An Irish immigrant, Shawn moved to Salem from his native Galway at an undetermined time. In the early stages of the "Brady-DiMera Feud Resolution" storyline in the early-2000s, it was revealed that Shawn had maintained sporadic contact with family and friends in Ireland throughout the years. Including the "rougher" element of their hometown, who regard Shawn with a great degree of respect and refer to him only as, "Himself". There were strong hints that Shawn may have had some underworld dealings of his own in his youth, and was possibly involved directly in some of the early battles of the feud with the DiMera family, but this was later dropped. Shawn was the husband of Caroline Brady, and father of three biological children Roman Brady, Kimberly Brady and Kayla Brady Johnson, two adopted children Frankie Brady and Max Brady and one legal son, Bo Brady. In 1990, Shawn was shocked to learn that Greek tycoon Victor Kiriakis was the father of his and Caroline's youngest child, Bo, the product of an affair that Caroline had with Victor years earlier. Over the years, Shawn has kept himself busy in a number of ways. Originally the owner of the Brady Fish Market, after their business was destroyed and Shawn suffered a massive heart attack, he and Caroline re-opened the Fish Market as the Brady Pub, often employing many of their family and friends. Over the years the pub has functioned as a second home for some of their grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and their first great-grandson, Will, spent a great deal of time there while he was growing up.
Family
Shawn has been married to Caroline Brady since he first appeared on-air in 1983. The son of Peter Brady, and the grandson of Patrick Aloysius and Nora Molly Brady, Shawn has a brother Eric and two sisters named Molly and Colleen. Shawn was devastated when he learned that his brother Eric had molested his daughter Kimberly when she was a child, which resulted in Kim later developing multiple personality disorder. Molly married a man with the surname Murphy and had one known child, Colin, who turned out to be working for the DiMeras. In the summer of 2007, it was revealed that Shawn also had an older sister Colleen who bore striking resemblance to Shawn's granddaughter Sami Brady. Through his son Roman, Shawn has grandchildren Carrie, Sami, Eric, Rex, and Cassie. He also has great-grandchildren; one through Carrie, and four through Sami. Through Shawn-Douglas, he is the legal great-grandfather to Claire Brady. Shawn and Caroline also have a spot in their hearts for John Black, whom they were tricked into believing was their son Roman for several years until the real Roman returned to town. In the summer of 2007, it was revealed that Shawn's sister Colleen had a relationship with Stefano's father Santo DiMera, and that may have been the start of the Brady – DiMera family feud. Colleen was presumed to have died in a horrible manner at a young age, falling or jumping from a cliff in Galway. Shawn maintained that she was killed by a DiMera, while Santo's son, Stefano, blamed Shawn Brady. In reality both could be blamed. Stefano told Shawn that his mother was not dead and his father was still married and on the day of Colleen and Santo's wedding, Shawn told Colleen. Her death is said to have sparked the Brady/DiMera feud that has been going on since Santo's death in the 1980s. In January 2008, Colleen was found to have not killed herself. She had faked her death and left Ireland for South America. She died days after she and Shawn reunited. Grandpa Shawn died after giving up his oxygen mask to save his son, Bo, on a sabotaged airplane that was going down.
