Pádraig Ó Cuinn

Who was Pádraig Ó Cuinn?

Pádraig Ó Cuin 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 Seán 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. He was sympathetic to the anti-Treaty side in the Irish Civil War. On July 27, he led a small unit that attacked Dundalk, breached the prison wall with dynamite, and in fifteen minutes captured the garrison of 300 men and arms for 400 and freed Republican prisoners without any casualties. He tried to escape an ambush at a safe house at the end of the Civil War 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. He also lobbied the Irish Government to recognize men who served under his command in both conflicts as veterans entitled to veterans' benefits.