Shock at Tipp judge's death

News of the death last week of Judge Marie Quirke at the age of 60 came as a great shock to many.

Addressing Tipperary District Court sitting in Nenagh last Wednesday, Judge Marie Keane spoke of how her colleague had died the previous day. "The bench has been totally rocked by what has happened," Judge Keane said of the untimely passing.

She told those present that Judge Quirke had sat in Nenagh as district court judge a number of times in 2020. The deceased was a close friend of the late Judge Elizabeth MacGrath of Nenagh, whom she had replaced as President of the District Judges Association.

Judge Keane noted that her colleague had died just six months on from the passing of Judge MacGrath. She said she had received a call the previous evening from Judge MacGrath's husband, Charles Stanley Smith, who was also shocked to learn of the passing of Judge Quirke. She had been very supportive of Charles and his family at the time of Elizabeth's passing.

Judge Quirke was appointed to the bench in 2012 - the same year that Judge MacGrath became district court judge in her hometown of Nenagh. A native of Cappawhite, she spent most of her career in Dublin, working initially in the areas of family, childcare and criminal law before being given responsibility for licensing across the Dublin metropolitan area.

Judge Keane, whose first met the deceased while she was working in Dublin, recalled Judge Quirke dealing with a number of interesting and unusual cases licensing cases involving proprietors in the Temple Bar area. Judge Keane joined in the many tributes that had been made in the aftermath of Judge Quirke's death, describing her as "a person of great wit and sense of humour, and very generous with her knowledge... she will be a huge loss to the bench."

Among those joining in tribute in court last week was Sergeant Cathal Godfrey, who expressed condolences to the deceased's family on behalf of An Garda Síochána based in Nenagh. Sgt Godfrey was also shocked to learn of Judge Quirke's passing, recalling her sitting in Nenagh when courts were started to resume after the Covid-19 pandemic.