John M. Feehan


John M. Feehan was an Irish author and publisher. The eldest son of a schoolmaster, Feehan was born in Dualla, County Tipperary.

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 .
Feehan died in Cork on 25 May 1991 of an apparent heart attack at the age of 74.

Selected bibliography

The Secret Places of the West Cork Coast.
This is the story of a remarkable and wonderful woman, who knew she was going to die a lingering and painful death but who faced up to it with unbelievable courage and who turned her last terrible years on this earth into the greatest years of her life - years of kindness, patience, understanding and unselfishness.