Pól Ó Duibhir

Sad to hear of the passing of Pól. RIP. Apart from being a work colleague in the Department of Finance in the 1970s, he was a steadfast friend and raconteur, historian and photographer, as well as an unpretentious lover of the Irish language. The daily commutes to work from Killiney Station on the pre-Dart elderly trains were a joy, including stories of attending Eisteddfods in Wales, pinpointing 1798 military camps in Ballybrack etc. Pól and his beloved wife, Nora, used visit us on occasion and we treasure the professional portraits he took of our children at the time.
He will be long remembered.

Our sincere condolences to Pól’s family.
We are saddened to see Pól’s death notice on RIP.ie.
In 2012/2013 we had the pleasure of a visit from him to see where his grandfather Michael O’Dwyer was born back in 1860 in Cappanahanna, Murroe and to learn about the area and visit the cemetery where the O’Dwyer’s were buried. We kept in touch since and it was a pleasure to have known him.

My deepest sympathies to Pól’s family on his passing. He was my PO in the Department of Finance. Pól was kind, witty and intelligent, a bright soul. I feel very blessed to have known him. May he Rest in Peace.

Ár gcomhbhrón le clann agus le muintir Phóil. Bhuail muid le Pól i dteannta a ghrá ghil Nóra, i gCraobh Móibhí sna 70í agus b'iontach iad le chéile ag casadh amrán go ceolmhar, binn i nGaeilge agus i mBreatnais agus leis an ngrúpa a bhunaigh Aodh Ó Domhnaill, Na hUaisle. I 1974 tháinig Pól liom féin agus le Gearód Ó Murchú agus Cionnaith Mac Diarmada go Béal Feirste chun albam amhrán a thaifeadadh dar teideal Téanam Ort, Pól ag seinm an veidhlín. Fear gnaìúil, cairdiúil, comhluadar breá, greann ar leith aige. Suaimhneas síoraí dá anam uasal.

All my sympathy to Pól's family.
I was so fortunate to have him as a friend.
I miss him.

I worked with Paul in the Dept. of Finance in the 1980s. He was very good at his job and easy to work with - a real gent. A dheis Dé a bheith a n-anam

Polo was a few years ahead of me at Colaiste Mhuire. I remember him even then as a cheerful face, as he was later at the Department of Finance when I was working in Taoiseach's. It was always entertaining to follow his blog musings in more recent years. Ar dheis De go raibh a anam.

Forty-one years ago, yesterday, I found myself staring into the abyss. My leaving cert results had fallen short of my hopes. The best “CAO offer” I had was a place on an Arts degree program at UCD. Ticking that box on the CAO form was my fallback, so I resigned myself to repeating. Not one to give up, my mother thought that the “Group IX” degree her cousin Pól had completed was offered as an Arts degree, and urged me to speak with him. A call was quickly arranged, and the advice Pól gave me that day was life-changing. It set me on a path I’ve never regretted. While at UCD, I learned one of my lecturers, Cormac Ó Gráda, had studied with Pól, giving us an easy ice-breaker for family gatherings. More ice-breakers came when I joined the Central Bank and occasionally ran into Pól at “the Bank” or the Department of Finance. The most meaningful came last. In 2015, I felt called to research my family tree. Again, my mother advised reaching out to Pól, who had put great effort into researching the branch we shared. Our approaches were different: he was an old-school researcher, doing things by hand, while I researched online. I like to think our approaches were complementary. He shared nuggets of information with me, including that we were "first cousins once removed"—a term I long struggled to understand.
I am forever grateful to Pól. My condolences to Donal, Eoghan, and all his extended family. May Pól rest in peace.

I was really sorry to hear of Pól’s passing. Pól was a wonderful man, so interesting and a good sense of humour too. He loved coming up to my brother Niall’s Martello Tower and chatting to my late husband Doug about all the history of the Tower and Killiney area. I was delighted to get a signed copy of Pól’s book which he sent to me in London. He will be greatly missed and always remembered. May Pól Rest in Peace. I expect Niall and Doug will be give him a good welcome.

Pól was my first boss in Ireland after coming from the States. He helped me to understand and navigate the world of the Department of Finance as well as the Irish and European policymaking systems. The impact he had on my subsequent career and academic work was profound. Pól's dedication to his work was exemplary of the idea of public service. A true gentleman, a great mentor, a fantastic boss and a wonderful friend. He will be missed.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
May Pól rest in Peace.

Condolences to Donal, Eoghan and all of the family on your loss. Pól was my father (Sean Kelly)’s cousin and I got to know him through his blog, twitter and through an email correspondence we kept up in the last few years. He was a truly independent thinker and a kind man. I was so pleased to have known him. Much sympathy from me and all of my Kelly siblings.
Ursula Kelly
Benijofar, Spain

Mo chomhbhron o chroí le Chlann Phóil.
Cé go raibh mé bliain taobh thiar de bhí aithne mhaith agam air i gColáiste Mhuire agus thángamar trasna ar a chéile ó am go sna blianta ó shoin.
B'ansa liom a chomhluadair i dteannta Nóra a chéile agus a dearthair siúd Aodh Ó Domhnail.
Suaimhneas siorrái go raibh aige.

Sincere sympathy to all of Paul's family. Our paths crossed in the Dept of Finance in the 70's and 80's. We shared the exhilaration of joining the European Union and the woes of budgetary crises. But Paul was always cheerful, witty and had that mischievous twinkle in his eye.
May he rest in peace.
Tom Carroll

Sincere sympathy to Donal and Eoghan on the passing of your Dad may he rest in peace

My condolences to Pól's family.
Pól attended a number of We Are Church Ireland's meetings and wrote up excellent reports complete with photos! I was always delighted when he appeared at our meetings. His keen intellect, good questions and wonderful humour lit up every meeting.

Dear Eoghan and family,
We would like to extend our deepest condolences for the loss of your father, father-in-law and grandfather. We wish you and your family strength during this difficult time.
Warm regards from Genmab and the ADT team.

Our condolences to the Ó Duibhir family on Pól’s passing. Pól was a friend to Raheny News through the years and contributed items to the Green Paper. He only recently made a donation which will help fund a project to mark our 50th anniversary in February. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

Pól was a great colleague to work with in the Department of Finance. Sympathies to the family.

Comhbhrón o chroí le clann Phóil. Comhleacaí uasal, éirimiul, eolach agus gealgháireach ón RoinnAirgeadais. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal.

Mo chomhbhrón ó chroí ar bás Pól. Fear uasal agus cabhrach domsa ó thaobh na staire de agus a chuid griangrafadóireachta de. Laoch eile de chuid Coláiste Mhuire ar lár. Mar a dúrach in amhrán An Choláiste, ‘Siúl ar Aghaidh’.

I had the privilege of getting to know Pol when working as Programme Manager to Ruairi Quinn, then Minister for Finance in the mid 1990s.
Pol was running the International Financial Institutions side of the Department and he was tremendously efficient and helpful. I know that Ruairi appreciated the dedication and knowledge that Pol provided in Washington and elsewhere. We were well aware of the respect that Pol had earned in his dealings with his colleagues at the EBRD and the IMF.
Ruairi had a deep interest in developing Ireland's involvement in these institutions especially leading up to the adoption of the euro. His interests matched Pol's skill set.
On a personal basis, I was always grateful for Pol's kindness and his public service to our country, and I express my sincere condolences to his family on their sad loss.

Dear Donal, Eoghan and extended Family, We are so very sorry to hear of the passing of your beloved Dad, Our deepest sympathy to you all, We will keep you in our thoughts and prayers, Rest in peace dear Paul.

I would like to send my condolences to Pól's family. I enjoyed listening to Pól on our Wednesday Ulysses zoom group during Covid and afterwards. He always had a great story to share about Dublin in the time of his parents. I missed him over the past few months. I loved his cap too. I will miss his contributions. May he rest in peace.

I met Pol in recent years through his friend, Tom Ferris, and really enjoyed our chats over lunches with Tom, we knew a lot of people in common through our previous jobs. Pol was active on social media and we interacted quite a bit - he was a fierce supporter of Palestine and some of his final posts related to it. I last saw him at the launch of his Gordon Brewster book - he was so determined to get that done - and eventhough he was ill he hadn't lost his spirit.
My deepest sympathy to Pol's family and friends.

Ar dheis lámh Dé go raibh a anam. Combhróin. RIP!

Tá an-bhrón orm faoi bhás Phóil. Chuir mé aithne air agus muid le chéile sa dara rang is gColáiste Mhuire i bhrad siar sa bhliain 1952! Is iomaí deireadh seachtaine a chaith muid ag spraoi i mBaile Breac sna blianta ina dhiaidh sin. Duine uasal i gcónaí, agus féith an ghrinn ann freisin. Mo chomhbhrón le Dónal agus Eoghan agus a muintir a airíonn a easnamh.

Condolences to Pol's family.
A wonderfully warm and insightful colleague.
The twinkle in his eye light up the corridors of the Department of Finance.
Suaimhneas siorai do.

My deepest sympathy to Pol’s family on his passing. What a positive and inventive person he was who had so much to offer in so many fields. May he rest in peace.

Noel Fahey (ex D/Fin and exD/FA).

Heartfelt condolences to Donal and Eoghan on the death of their marvellous Dad. Sympathies also to his grandchildren, daughters-in-law, and the wider family. My friendship with Paul (Póló) goes back to Coláiste Mhuire in Parnell Square, also to his creative pastimes over his mother’s shop in Ballybrack. I loved his open, good-humoured, loyal and friendly nature, his diverse skills, his boundless curiosity and his energy. Fortunately, we can continue enjoying his mixed bag of interests, skills, reportage, humour and visuals, through his online blog in which he delighted http://www.photopol.com. He was glad too of his career as a dedicated public servant, in the Department of Finance, which allowed to contribute significantly to diverse matters of State. I admire the brave, matter-of-fact manner in which he accepted and handled his terminal diagnosis, with the support of his sons. They and their families can be very proud of him and his legacy. I shall miss him greatly.

Donal and Eoghan,
I am so sorry to hear of your father's passing. Pól was my boss in the Dept Finance on the expenditure side and was absolutely a lovely man to work with, intelligent, kind, decent, wise. hard working and a great laugh. I really liked him. I continued to meet him for lunch for a number of years after he retired and he had such an interest in historical information and still interested to know what was happening workwise. May he rest in peace.
Evelyn

Joining the Department of Finance in the early 1970s we found Pól was a welcoming face, always ready with useful advice and a wry smile. He brought enthusiasm to everything he did, and it was infectious. It was fun working with Pól.
One thing that seemed to be frowned upon by some in the Department was that, in the typewriter age, he typed his own work, rather than waiting for his wise words to be typed up by the typing pool in the basement of government buildings. He was ahead of his time.
After he retired he continued in his blog to provide his wit and wisdom to those who knew him, and many who did not.
He was a fountain of knowledge, on everything from old Ballybrack, to the workings of the Department of Finance, and so an obvious person to contact over the last year while researching aspects of the Department in the 1970s. Despite the fact that he was ill, and working hard to finish his delightful book of cartoons, he was generous with his time and, as always, provided very useful advice. His wry smile could still be heard as we talked on the phone.
Dónal agus Eoghan, comhbhrón ó chroí daoibhse
, is dá chlann uile.

Comhbhrón le clann Phóil.

A Genuinely lovely man ,i had the pleasure of meeting on a number of occassions . Really appreciated the work he put into completing our ( Medlar ) family history . May he rest in peace .

My sympathy to the family of Pol whom I knew as a colleague in the Department of Finance in the early seventies...a lovely gentleman.

Paul was my Civil Service boss. A true gentleman and a fine scholar. I was glad to have met him one last time at the launch of his book on cartoonist Gordon Brewster. Still the same old Paul despite his illness. Sleep well, old friend....

My deepest sympathies to Eoghan and Dónal and their families on the passing of their wonderful dad, Pól. We were both work colleagues in the Department of Finance and,, in latter years, close neighbours here in Raheny when, from time to time, we would meet and exchange reminiscences about our previous careers. Pólo as he was known was a truly amazing with many interests. I will truly miss him.

Deepest condolances to Donal, Eoghan and extended family on the loss of Pol. He was a true gentleman warm and kind with a great sense of humour. RIP

I am so sorry to hear this news. He was a fantastic champion of Irish history and historians and generous with his own knowledge. I always enjoyed seeing him at events and his great contributions. Condolences to all friends and family.

Our deepest sympathy to Donal,
Eoghan and families on the death of your dearest Dad. We appreciate his great research work into our family tree. He helped Wolfgang with many queries into the long line of family history. He will always be remembered by us. Marie and Wolfgang

Donal and Eoghan my deepest sympathy to you on the death of your father, Paul. I am so grateful to him for all the research he did on the Burgess family, without his work we would know very little about our family history. May Paul rest in peace

Donal, Eoghan and extended family I was so sorry to hear about Paul. He was such a lovely gentleman with a mountain of knowledge and will be sadly missed. May he rest in peace.

Deepest sympathy to Dónal, Eoghan and extended family. I first met Pól fifty five years ago in UCD. We lost touch but reunited. I have many fond memories of him; his ultra-sharp mind inspired me and his razor-sharp wit always provoked me to laughter. He was an exceptionally kind individual, talented and warm-hearted. He'll be greatly missed.

To Donal and Eoghan my sincere condolences on the loss of your lovely father Pol. I was so sad to hear the news. Many years ago I babysat for you guys regularly (who were very good kids, as I’m sure you are now as adults) when you were little and when your dear Mam Nora and your Dad were filling me in on what might be needed in preparation for their absence - they would tell me to help myself to tea/coffee and lovely biscuits and he jokingly used to say to me “don’t be afraid to give them a knuckle sandwich” if they need it - lucky I was so naive I didn’t know what he meant but years later the penny dropped - though it was a joke as they both loved you guys so much. May Pol rest in peace reunited with his lovely Nora.

An old boss and colleague, so many good memories of a first class official, often frustrated by the unreasonable demands placed on him to be in two places, or more, when Nora was ill, particularly when covering an empty post at the EBRD while also working a demanding job in Dublin. A man of many interests and enthusiasms. All around good guy.

Sincere sympathy to Donal and Eoghan on the death of your father, Pol.

Pol was my boss in the Dept. of Finance for two periods in the early 1970s and the early 1980s - and we used to have lunch regularly in the Unicorn Minor Restaurant to discuss the state of the world! Later, we spent a holiday together at Mrs. Byrne's farm in Ballyknockan Co. Wicklow when Donal and Eoghan and my own son, Mark were very young. The boys enjoyed feeding and playing with an old horse -whom they called "Mr. Ed"!

Pol's published research on the history of Killiney and Ballybrack was very extensive and is still widely cited. In later years, I enjoyed Pol's wonderful talks and slides on family history in the Dublin City Library. Last Autumn, as a Barrister, I was able to help Pol with some legal research he was doing. His research work then as always was meticulous. Truly, he was a man of very many talents.

Like others. I will remember Pol for the rest of my life.

I'm lucky to have met Pól while he was working on his publications over the last two years, albeit virtually. He was always a joy to chat with and a total gent. My thoughts are with his friends and family who must be missing him terribly. RIP Pól.

Brón ar an mbás ...
Fear fuinniúil meabhrach misniúil lách ab ea Póló agus ana-chara thar na blianta.
Chuireas aithne air sa mhéanscoil agus cuimhním siar anois ar na turasanna a thugas ar an mBaile Breac ar mo rothar mar dhéagóir.
Mo chomhrón chuig a chlann, a thug aire maith dó agus é tinn.
Mairfidh Póló inar gcuimhne i gcónaí.

My sincere condolences to Donal and Eoghan on the sad passing of Pól RIP. I have fond memories of our always-mischievous banter in the Department of Finance agus an deis a thug sé dom mo chuid Gaeilge a úsáid leis. Suaimhneas síorraí go raibh ar a anam uasal dílis.

Condolences to Donal, Eoghan & their loved ones. I will miss Pól till the day I die. He was a kind, patient, intelligent & inspirational man. He supported me through many difficult years, encouraging me to get my book published & putting his own desire to finish his book about Gordon Brewster aside to help me get mine over the line. He will reside in my heart forever. Rest in peace my dear friend. Leentje x

Condolences to Donal and Eoghan on the death of your father Pól. I was deeply saddened to hear of his passing; a dear friend from our teenage years growing up in Ballybrack, Co. Dublin. I cherish the memories we shared and the friendship that lasted over so many decades. My thoughts and prayers are with the Ó Duibhir family at this difficult time.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam.
- Tom Ferris

Paul worked closely with me in the Department of Finance many years ago . As a colleague , a civil servant , and a fiend he was an admirable human being .
Cobhron Len a CHLANN UILIG

My sincere sympathy to all his family and friends. Pól was a true gentleman and an exemplary public servant, with a powerful intellect and a kind heart. I had the pleasure and honour of working with him. Ní bheidh a leithéid arís ann. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam.

Condolences to Donal and Eoghan. Pól was a great friend as well as a former colleague in the Department of Finance. I shall miss our lively conversations about cartoons and many other things. His book, Gordon Brewster and his Cartoons, completed in the final months of his life when he was already a very sick man, was an epic achievement.

Comhbhron o chroi le Donal agus Eoghan agus leis an gclann ar fad ar bhas Phoil. Cara dilis, fear eirimuil briomhar, scriobhneoir, griangrafadoir agus scealai cumasach ab ea e. Chuidigh se go mor le ceangal a choimead idir dhaltai "ne seu bliana 1963". Mothoimid uainn an spiorad iontach a bhi aige.

Paul was my Mother, Mary Worth's cousin.
He interviewed Mammy and Uncle Larry Medlar to write the history of the Medlars of Ballyellin Lock, Goresbridge and Paulstown. He was Auntie Mai Medlar Ledwitch's Godson. She loved him and he loved her.
Mammy found Paul to be a gentle spoken, interesting, gentleman. I found him to be a man with a lovely voice and a great wit. I was at his book launch and so honoured to be part of his celebration. Sleep well Paul.

Very sorry to hear of my cousin Paul’s passing, May his soul rest in peace. Sincere condolences to Donal, Eoghan and all the family. I have very fond memories of my holidays in Ballybrack with Paul and the family.

Sincere Sympathy to Pól's family and friends on your sad loss.
I worked with him in the Department of Finance. He was a kind and supportive boss who always found the time to share his expert knowledge with his team.
May he rest in peace.

Sad to hear of Pól's passing. We were work colleagues for many years and twice succeeded each other in jobs. Always found Pól very wise and having something interesting to say. One who will be missed.

Very sad to learn of the passing of Pól a friend from University days and later a colleague in the Department of Finance and a client when I was in practice as a lawyer. My sympathies to his family.

Ba mhór an onóir é bheith i gClub na Múinteoirí mí Bealtaine seo thart nuair a sheol Pól a leabhar álainn Gordon Brewster and his Cartoons. Bhí scata maith de iardhaltaí Choláiste Mhuire i láthair agus sinn ag tréaslú le Pól as a leabhar breá. Scéalaí den scoth ab'ea Pól. Ba bhreá a chomhluadar i gClub Chonradh na Gaeilge. Suaimhneas síoraí dá anam dílis.