TRIBUTE TO GEOFFREY PAUL, THE O’DONOGHUE OF THE GLENS
By Rod O’Donoghue
My relationship with Geoffrey Paul goes back over thirty years. I have lost a dear friend and the Society a real supporter and our patron.
I made contact around 1990 and took the train from Dublin to meet him. From then on, our contact was continuous.
We both enjoyed a deep interest in history and our shared heritage. I spent many hours in his house going through all his family papers, photos and library as preparation for my first book. I soon realised that he had an extraordinary memory for historical facts and that he was very proud of his family heritage.
He always insisted that I stayed at his home outside Tullamore, County Offaly. I said that I would happily stay in a hotel, but he would not have it. Irish hospitality is renowned, and he exemplified that spirit.
In the early days he drove me all over the Midlands – I remember Clonmacnoise, the local family mausoleum at Killomenaghan, we walked up Uisneach, visited Ballynahown and so many other places. It was true kindness and that was what he was, a very kind, genuine and generous man. Other members of the Society have also experienced his graciousness.
I will miss him a lot.
In 1944 the Chief Herald of Ireland, at the Genealogical Office in Dublin, confirmed the name of The O’Donoghue of the Glens on Geoffrey’s father and so he became one of only twenty Gaelic Chiefs of the Name who have the formal right to use their historic title. On his father’s death, as tánaiste or successor, Geoffrey Paul inherited the title. He was described in Who’s Who in Ireland as ‘a low-profile Irish Chief ‘.
He was born in 1937 and educated at the Christian Brothers School in Enniscorthy, County Wexford. A practical man, he joined the Irish Air Corps and served in engineering for six years. Geoffrey Paul married Frances Kelly in 1963, and they moved to England, where he worked for BAC for five years before returning to Ireland. They had seven children.
He became known affectionately as ‘the chainsaw man’ and gained a wide reputation for his mechanical expertise. People travelled from near and far for his services, not only because of his skill with engines but also for the warm conversations about history and current affairs. His immaculate workshop was a true reflection of his meticulous nature and pride in his work.
He inherited Ballynahown Court, in County Westmeath, from his great aunt. This property came into the ownership of the O’Donoghues of the Glens on the death of Sir John Ennis, whose daughter Marie married Daniel O’Donoghue, the MP. In 1874 it was a very large estate of nearly nine thousand acres reducing through the pressures of the Land Acts to 500 acres by the end of the nineteenth century. It proved impractical to maintain and in 1968, was sold.
His active working life allowed him limited time to pursue his personal interests, but he was a lifelong student of history and a proud Irish nationalist, he was a man of history books as much as engines. He sought to maintain and develop his family history.
This picture was taken at a gathering at Mallow Castle in 2004 organised by Tighe and Elizabeth O’Donoghue/Ross.