Eugene Carey: Eugene Carey, who died last week at the age of 52 following a relatively brief illness, was one of the best-known and most popular solicitors in Munster.
He was also a well known figure in the Gaelic Athletic Association throughout Cork and beyond.
A native of Mallow and a past pupil of St Colman's College in Fermoy, Carey qualified as a solicitor in 1977 and worked with Wolfe, Collins and O'Keeffe & Co in Skibbereen and Bantry before returning to Mallow in 1982 where he joined Richard Moylan & Co.
He left in 1995 to set up his own practice which he developed into a thriving business with a particular expertise in road traffic matters and he proved a tenacious advocate on behalf of his clients, testing the State's case to the full with rigorous cross-examination.
A man of boundless energy, enthusiasm and ebullience, Carey was a noted and colourful practitioner in the rather reserved world of the district court and his ability was well captured by several of the tributes paid to him this week at Mallow District Court.
As court clerk Paul Cosgrave noted, Carey possessed a great wit and it was perhaps his roguish humour which made him such a popular figure among colleagues, gardaí and all who had dealings with him.
The stories about him are both legion and legendary.
Among the many stories recounted this past week was one by Supt Pat McCarthy about how Carey became a garda for a day, donned a uniform and pretended to be stationed at a quiet rural outpost in north Cork - all in order to line out with Mallow gardaí in an inter-district Garda football match.
An avid sports fan who regularly travelled cross-channel to support Manchester City, Carey was best known for his love of golf and most notably hurling, (football, he believed, was a game played only by bad hurlers).
He was unstinting in his efforts to support both his local beloved Mallow and the Cork hurlers.
The organiser of numerous fundraising golf classics for Mallow GAA which attracted hosts of stars, Carey was passionate about hurling, frequently proclaiming, with just a hint of that same roguish glee, that a Munster hurling final in Thurles was the best day in any man's life!
A man who revelled in sourcing All-Ireland tickets for friends, he bore his illness with stoical good humour to the end and predicted he would close Mallow when he died.
He achieved that wish, with the town virtually coming to a standstill for one of the biggest funerals seen there in modern times.
Carey is survived by his wife, Betty, sons, Brian and Myles, daughter, Emer, mother, Maureen Carey, sister, Maura Moylan, and brother, Myles.
Eugene Carey: born July 22nd, 1955. Died December 5th, 2007