Swinford born judge honoured to sit in Mayo before his retirement

A Mayo born judge said he was truly honoured to be given the opportunity to sit on the bench in his home county before taking up his retirement.

Swinford-native and circuit court judge John O'Connor was given the honour of sitting in Castlebar Circuit Court dealing with family law cases this week.

Judge O'Connor was welcomed to Castlebar by members of the Mayo judiciary as well as fellow circuit court judge Eoin Garavan, district court judge Vincent Deane and County Registrar, Dr Ann Marie Courell.

Judge O'Connor qualified as a solicitor in 1980 and moved to Dublin in the late 1980s where he established a leading legal practice. He became a district court judge in 2012 sitting primarily in the children's court and was promoted to the circuit court in 2019.

Judge Garavan said he was delighted and honoured to welcome his colleague to Mayo and described him along with Judge Geoffrey Shannon as Ireland's expert in juvenile law.

“John has brought his humanity to bear with a very sharp intellectual focus,” he said. “Coupled with his Phd which was focused on the role of welfare and sentencing in a juvenile's future, he is essentially the Irish expert in that area.”

Judge O'Connor comes from a well established legal family with his grandfather Patrick O'Connor founding the family law practice in Swinford in 1900. His father Val was also a solicitor while his uncle John Willie O'Connor was a circuit court judge and his siblings also joined the judiciary.

District court Vincent Deane praised Judge O'Connor's legacy in the children's court in Dublin saying that his papers and teaching on juvenile justice were a guide for all district court judges.

“His work in the field of youth justice was distinguished not only by legal excellence but also by an uncommon understanding of the profound responsibility the court has towards young people whose lives have been brought into contact by the criminal justice system.

“He understood that every young person appearing before the court represented both an offence which required accountability and a life that contained the potential for positive change. His approach combined firmness with fairness and ensured the interest of victims were respected while never losing sight of the potential of every boy and girl that appeared before him.

“John left not just a legacy of justice for those who appeared before him but also a huge level of knowledge he shared through papers and training. Those papers are now the foundation for district judges in developing their knowledge of juvenile justice,” he said.

Dr Courell described Judge O'Connor as a gentleman 'on and off the bench' and said she was delighted he was sitting in Mayo before his retirement. She added that as judge he ensured that the voice of people who appear before him are always listened to and the dignity of all court users were respected.

Judge O'Connor thanked all the speakers for their kind words and that he was truly honoured to be given the opportunity to sit in Mayo.

He explained that last year he asked the President of the Circuit Court to consider allowing him to sit in Mayo before he retired.

“It has been a year in the waiting,” he noted. “It is not true that it was connected to Sam Maguire but I have been to eleven All-Ireland finals and I was very glad to be there this year and for me coming to Mayo is very much coming home and it is special to me,” he said.