Seamus Noel Mahon died at his home at Clonminch, Tullamore, Co Offaly on February 5th, 2000. Although aged 81 years, his death came as a shock to his family and many friends. Seamus Noel Mahon was the only son of James F. Mahon and Josephine Mahon. His father, originally from Birr, Co Offaly, had been Secretary to the County Board of Health for Offaly and was associated with the founding of the Ritz Cinema and Grand Central Cinemas in Tullamore. Seamus Mahon was sent to Clongowes Wood in 1931 and spent six years there. Throughout his life he kept in close contact with Clongowes and was President of the Clongowes Union in 1982. Following his stay at Clongowes he attended University College Dublin and qualified as a solicitor in 1942.
In 1944 he acquired the well-known firm of Hoey & Denning, Solicitors in Tullamore on the death of its principal Henry F. Brenan and managed the legal practice from that time until 1976 when he was appointed a District Justice. While in practice as a solicitor he acted as Law Agent to the Offaly County Council and developed an expertise in local government and planning law. As a solicitor he was noted for his clear and decisive advice and as a man of integrity in his dealings.
In 1976, on his appointment to the District Court bench he became the resident Judge in the Laois/Carlow and South Kildare District, a post he held until his retirement in 1989. While on the bench the qualities he had shown as a solicitor carried through and he was noted for his unfailing courteous and humane approach to people that came before him.
His retirement at the age of 70 in 1989 initially gave rise to some controversy over his age on retirement and led to the passing of a special act of parliament to get over a legal difficulty regarding his decisions after the age of 65. The confusion was due to a bureaucratic mix up at the time of his appointment but he resolutely maintained a cloak of silence in deference to his judicial office, notwithstanding much media controversy at the time.
Seamus Mahon was one of the most popular, gracious and charming of men. He loved the company of his friends, whether at the dinner table, in his local or at the clubhouse of Tullamore Golf Club where he was a member for over 50 years and a club trustee. He was an engaging raconteur and was regularly to be seen at the Tullamore Golf Club holding forth with a gin and tonic in one hand and a Peter Stuyvesant cigarette in the other. He worked long hours for much of his life and had that rare quality of being able to totally relax once work was over.
Seamus Mahon was fortunate in that he had a wonderful marriage partner for 52 years of his life in his wife Maylon (nee Dowley) of Carrick on Suir by whom he is survived together with his four sons, Brian, Alan, Raymond and Dermot, all of whom followed their father into the legal profession. In later years they brought him the grandchildren that in turn delighted him.
Following a moving ceremony in Tullamore's splendidly reconstructed church, Seamus Mahon was borne to his final resting place, as much in celebration as in sorrow. As we left the churchyard on a bitter February day, there came a vicious blast of hailstones. Seamus's revenge for missing the party? M.B.