive.”

He is survived by his wife Leonie and their family.

“Maurice was universally loved as well as being universally admired,” said Paul McGarry. “He was unfailingly kind to junior colleagues in the Law Library and was always available with advice and the benefit of his wisdom.”

“We will miss him greatly.”

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