‘Illustrious’ solicitor dies in accident just weeks after retiring

Mr Kelly, one of Northern Ireland’s most respected and accomplished criminal lawyers, passed away on Wednesday following a tragic cycling accident in Co Wicklow last weekend.

Members of the legal profession packed into Court Number 10 at the Laganside complex in Belfast for eulogies to the father of two.

Presiding District Judge Mark McGarrity said he had appeared in many of the most demanding and involved criminal cases ever prosecuted in the jurisdiction.

“Pat had an illustrious career and is acknowledged as being amongst the leading lawyers in the country,” Mr McGarrity said.

“For decades he exhibited the highest standards of professionalism and integrity as he served the community as a solicitor, and personally helped thousands of people when at their most desperate and vulnerable.

“He did all of this with an unrivalled ease and deftness because he was cool.

“Always in good humour, I struggle to think of a colleague who so conscientiously and consistently exhibited kindness, a calm temperament and class.”

The solicitor, a founding partner in the McConnell Kelly law firm with offices in east Belfast and Bangor, Co Down, had only retired earlier this year.

In an emotional address, barrister Richard McConkey told how Mr Kelly had been looking forward to spending time with the family he adored and indulging in his passion for cycling.

“Pat Kelly retired on March 31 without any fuss and in the typical humble way he conducted himself in everyday life,” he said.

“He was as happy as we have ever seen him in his retirement.”

Mr McConkey described it as an honour to have been the solicitor’s friend and colleague for the past 15 years,

“It’s very rare to find somebody in this business that nobody has a bad word to say about, but I have never heard anybody say a bad word about Pat Kelly,” he added.

Condolences and sympathies were expressed to Mr Kelly’s wife Doreen and their sons Rory and Conor.

Solicitor Brendan Blaney recalled his colleague as a trusted friend who brightened up every day with his smile and “mischievous sense of humour”.