Legal journalist who has passed away worked in Tipperary for many years

The death of legal journalist Aodhán Ó Faoláin, who reported on High Court, Appeal Court and Supreme Court cases for almost all national news organisations, has been widely mourned, including in Clonmel, where he worked with The Nationalist newspaper some years ago.

50-year-old Aodhán, from Dublin and Summerhill, Athlone, Co Roscommon, passed away on Friday May 9 in the care of all the staff at St Vincent’s Private Hospital after a year-long battle with cancer.

He was a valued colleague at The Nationalist, where he worked from 1997 to 2003, covering news and sport.
He was highly respected by his workmates and all who he came in contact with for the quality of his journalism and his endearing personality.

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During his time in Clonmel he lived in Lime Court.

When he left The Nationalist he spent almost two years in Japan teaching English in one of the top secondary schools in the country.

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He had a keen interest in photography and was an avid follower of most sports, closely following the fortunes of the hurling and Gaelic football teams in his native Galway, as well as Connacht rugby, Athlone Town FC and Everton FC.

As a reporter for court reporting agency Ireland International for two decades, he filed copy for all national media organisations, including RTÉ News.

He specialised in cases in the Chancery Court and covered many high-profile disputes and injunction applications, as well as cases in the High Court’s bankruptcy list.

The tributes to Aodhán Ó Faoláin were led by Attorney General Rossa Fanning.

Mr Fanning described Aodhán as “a scrupulously fair court journalist who documented the ebb and flow of Ireland’s economy from the journalist’s bench in the High Court’s Chancery list”.

Mr Fanning said he would be remembered for his professionalism and integrity and would be sadly missed by the generation of judges and barristers whose work he chronicled.

His funeral service took place at Mount Jerome Crematorium, Victorian Chapel, in Harold’s Cross, Dublin, followed by cremation.

Aodhán is survived by his wife Janet, parents Mícheál and Maura, brothers Eoin and Ronan, nieces and nephews Erin, Alice, Charlotte, Tadgh, Cleo and Sam, sisters-in-law, brother-in-law and extended families, to whom sincere sympathy is extended.