Patrick Connolly

Patrick James Connolly (25 May 1927 – 7 January 2016)^[1] was an Irish barrister who served as Attorney General of Ireland from March 1982 to August 1982.^[2]

Early life and career

Connolly was born on 25 May 1927, the elder of the two sons of a headmaster and a teacher in Fingal, in Dublin. He was educated at St Joseph's College and then attended University College Dublin and the Honorable Society of King's Inns, after which he was called to the Bar in 1949. His practice, which focused on personal injury cases, was widely successful. In 1982, then-taoiseach Charles Haughey appointed him Attorney General of Ireland.

MacArthur Scandal

Connolly resigned after Malcolm MacArthur, who had been a house-guest of Connolly's, was arrested for murder (see GUBU).^[3][4] MacArthur, the domestic partner of Connolly's friend Brenda Little, had committed a horrific double murder in the midst of a botched carjacking and robbery in 1982. Though Connolly was not implicated in the murder or in knowingly harboring the assassin, he was forced to resign at midnight the night of MacArthur's arrest and never again served in government.

Later life and death

Connolly returned to practice at the Irish bar and to work as a senior counsel in Dublin. A life-long bachelor, Connolly died aged 88 on January 7, 2016. Though he never married, he had a very close relationship with his extended family, including his nephew and two nieces who spoke at his funeral Mass. He was buried in Deansgrange Cemetery.^[5]

References