Judge John Garavan has been presiding over court sittings on InisMór for more than 25 years. Ann Healy accompanied him for possibly his final court day on the island.
It was "Court Day" on the Aran Islands this week, and the judiciary - with its entourage - landed for a few hours to exercise a process that may soon be coming to an end.
Aran Court is the only one to be held on an island, and the islanders are anxious to hold on to that tradition which they deem - like the post office and the bank - to be an intrinsic part of community life.
They have the enthusiastic support of the many mainland solicitors, gardaí and court staff who look forward to their "day out" on Aran every court term. District Court days for all three islands are officially held every quarter on the main island, Inis Mór. In reality it's just three times a year as the December court is never held due to adverse weather.
It's been six months since the last session, and Judge John Garavan has arrived on the island to administer justice. His entourage take the short ferry trip from Rossaveal to Kilronan. Surrounded by a group of solicitors, he was in his element recounting anecdotes from previous trips to Aran.
The smiles and nods of the people on the pier as the boat pulls in don't seem out of place. Surely, they should be lurking in the courthouse - the small parish hall overlooking the beach and pier - to await their fate. But some have strolled down to await the ferry's arrival. They like Judge Garavan, and his reputation for fairness and compassion has been appreciated down through the years by the island community.
Boundaries blurred when the judge, solicitors, court probation officer, District Court clerk and journalists got on the boat earlier in the morning. They are again drawn as the court begins.
The islanders are bilingual; speaking among themselves as Gaeilge but readily converting to English as the need arises for tourists and outsiders. In deference to all, only a smattering of the native tongue is used in court, and while the judge has a good command of the language when it comes to the relevant legal terminology he, like everyone else, is glad when a defendant opts to have his or her case heard in English.
It is worth noting that most, if not all, younger defendants before the court on Thursday chose to have their cases heard through English, while only one older person opted for the medium of Irish.
Until recently, Judge Garavan says, cases on the islands were all relatively minor, but he may have been in for a surprise on Thursday. From an ageing flasher, with a penchant for exposing himself to older women, to a disgruntled neighbour who scratched, "Cow, cow, cow" across her neighbour's car bonnet, the three-hour court sitting was peppered with tales of man's and woman's foibles.
Aran is one court after which everyone - gardaí, solicitors and sometimes even defendants - retire for lunch together. Solicitor Olivia Traynor, who had managed to get her client off earlier, was deemed "man of the match" at lunch, closely followed by colleagues Joan O'Brien, Fidelma Waldron and Denise Raftery.
Judge Garavan has been coming to Aran for more than 25 years. He's been on the bench for almost 30 and will be retiring this summer. This is possibly his last official trip to Aran as District Judge of District Court Area No 7. He will be taking holidays in June and July and is officially retiring in September.
"It's important to have an island court," he says. "In a democracy you have to have an independent judiciary for people in isolated communities. It's just as important that they see the law in action as much as other places because it's part of the government of the country."
He's afraid court on Aran will cease to exist when he retires. He predicts it will be amalgamated, along with a number of the smaller Connemara courts whose lists have dwindled with the population, to a venue on the mainland.