IRELAND'S oldest practising barrister has died aged 100.
Maurice Gaffney, who colleagues referred to as 'father of the Bar', turned 100 last month and was still in practice in the Republic's Law Library.
He had been due to address the Supreme Court in relation to a case on his birthday, October 11, but was unable to because of illness.
Mr Gaffney was born in Co Meath but moved with his family to Dublin the year after the Easter Rising.
He was called to the Bar in 1954 and had been a practising member of the Law Library since then.
Before being called to the Bar, Mr Gaffney had been a teacher.
Paul McGarry, chairman of the Bar Council, said Mr Gaffney was a brilliant constitutional and criminal lawyer who had many successes in his 62 years of practice.
He said he was a wonderful colleague and natural gentleman, and expressed the Bar of Ireland's sympathies to Mr Gaffney's wife Leonie and their family.
