A special Memorial Service in Trinity College Dublin this Friday afternoon will commemorate the life and times of the well-known business consultant and solicitor James Osborne whose family history is deeply rooted in Milford.
Mr. Osborne was aged 68 and his body was recovered on Friday afternoon by the emergency services following a major alert at Cratlagh, on the main Milford-Carrigart road involving the Gardai, Irish Coastguard personnel, the 118 helicopter and the local community.
His death has shocked the Milford community where in former times the family name was well known in medical and legal circles.
Among those paying tribute and offering their sympathy was Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys.
She has expressed her sadness on hearing of the death of Mr. Osborne: he was Chairman of the Irish Heritage Trust and served as a Director from the time it was established in 2006 and served as its Chairman since November 2012.
The Minister offered her sympathy and condolences to Mr. Osborne’s family and also expressed her gratitude for his dedication and enthusiasm to the heritage sector over the years.
He was one of the main figures behind the making of the film about Irish Travellers ‘Into the West’ in 1992 which was written by Jim Sherida and starred Gabriel Byrne and Ellen Barkin.
James Osborne visited Mulroy Bay on his yacht on a number of occasions and would have spent time on the picturesque ‘Osborne’s Island’ off Cratlagh. It was in this area that his body was recovered by the emergency services on Friday afternoon and removed to Letterkenny University Hospital.
His father, John was a Commander in the Royal Navy and was a native of Church Road in Milford.
James’s grandfather, John Allen Osborne founded one of Donegal best known legal practices in Milford in 1894 and continued for sixty years.
And his great-grandfather in his professional capacity as the local doctor was one of the medical witnesses at the hearing into the murder of the Third Earl of Leitrim at Cratlagh during the court hearing on Milford’s Kilmacrennan Road on Wednesday April 3rd 1878.
James Osborne’s car remained parked at Cratlagh overnight on last Thursday and local neighbours told the Tribune that while they noted its presence no other issues had arisen.
Then on Friday morning around eight o’clock the community awoke to a large presence of emergency services. Gardai were joined by the 118 helicopter, the Coastguard services and lifeboats from Mevagh and locals joined in the search as concerns grew about Mr. Osborne’s whereabouts. It is understood the Garda alert was not raised by the local community. James Osborne was a former INM chairman and well known lawyer and business consultant and his services were much sought after in a lengthy career in his professional life.
A former A&L Goodbody managing partner had served his legal internship in Lawlor Solicitors, the practice founded by his grandfather. Ironically the ashes of the late Mr. Lawlor were interred in the family plot in Milford last Saturday.
James Osborne went on to become one of Ireland’s most sought after non-executive directors, serving on the boards of numerous publicly listed and private companies.
Mr Osborne attended Campbell College, Belfast, and Trinity College Dublin before joining A&L Goodbody in 1973. He opened the firm’s New York office in 1979 and become managing partner in 1982 aged just 32, a post he held until 1994.
He was a director and chairman to a group of Irish companies – notably Ryanair which he advised on its stock market flotation in London, New York, and Dublin before serving on the board for more than two decades.
He served on boards including Bank of Ireland, Golden Vale, Adare, Carrolls Holdings and was chairman of Centric Health, Monaghan Mushrooms and Easons.
He was a former chairman of the board of Independent News & Media (INM) but served less than a year in the role before being voted off the board.
Mr. Osborne was also on the Irish Heritage Trust and the International Advisory Board of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
He resided in Ranelagh and is survived by his wife, Heather, his daughter, Lucy, son Patch: his partner Patricia Devine and father of Pia and grand daughter Maya. He is also survived by his brothers, John and Henry and an extended family circle to whom deepest sympathy is extended.
The memorial service will take place in Trinity College Dublin on this Friday afternoon at three o’clock.
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