Christopher Hogarty

High Court registrar Christopher Bernard Hogarty was born in 1934. He was the youngest in the family and he grew up in Dublin’s north inner city, alongside brothers Seosaimh and Pat, and sisters Maureen, Bridie and Phyllis. He remained very close to his sister Maureen throughout his life, and when her husband unexpectedly passed away, Christopher moved in to help her rear her young family.

Christopher Hogarty was educated in Coláiste Mhuire, Parnell Square, by the Christian Brothers, and he never had a bad word to say about them. He left school in the early 1950s, a time when work was in very short supply.

Out of his class that finished school with him, only three remained in Ireland, having managed to get either civil service or public service jobs. Most of the rest set sail for England or Canada.

Christopher sat the old British colonial civil service exam and was offered a job in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). The job entailed spending at least a year in the Rhodesian armed forces, which was not to his taste.

His dreams of a great African adventure, not to mention the occasional glass of Jameson on the veranda as the sun went down, ended up in tatters.

Christopher’s career started in the General Post Office, O’Connell Street. When he sat the civil service open competition exam, and finished second in Ireland, he moved to the Department of Justice courts service, beginning this phase of his career as a court clerk in the district court in the Bridewell in Dublin.

In 1974, he was appointed chief registrar of the district court in Dún Laoghaire and his first task was to reopen it.

Up to that point, there had been no district court in Dún Laoghaire and all business was transacted in the Dublin district courts.

Christopher would go out of his way to assist people who were looking for the protection of the courts.

Free legal aid wasn’t as available then as it is now, and some people would not have been in a position to afford a solicitor. Christopher helped them fill out court documents and gave them general advice.

In 1976 he decided to study law in UCD, and in 1978 he was promoted from chief registrar of his district court directly to the High Court (a first) and in 1982 he qualified as a solicitor.

In 1984, he was appointed registrar in relation to the tribunal on the Kerry babies case. This required him to travel up and down to Kerry during the initial stages and he was formally complimented for his personal contribution to the Tribunal at the time.

The 1980s were a very contentious times in relation to extradition. One morning, following a shoot-out with gardaí in Limerick, Dominic McGlinchy was arrested, and the British authorities sought his immediate extradition. Christopher had to arrange an emergency sitting of the High Court. There were no mobile phones in those days, so he had to ring around looking for a judge. He finally tracked down the on-call judge in Dún Laoghaire golf course and got the sitting arranged. Many years later, he reflected that these were very difficult times and that the relationship between the Irish and British governments wasn’t what it is today.

Christopher continued on in the High Court until his early retirement due to ill-health. Needless to say, he didn’t stop there – he was offered a position in the office of the Chief State Solicitor. Then he went to work for his old friend Gerry Charlton in Reddy Charlton & McKnight solicitors, where it is understood that he enjoyed a very good social life.

Christopher married his sweetheart Joan in 1964 and children Conor, Tillo and Rory soon followed. In later years, his focus changed from his children to his grandchildren, Ciaran, Eoghan, Grace and Hope. He would always enquire as to what they were up to and how they were doing and they, in turn, kept him young at heart.

Christopher Hogarty was a very sociable individual and had a large circle of friends, one of whom was Frank Forde. Frank would call on him every Tuesday evening and take him to the Horse & Hound pub in Cabinteely where they set the world to rights.

Christopher believed in hard work, fair play and honesty. He enjoyed his career, his friends and family, and it’s fair to say he did society and the State some service.