NEW YORK, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Frank Durkan, an Irish immigrant who became a New York lawyer known for his devotion to Irish causes, has died at the age of 76.
A cousin told The New York Times that Durkan suffered from a lung infection.
Durkan arrived in New York as a teenager in 1947. His uncle, William O'Dwyer, was mayor, and he spent his first night in the city in Gracie Mansion, but another uncle got him a job as a janitor the next day.
After graduating from New York University and Columbia Law School, Durkan was a clerk at the law firm headed by his uncle, Paul O'Dwyer, later president of the city council.
While he specialized in negligence and malpractice suits, Durkan was better known for defending accused IRA gunrunners. He won acquittals for five men who had been caught with 50 machine guns by convincing the jury that the CIA was aware of their activities.
Durkan headed Americans for a New Irish Agenda and the Mayo Football Club of New York.
