Padraig Quinn (Pádraig Ó Cuinn) was an Irish Republican Army Quartermaster General in the Fourth Northern Division in the Irish War of Independence. Born in Liverpool, Quinn was raised in Newry where he attended the Abbey Christian Brothers Grammar School. His father, John Quinn, opened the first supermarket in Ireland, The Milestone, and he was a brother of Sean F. Quinn. He lived in the USA and England for many years before returning to Newry to work as a general practitioner. During the War of Independence he commanded a unit that operated against the British in Dublin city centre. He was involved in numerous operations in the field during Irish War of Independence. He was sympathetic to the anti-Treaty side in the Irish Civil War and was wounded when he tried to escape an ambush at the end of this conflict. After the war, he presided over the Newry Easter commemoration ceremonies in St Mary's cemetery in Newry, on the border between County Armagh and County Down, for 30 years [1]. He also lobbied the Irish Government to recognize men who served under his command in both conflicts as veterans entitled to veterans' benefits.
Sources
- ^ Ernie O’Malley, On Another Man's Wound.
- ^ Ernie O’Malley, The Singing Flame (Anvil Books Limited, Ireland, 1978)
- The Newry Reporter, Thursday, August 25 2005, page 6.
- Newry Democrat September 07 2005
