Thrift was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England, on February 28, 1870, one of at least two sons and two daughters of Henry George Thrift, civil servant, and Sarah Anne Thrift (née Smith). The family moves in his childhood to Dublin, where his father is an officer in the Inland Revenue.
He is educated at The High School, Dublin, and enters Trinity College Dublin in 1889 with a second sizarship in mathematics, and commences a highly distinguished university career, scoring firsts in several examinations and winning numerous prizes. Elected fellow in mathematics and experimental science, and in mental and moral philosophy in 1896, he becomes Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy at TCD from 1901 to 1929. He is awarded a Doctor of Science (DSc) in 1936. He is appointed Provost of Trinity College Dublin in 1937, serving until his death in 1942.
While rarely speaking on controversial issues, Thrift opposes the 1925 legislation banning divorce, which he describes as an infringement of individual and minority rights, and a betrayal of commitments made by Arthur Griffith during the Anglo-Irish Treaty debates. His capable service on various Dáil committees is recognised by his election as Leas-Ceann Comhairle (deputy speaker). A long-serving council member of the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) (1902–42), he is a commissioner of charitable donations and bequests, and financial adviser to the General Synod of the Church of Ireland. He sits on the governing boards of the Erasmus Smith schools and of the Incorporated Society for Promoting Protestant Schools in Ireland.
Thrift’s portrait is painted by Leo Whelan. He marries Etta Robinson, a daughter of C. H. Robinson, a medical doctor, and they have three sons and three daughters. He dies at the provost’s house, Trinity College Dublin, on April 23, 1942. He is buried at Mount Jerome Cemetery, Harold’s Cross, County Dublin.
Coogan’s particular focus is on Ireland’s nationalist/independence movement in the 20th century, a period of unprecedented political upheaval. He blames the Troubles in Northern Ireland on “Paisleyism.”
In 2000, Irish writer and editor Ruth Dudley Edwards is awarded £25,000 damages and a public apology by the High Court in London against Coogan for factual errors in references to her in his book Wherever Green is Worn: The Story of the Irish Diaspora (2000). In the book, he writes that Dudley Edwards had “groveled to and hypocritically ingratiated herself with the English establishment to further her writing career.” He also alleges that Dudley Edwards “had abused the position of chairwoman of the British Association for Irish Studies (BAIS) by trying to impose her political views on it” and that her commission to write True Brits had been awarded because of political favouritism.
When TaoiseachEnda Kenny causes confusion following a speech at Béal na Bláth by incorrectly claiming Michael Collins had brought Lenin to Ireland, Coogan comments, “Those were the days when bishops were bishops and Lenin was a communist. How would that have gone down with the churchyard collections?”
Coogan has been criticised by the Irish historians Liam Kennedy and Diarmaid Ferriter, as well as Cormac Ó Gráda, for a supposed lack of thoroughness in his research and bias:
“Well, I waited in this book to hear some great revelation, and it just isn’t there. It’s anticlimactic. I could not see the great plot, and indeed there is no serious historian who … I can’t think of a single historian who has researched the Famine in depth – and Tim Pat has not researched it in depth” (The Famine Plot).
“Coogan is not remotely interested in looking at what others have written on 20th-century Irish history…. he does not appear interested in context and shows scant regard for evidence. He does not attempt to offer any sustained analysis in relation to the challenges of state building, the meaning of sovereignty, economic and cultural transformations, or comparative perspectives on the evolution of Irish society. There is no indication whatsoever that Coogan has engaged with the abundant archival material relating to the subject matter he pronounces on. There is no rhyme or reason when it comes to the citation of the many quotations he uses; the vast majority are not referenced. For the 300-page text, 21 endnotes are cited and six of them relate to Coogan’s previous books, a reminder that much of this tome consists of recycled material…. Tim Pat Coogan… he is a decent, compassionate man who has made a significant contribution to Irish life. But he has not read up on Irish history; indeed, such is the paucity of his research efforts that this book amounts to a travesty of 20th-century Irish history” (1916: The Mornings After).
Bushnell is one of four children of John Kavanagh and Evelyn (née Ledwidge). Her father is a motor mechanic with a business on Arnott Street, Portobello, with the family living in Milltown. She dances on the stage of the Theatre Royal as a child and is a junior Irish champion dancer. She attends the St. Louis convent school in Rathmines, where she performs in plays and musicals and sings in the school choir. The nuns disapprove of her musical influences and try to dissuade her interest in jazz and “the music of the night.” Due to the family’s financial circumstances, she leaves school at the age of 16 and takes a job as a typist. She marries Tony Bushnell in April 1961. He is a salesman who shares her interest in music. The couple moves to Templeogue, and have a daughter, Suzanne, and a son, Paul. Paul is now a session musician based in Los Angeles, and Suzanne sings with a female vocal harmony group, Fallen Angels.
Bushnell continues to perform in amateur musicals, and from the early 1960s she sings with an Irish céilí band. With help from her husband’s musical family, she sings in Dublin jazz clubs from 1967, emerging as a well-respected jazz and blues vocalist and cabaret performer. She competes in the national song contest in 1968 singing Ballad to a Boy and becomes a resident singer in the RTÉ Light Orchestra. By the late 1960s, she is one of the busiest singers in Ireland, singing jingles for radio and TV commercials, and featuring on showband records as a backing singer. She is a regular guest on RTÉ television variety shows from 1970, including hosting Girls, girls, girls.
From 1972 to 1974, Bushnell is part of a group called Family Pride, which is a group of session musicians who record together regularly. They compete in the 1973 national song contest, playing in Dublin venues and on radio shows. The group has two top ten Irish hits. Their 1973 album, Family Pride, is not a chart success, however. She represents Ireland at a number of international contests and festivals as a solo artist, releasing a few singles and an unsuccessful album with CBS Records, Are You Ready (1977). She is a backing singer for two of Ireland’s entries to the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 and 1980. She is a regular in stage musicals from the mid to late 1970s, in productions such as the tribute shows to Jacques Brel (1974) and Bing Crosby (1978), sometimes performing alongside her brother John Kavanagh. From the late 1970s she appears in pantomimes with Maureen Potter.
In 1984 Bushnell stars in a musical based on the life of Édith Piaf, No Regrets, written specially for her by Leland Bardwell. She is lauded for capturing Piaf’s stage presence and husky voice. The show suffers when it has to move from the Gaiety Theatre to the National Stadium. She reworks it into a successful one-woman show called The Little Sparrow and also devises a one-woman tribute to Judy Garland. Her cabaret act in the late 1980s is highly successful, featuring big numbers by Brel, Garland, and Piaf. Due to her talent at singing blues and jazz, she is awarded the freedom of New Orleans by its mayor in 1986.
Bushnell struggles with depression brought on initially by an underactive thyroid and later exacerbated by her father’s death and her husband’s unemployment in the late 1980s. Disheartened by the lack of recognition in Ireland and her family’s financial difficulties, she considers emigrating or returning to her career as a typist. To aid with her depression, she takes up painting in 1992, holding a number of exhibitions in Dublin. She continues to sing regularly until her death, often at events for charity. She is awarded the Cheshire Foundation award in 1994 for her charitable work. She also appears in the film Agnes Browne.
Peter Desmond Farrell, Irish footballer who plays as a right-half for, among others, Shamrock Rovers, Everton and Tranmere Rovers, dies in Dublin on March 16, 1999. As an international, he also plays for both Ireland teams – the FAI XI and the IFA XI. His playing career follows a similar path to that of Tommy Eglington. As well as teaming up at international level, they also play together at three clubs.
Farrell is born on August 16, 1922, and raised in the Convent Road area of Dalkey, County Dublin, and is educated at Harold Boy’s National School and the Christian Brothers in Dún Laoghaire, from which he wins a scholarship. He is playing football with Cabinteely Schoolboys when spotted by a Shamrock Rovers scout and subsequently joins Rovers on his 17th birthday in August 1939. Among his early teammates is the veteran Jimmy Dunne. With a team that also includes Jimmy Kelly, Tommy Eglington, Jimmy McAlinden and Paddy Coad, he later helps Rovers reach three successive FAI Cup finals. They win the competition in 1944 and 1945 and finish as runners up in 1946.
In July 1946, together with Tommy Eglington, Farrell signs for Everton. In eleven seasons with the club, he plays 421 league games and scores 14 goals. He also plays a further 31 games in the FA Cup and scores an additional four goals. In 1951 he is appointed Everton captain and during the 1953–54 season leads them to the runners up place in the Second Division, thus gaining promotion to the First Division. During his time with the club his teammates, apart from Eglington, also include Alex Stevenson, Peter Corr, Harry Catterick, Wally Fielding, Tommy E. Jones, Brian Labone and Dave Hickson. He is never sent off during his time at Goodison Park.
Farrell leaves Everton in October 1957 and follows Tommy Eglington to Tranmere Rovers where he becomes player-manager. He plays 114 league games for Tranmere, before leaving in December 1960. After a time as manager at Sligo Rovers, he becomes manager of Holyhead Town and, helped by a number of former Everton and Tranmere players, guides them to the Welsh Football League (North) title.
When Farrell begins his international career in 1946 there are, in effect, two Ireland teams, chosen by two rival associations. Both associations, the Northern Ireland–based IFA and the Ireland–based FAI claim jurisdiction over the whole of Ireland and select players from the entire island. As a result, several notable Irish players from this era, including Farrell, play for both teams.
Farrell makes 28 appearances and scores three goals for the FAI XI. While still at Shamrock Rovers, he captains the FAI XI on his international debut on June 16, 1946, against Portugal. On September 21, 1949, together with Johnny Carey and Con Martin, he is a member of the FAI XI that defeats England 2–0 at Goodison Park, becoming the first non-UK team to beat England at home. After Martin puts the FAI XI ahead with a penalty in the 33rd minute, Farrell makes victory certain in the 85th minute. Tommy O’Connor slips the ball to Farrell and as the English goalkeeper Bert Williams advances, he lofts the ball into the unguarded net. He scores his second goal for the FAI XI on October 9, 1949, a in 1–1 draw with Finland, a qualifier for the 1950 FIFA World Cup. His third goal comes on May 30, 1951, as Farrell scores the opening goal in a 3–2 win against Norway.
Farrell also makes seven appearances for the IFA XI between 1946 and 1949. On November 27, 1946, he makes his debut for the IFA XI in a 0–0 draw with Scotland. Together with Johnny Carey, Con Martin, Bill Gorman, Tommy Eglington, Alex Stevenson and Davy Walsh, he is one of seven players born in the Irish Free State to play for the IFA XI on that day. The draw helps the team finish as runners-up in the 1946-47 British Home Championship. He also helps the IFA XI gain some other respectable results, including a 2–0 win against Scotland on October 4, 1947, and a 2–2 draw with England at Goodison Park on November 5, 1947.
After returning to Ireland following his retirement, Farrell settles in Dublin and follows his father into the insurance business. He dies on March 16, 1999, following a long illness. He is buried in Dean’s Grange Cemetery in Deansgrange, Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, County Dublin.
Drew is born on September 18, 1838, in Victoria Place, Belfast, into the large family of Rev. Thomas Drew, son of a Limerick grocer, and Isabella Drew (née Dalton). He is one of four sons and eight daughters of the couple, although most of the children die young. His sister, Catherine Drew, is a prominent Londonjournalist and an early champion of women’s rights.
Drew is educated in Belfast and in 1854 articled to the Antrimcounty surveyor and architect Sir Charles Lanyon, before moving to work in Dublin in 1862, where he becomes principal assistant to William George Murray. In 1865, he becomes the diocesan architect of the united dioceses of Down, Connor and Dromore. From this point forward, church architecture is his principal activity. He is consulting architect for both St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin.
Drew marries Adelaide Anne, sister of William George Murray, in 1871.
Among other projects, Drew is responsible for the design of the Ulster Bank on Dame Street, Rathmines Town Hall and the Graduates’ Building at Trinity College Dublin (TCD). He takes an interest in historic buildings and is the first to draw serious attention to the architectural and historic importance of the St. Audoen’s Church, Dublin’s oldest parish church, in 1866. He produces detailed plans of the church for which he wins the Fitzgerald medal from the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI), carries out excavations and draws up a paper on the church and its history.
From 1885 to 1892, Richard Orpen works with Drew as a managing assistant. Drew’s most significant work in Belfast is St. Anne’s Cathedral, completed in 1899.
From 1879 onward Drew lives in Gortnadrew, one half of a pair of semi-detached houses of his own design, on Alma Road in Monkstown, County Dublin. For many years he serves as a commissioner of the local township of Blackrock, Dublin. He dies on March 13, 1910, a month after an unsuccessful operation for appendicitis. He is buried in Dean’s Grange Cemetery in the suburban area of Deansgrange in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, County Dublin.
Drew is commemorated in a memorial brass in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. His wife survives him by three years and in her will bequeaths back to the RIAI the loving cup presented to her husband in commemoration of his knighthood, and to the Belfast Municipal Museum and Art Gallery (Ulster Museum since 1962) an 1852 portrait of his father Thomas. A portrait of Drew by Walter Osborne is held in the National Gallery of Ireland (NGI) in Dublin.
Moylett is born into a farming family and emigrates to London as a young man working in various departments in Harrods for five years before returning to Ireland in 1902. He opens a grocery and provisions business in Ballina and, as it proves successful, he later establishes branches in Galway and London between 1910 and 1914. The London-branch is sold at the outbreak of World War I.
Having founded and organised the recruitment and funding of the Mayo activities of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) he also acts as a justice of the Sinn Féin courts. He is advised to leave the area due to death threats from the Black and Tans and their burning down of his commercial premises in Ballina. On one occasion during the period, according to his military statements, he prevents some over-enthusiastic volunteers from attempting to kidnap and assassinate Prince George, Future King of England, who is sailing and holidaying in the Mayo/Donegal region at the time.
Relocating to Dublin, the Irish overseas Trading Company is formed with a former director of Imperial Chemical Industries. Moylett becomes involved in the Irish nationalist movement and is active in the Mayo and Galway areas during the Irish War of Independence. The Irish Overseas Trading Company, of which he is one of two directors, acts as a front for the importation of armaments covered by consignments of trade goods. According to his subsequent detailed military statements archived in the bureau of military history by the Irish Army, the consignments are imported to a number of warehouses in the Dublin Docks with the three keyholders to the warehouses being Éamon de Valera, Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith.
With Harry Boland in the United States with Éamon de Valera, Moylett succeeds him as president of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and, in October 1920, is selected to go to London as the personal envoy of Arthur Griffith. During the next several months, he is involved in secret discussions with British government officials on the recognition of Dáil Éireann, a general amnesty for members of the Irish Republican Army and the organisation of a peace conference to end hostilities between both parties.
Moylett is assisted by John Steele, the London editor of the Chicago Tribune, who helps him contact high-level members of the British Foreign Office. One of these officials, in particular C.J. Phillps, has frequent meetings with him. Discussions center on the possibility of an armistice and amnesty in Ireland with the hope for a settlement in which a national Parliament will be established with safeguards for Unionists of Ulster. These meetings are later attended by H. A. L. Fisher, the President of the Board of Education and one of the most outspoken opponents of unauthorised reprisals against the Irish civilian population by the British government. One of the main points Fisher expresses to Moylett is the necessity of Sinn Féin to compromise on its demands for a free and united republic. His efforts are hindered however, both to the slow and confused pace of the peace negotiations as well as the regularly occurring violence in Ireland, most especially the Bloody Sunday incident on November 21, 1920, which happens while he is in London speaking with members of the cabinet. During the Irish Civil War, although a supporter of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, he chooses not to participate in the Free State government party which he views as an amalgam of Unionists and the old Irish Party. In 1926, he is a founding member of the Clann Éireann party and becomes an early advocate of the withholding of land annuities.
In 1930, Moylett and his family move to Dublin, and by 1940 his political activities in the city have become a concern for the Gardai. He begins moving in antisemitic, pro-German far-right politic circles while in Dublin, engaging with the likes of Gearóid Ó Cuinneagáin and George Griffith. Indeed alongside Griffith, he is deeply involved with the founding of the People’s National Party, an explicitly anti-Jewish Pro-Nazi party whose membership overlaps greatly with that of the Irish Friends of Germany. He leaves the People’s National Party in October 1939 only when he is expelled from the party and his position as treasurer on charges of embezzling party funds. In 1941 he continues to support these far-right groups when he aids Ó Cuinneagáin in setting up the Youth Ireland Association, a group gathered to fight “a campaign against the Jews and Freemasons, also against all cosmopolitan agenda.” When the group is found to be stealing guns from army reservists, the Gardai shuts the group down in September 1942.
O’Higgins is described at his removal as a great Christian gentleman whose secular activities were outstanding both to his country and to Europe.
The chief mourners in St. Patrick’s Church are joined by the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, and many representatives of the judiciary and politics. The mourners are led by his widow Terry, his children Tom, Geraldine, Michael, Barry, Kevin, Derval and Shane, his thirty grandchildren, his brother Michael and sister Rosaleen.
The parish priest, Father Maurice O’Moore, tells many hundreds in the congregation that O’Higgins and his wife had been regular worshippers at the church.
“Tom was a man of deep faith and his demeanour at prayer was an inspiration to me personally and to parishioners. I think of him this evening as a man of faith, as a man of prayer and a great Christian gentleman. His secular activities through his legal expertise were outstanding both to his country and to Europe,” he says.
Father O’Moore adds that many tributes had been paid to O’Higgins in the media, and everybody can be proud of the contribution he made as an Irishman through his religious faith, his sincerity and love of his country.
Father Bruce Bradley SJ, a friend of the family, gives a reading from the Gospel.
Also attending is Harry Hill SC, retired master of the High Court, Feargus Flood, chairman of the Flood Tribunal, as well many Supreme Court and High Court judges and barristers. The director-general of the Law Society, Ken Murphy, is also present, as are many solicitors.
The world of politics is well represented, particularly by members of the Fine Gael party, for which O’Higgins was a Teachta Dála (TD) and minister in the 1940s and 1950s.
Two former taoisigh, Garret FitzGerald and Liam Cosgrave, attend. Also present is the leader of the Fine Gael party, Enda Kenny, and Tom Hayes, chairman of the Parliamentary Party, as well as many party TDs and former deputies.
(From: “A great Christian gentleman’ whose secular activities served State, Europe,” by Christine Newman, The Irish Times, http://www.irishtimes.com, February 27, 2003)
Orpen wants to pursue painting, but “for family reasons” he becomes an architect. He spends eleven years with Thomas Drew, initially as a pupil, and later as a managing assistant from 1885 to 1892. From around 1884, he attends the annual excursions of the English Architectural Association. Around 1890, he establishes his own architectural practice in Drew’s offices at 22 Clare Street, Dublin. In 1896, he moves his office to 7 Leinster Street. In 1888 he is elected as a member of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI), serving as a council member from 1902 to 1910, as honorary secretary from 1903 to 1905, and as president from 1914 to 1917. He designs the institute’s official seal in 1909. In 1904, the Irish Builder describes him as the “originator of the bungalow in Ireland.”
From 1888, Orpen exhibits with the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA), with watercolours and architectural drawings. He continues to exhibit with them until 1936. He collaborates with Percy French on a number of projects, including illustrating Racquetry Rhymes (1888) and The First Lord Liftinant and Other Tales (1890). He provides cartoons for French’s periodical, The Jarvey. His architectural illustrations are included in H. Goldsmith Whitton’s Handbook of the Irish Parliament Houses… (1891). He is one of the original members of the Architectural Association of Ireland, serving as its first president in 1896, and as vice-president in 1910.
Orpen is appointed the architect to St. Columba’s from 1897 to 1938, following a fire at the college in 1896. He becomes a fellow of the college, and the sanatorium becomes known as the Orpen building. He is an active member of the Arts and Crafts Society of Ireland, serving as secretary in 1895, on the committee in 1904, and in 1917 sits on the organising committee for the fifth exhibition. In 1906, he is a founding member of the Arts Club. In 1906 he moves his architectural practice to 13 South Frederick Street, and moves into a house he designed, Coologe, Carrickmines, County Dublin.
From 1910 to 1914, Orpen is in an architectural partnership with Page Dickinson, with the two collaborating on plans for the new Dublin municipal gallery and conversion of the Turkish Baths, Lincoln Place. Lane rejects his and Dickinson’s gallery plans, leading to him refusing to work with Lane’s choice of architect, Sir Edwin Lutyens. In 1914, he is appointed a guardian of the National Gallery of Ireland, and lectures at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art on architectural history in 1914 and 1915. He is involved in the design of a number of memorials including the setting for a bronze relief by Beatrice Campbell for the members of the Royal Irish Regiment killed in the Second Boer War and the war memorial at the Rathgar Methodist church. He serves as president of the arts and crafts section of the Royal Dublin Society (RDS). He is also a governor of the Royal National Hospital for Consumption for Ireland in Newcastle, County Wicklow.
Orpen features as one of the many portraits in Seán Keating‘s Homage to Sir Hugh Lane. St. Columba’s College holds a portrait of Orpen by his brother, William, as well as a memorial stained-glass window to him by Catherine O’Brien.
John James Bernard (J. B.) Malone, an Irish hillwalking enthusiast who popularises the pastime through his television programmes and books, is born on December 13, 1913, in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. He is responsible for the establishment of the Wicklow Way as a recognised walking trail, having first proposed it in 1966.
Malone is born to James Bernard Malone and his wife, Agnes (née Kenny), both from Dublin. He is raised mainly in England and completes his secondary education at the Marist Brothers College, Grove Ferry, Kent.
Malone moves to Ireland in 1931 where he finds employment in a builders’ providers firm and an insurance company before joining the Irish Army in 1940. There he becomes a cartographer in the intelligence section. In 1947, having left the army, he goes to work at the Department of Posts and Telegraphs as a draughtsman. He remains employed in the Irish civil service until his retirement in 1979. Also in 1947, he marries Margaret Garry, and they have three children.
Malone starts hillwalking in 1931 when he climbs Montpelier Hill to visit the ruins of the Hell Fire Club. Later, while on leave during his military career, he develops a detailed knowledge of walking routes throughout the hills of County Wicklow. He sits on the Board of An Taisce in Ireland from 1970 to 1974.
Following his retirement from the civil service, Malone is appointed as a field officer with the Long-Distance Walking Routes Committee of Cospóir, the Irish Sports Council. There, he negotiates rights of way with landowners to enable his vision of the Wicklow Way to become a reality. He first proposes a guided walking route through the Wicklow hills in 1966, although he had first raised the idea as early as 1942.
From 1938 to 1975 Malone contributes a regular column to the Evening Herald entitled Over the Hills. Between 1967 and 1968 he writes the column Know your Dublin, illustrated by Liam C. Martin. The column features information on a Dublin landmark and is later compiled into a book published in 1969.
During the 1960s, Malone presents a television documentary series on RTÉ entitled Mountain and Meadow, in which, accompanied by a cameraman, he introduces viewers to a variety of hill walks in Wicklow and surrounding counties. In 1980, he presents a one-hour TV programme on the newly opened Wicklow Way.
From 1950 to 1988, Malone writes several books on hillwalking in the Dublin Mountains and the Wicklow Mountains.
In 1980, Malone is made an honorary life member of An Óige, the Irish Youth Hostel Association (IYHA), in recognition of his contribution to promoting the Irish countryside.
Following his death in 1989, Malone’s contribution to hillwalking in Ireland is marked by the erection of the J.B. Malone Memorial Stone plaque in his honour on a section of the Wicklow Way overlooking Lough Tay.
In October 2014, on the 25th anniversary of Malone’s death, the South Dublin Libraries hold an exhibition on his life and work.
(Pictured: The John James Bernard Malone memorial, on the Wicklow Way overlooking Lough Tay and Luggala)
Katy Ellen French, Irish socialite, model, writer, television personality and charity worker, dies on December 6, 2007, in Navan, County Meath, after collapsing at a friend’s house on December 2. According to the BBC, “in the space of less than two years, she had become one of Ireland’s best-known models and socialites.” Her cause of death is given as hypoxic ischemic brain injury caused by cocaine and ephedrine.
French studies psychology and marketing before working for the Assets Modelling Agency and later writing articles for several Dublin magazines and newspapers. She represents Sony Ericsson and Suzuki among many other brands, becoming more famous in 2007 as a result of her fiancé, restaurateur Marcus Sweeney, ending their relationship in a very public fashion after she is photographed for a lingerie shoot for the Sunday Independent in his restaurant in January of that year. As a result of this publicity, her image appears more regularly in daily Irish tabloid newspapers, and she makes numerous television appearances on shows such as RTÉ‘s The Podge and Rodge Show in April 2007 and Tubridy Tonight a week before her death.
French is known for deliberately courting controversy to promote her career. On Tubridy Tonight she speaks of her appearance on Celebrities Go Wild as well as her relationship break up with Sweeney. Mention is also made of her birthday party which she is to celebrate the following week, having missed her birthday due to Celebrities Go Wild. Host Ryan Tubridy is invited to the event. Footage is shown of the charity single “Down in the Bog” which is to be released as a Christmas single. She works for several Irish charities including Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin and GOAL in Calcutta, India. She writes a column for Social & Personal magazine.
In an interview with Hot Press‘s Jason O’Toole, French says that she would consider having an abortion if she became pregnant during the peak of her career, a controversial statement in Ireland where abortion is at that time effectively illegal, and that she loves fur despite being a “massive animal lover.” She also airs her religious beliefs, being a member of the Church of England as well as a practising Catholic and speaks highly of Islam and her Muslim friends saying, “When you read the Koran, you realise that Islam is a beautiful religion.” In the same interview she is asked if she has ever used cocaine and denies ever having done so. In November 2007, she tells an Irish tabloid that she has used cocaine but has stopped. A week before she dies, she celebrates her 24th birthday with celebrity and media friends.
French dies on the evening of December 6, 2007, in Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan, County Meath, having collapsed at a house in Kilmessan, County Meath, in the early hours of Sunday, December 2. There is widespread speculation in the media that her death is the result of a drug overdose. A postmortem finds she has suffered brain damage, and that traces of cocaine are found in her body. A senior Garda states, “We strongly suspect that drugs contributed to her death. This was a previously healthy person being brought to hospital in a collapsed state.” In 2010 two people are charged with supplying cocaine to French and in failing to get medical assistance in a timely fashion. She is buried in her hometown of Enniskerry, County Wicklow, on December 10. TaoiseachBertie Ahern‘s aide de camp, Captain Michael Tracey, attends her funeral.
On November 13, 2012, two friends of French, Kieron Ducie and Ann Corcoran, plead guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to supply on the weekend of French’s death. Trim Circuit Court is told that a second charge against the pair is not being pursued, that they had intentionally or recklessly engaged in behaviour relating to the supply of cocaine to French and failed to get medical assistance in a timely fashion. In July 2013 the pair are sentenced to a 2-1⁄2 year suspended sentence and three-year good behaviour bond, and a two-year suspended sentence and two-year good behaviour bond respectively. At the verdict, French’s cause of death is given as hypoxic ischemic brain injury caused by cocaine and ephedrine.
seamus dubhghaill 