Anton McNulty
“A GREAT community man” was how the Mayor of Castlebar, Cllr Ger Deere described the former judge, John Garavan, who died over the weekend at the age of 78 years.
A native of Castlebar, John Garavan was a member of a long established Castlebar family and was a Fine Gael member of Castlebar Town Council where he served as a Chairman from 1970-1971. A solicitor by profession, he founded his own practice which is now known as ‘Garavan and O’Connor’ before he was appointed a District Court Judge.
He served mainly in the Galway Court District and his courts became known for being a lively and unintimidating place where he regularly cracked jokes and engaged in banter. He served as a judge in Galway, Tuam, Headford, Connemara and Aran Island courts from 1981 until he retired in 2003. As a mark of respect to the late judge, the sitting of today’s (Tuesday) Galway District Court has been cancelled.
Mayor of Castlebar, Cllr Ger Deere who was a neighbour of Judge Garavan in the 1970s, paid tribute to him describing him as a great community man who took a commonsense approach to his work.
“He was a great politic activist and someone who I looked up to in the political scene. He was very inspirational and he was always known for his common sense approach to the judiciary and was always fair and balanced. He will be a big loss to Castlebar,” he said.
Judge Garavan was also involved in a number of community clubs in Castlebar and served as President of the Castlebar Golf Club, the Irish Lawn Tennis Club as well as the Castlebar Tennis Club. He was also involved in Probus, an organisation associated for retired and semi-retired professional and business personnel.
He was also heavily involved in the local St Vincent de Paul organisation and the Board of Management of St Gerard’s College in Castlebar. He was also involved in the Mayo Historical Society and took part in the RTÉ drama on Margaret Bourke Sheridan.
Judge Garavan was a descendant of James Daly, the founder of the Irish Land League and one of his final appearances in public was at the event to mark the centenary of his death.
“When I first became Mayor, he asked me to organise something to mark the centenary and I was delighted to do it,” said Cllr Deere.
Judge Garavan is mourned by his wife Ann; sons, Mark, Eoin and Hugh; daughter, Jeananna and many family and friends. His requiem Mass takes place today and his burial will take place afterwards in Castlebar Old Cemetery.
