Douglas Gageby

Who was Douglas Gageby?

Douglas Gageby was the pre-eminent Irish newspaper editor of his generation. His life is well documented and a book of essays about him, written by many of his colleagues who had attained fame for their literary achievements, was published in 2006 [Bright Brilliant Days: Douglas Gageby and the Irish Times, ed. Andrew Whittaker, Dublin, A&A Farmar, 2006].

Gageby was born in Dublin to Thomas Gageby, a Belfast-born civil servant, his mother was a schoolteacher from county of Cavan, the family moved to Belfast when Douglas was young as his father went to work for the North of Ireland Civil Service. HIs grandfather Mr. Robert Gageby J.P. had stood as a Labour parliamentary candidate in Belfast North in 1910, and was a Belfast City Councillor for 20 years, first elected in 1898 as a trade union candidate supported by the Independent Labour Party.

He was educated at Belfast Royal Academy and Trinity College, Dublin where he was involved with the student newspaper Trinity News. He enlisted in the Irish Army as a private soldier at the outbreak of World War II. He was commissioned later, and he served as an intelligence officer.