Name John Feehan | Role Author | |
Died May 25, 1991, Cork, Republic of Ireland Books The shooting of Michael, The secret places of the Burren, Bobby Sands and the trage, The Secret Places of the West, The Secret Places of the Shan | ||
John M. Feehan (8 September 1916 – 25 May 1991) was an Irish author and publisher. The eldest son of a schoolmaster, Feehan was born in Dualla, County Tipperary.
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Early life and career
He entered secondary schooling at Rockwell College and later attended University College Galway.
Feehan joined the Irish Army and reached the rank of captain before resigning in 1945. He had four children. He founded the successful Cork-based publishing house Mercier Press in 1944 and served as its managing director. In 1946 he published This Tremendous Lover by Dom Eugene Boylan which sold over a million copies. At the Frankfurt Book Fair he secured the translation rights of German books on philosophy and religion that sold well. In the 1960s he launched a successful range of paperbacks on Irish literature, culture, religion and history.
Writing
In 1972 Feehan wrote Tomorrow To Be Brave which recounted his wife’s life and death by cancer. He explored Ireland on foot and by boat, writing a number of books.
He appeared as himself in the made-for-TV documentary on Michael Collins, The Shadow of Beal na blath (1991).
Feehan died in Cork on 25 May 1991 of an apparent heart attack at the age of 74.