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GAZETTE
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 1996
Conor Coakley -
an Appreciation
Conor Coakley
who died on 14 June
1 9 96 at the a ge of 39 w a s e d u c a t ed at
St. M i c h a e l 's C o l l e g e, B l a c k r o ck
C o l l e g e, a nd Un i v e r s i ty C o l l e g e, Du b l in
w h e r e h e g r a d u a t ed w i th a B a c h e l or of
A r ts D e g r e e.
He was apprenticed to
Eamonn Greene,
a nd e n r o l l ed as a solicitor in the
M i c h a e l m as T e r m of 1982, t h e r e a f t er
w o r k i ng f or short p e r i o ds with L e n n on
H e a t h er & C o m p a n y, Solicitors a nd
M i c h a el A. O ' B r i e n, Solicitor b e f o re
t a k i ng u p an a p p o i n t m e nt with B r i an
M c L o u g h l in & C o m p a n y, Ba r y, C o u n ty
W i c k l ow w h e re he s u b s e q u e n t ly
b e c a me a P a r t n er in 1988.
In M a y 1994 he w a s d i a g n o s ed as
h a v i ng M o t o r N e u r o ne D i s e a se a nd
d e s p i te the rapid o n s et of the d i s e a se he
c o n t i n u ed to w o r k in the o f f i ce u p to
C h r i s t m as 1995 a nd t h e r e a f t e r, u p to the
t i me of his d e a t h, m a i n t a i n ed a n active
interest in the d ay to d ay w o r k i n gs of
the firm.
Conor Coakley
C o n o r w a s me t i c u l o us a nd well
o r g a n i s e d. He e s t a b l i s h ed h i ms e lf as a
first class c o n v e y a n c er a nd w a s h e ld in
high e s t e em by his c o l l e a g u e s. H e
a l w a ys e x p e c t ed p e r f e c t i on of h i m s e lf
but w a s very u n d e r s t a n d i ng of the
i mp e r f e c t i o ns of others. H e w a s a shy,
r e s e r v ed p e r s on w i th a w ry s e n se of
h u m o u r b ut w a s not a f r a id to s p e ak his
m i n d e v en if the listener w o u ld h a ve
p r e f e r r ed to h a ve h e a rd o t h e r w i s e. H e
w a s a p e r s on of h i gh integrity a nd an
a d v o c a te of h i gh s t a n d a r ds in the
p r o f e s s i o n, w h i ch said s t a n d a r ds he felt
h ad sadly d r o p p ed with the i n t r o d u c t i on
of a d v e r t i s i n g.
H e b o re his illness w i th great c o u r a ge
a nd spirit, attributes he d i s p l a y ed d u r i ng
a r u g by c a r e er s p a n n i ng 15 y e a rs w i th
U C D a nd B l a c k r o ck C o l l e ge R F C ,
c a p t a i n i ng the latter with great
distinction.
H e will be sadly m i s s ed by all, m o r e
particularly his w i f e, J u dy á nd c h i l d r en
S t e p h e n, Ch r i s t i ne a nd N i c o la w h o w e re
the m o st i mp o r t a nt p e o p le in his all-too-
short life.
BMcL
•
Charity Film Premiere for Motor Neurone Disease
Association
" L a st of the H i gh K i n g s" is a film
based on a novel by
Ferdia MacAnna
and directed by
David Keating
w h o c o - w r o te the script with
Gabriel Byrne.
G a b r i el B y r n e a l so stars in the film
along with
Catherine O'Hara, Stephen
Rea, Colm Meaney
and many other
a c t o rs a n d stars.
T h e w o r ld p r e m i e re of " L a st of the
H i gh K i n g s" will t a ke p l a ce p r o b a b ly
on T h u r s d a y, 17th O c t o b er 1996 (at the
t i me of g o i ng to p r e ss this d a te is a l mo st
b ut not q u i te c e r t a i n) at 8 p m in the
V i r g in C i n e ma C o m p l e x in Du b l i n. It
will be f o l l o w ed by a r e c e p t i on in the
Parnell R o o m , R o y al D u b l in Hotel.
D r i n k s, b u f f et s u p p er a nd e n t e r t a i nm e nt
will be p r o v i d e d.
T i c k et prices are £ 4 0 p er p e r s o n. A s the
film is set in the 1970s, 1970s d r e ss m a y
b e w o r n, a l t h o u gh this is not n e c e s s a r y.
P a r k i ng facilities will be a v a i l a b le in the
Virgin C i n e ma c ar park. It is e x p e c t ed
that mo st of the stars of the film will
attend the p r em i e r e.
In the light of the sad d e a th of o ur
friend and colleague,
Conor
Coakley,
f r o m m o t or n e u r o ne disease, it w o u ld
clearly be a p p r o p r i a t e, as invited by
C o n o r ' s w i d ow J u d y, f or solicitors to
s u p p o rt this film p r em i e r e. All the
p r o c e e ds will g o to the Irish M o t or
N e u r o ne D i s e a se A s s o c i a t i o n. T h e
A s s o c i a t i on r e c e i v es n o statutory
f u n d i ng a n d the p r o c e e ds f r o m this
charity e v e nt will b e a p p l i ed to
g i v i ng m o t or n e u r o ne d i s e a se p a t i e n ts
a better q u a l i ty of life a nd m o r e
i n d e p e n d e n ce in their s t r u g g le a g a i n st
this d e v a s t a t i ng d i s e a s e.
B o o k i n gs m a y be m a d e by t e l e p h o n i ng
Sinead McGovern
of the Association at
8 7 3 0 4 22 (or f r e e f o ne 1800 4 0 3 4 0 3) or
by w r i t i ng to the A s s o c i a t i on at
C a r m i c h a el H o u s e, N o r th B r u n s w i ck
Street, D u b l in 7.
Ken Murphy
•
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