Born in Liverpool, he was raised in Newry where he attended the Abbey Christian Brothers Grammar School. His father, John Quinn, opened the first supermarket in Ireland, The Milestone. He lived in the US and England for many years before returning to Newry to work as a general practitioner. He later adopted the name Pádraig Ó Cuinn. [citation needed]
During the War of Independence he commanded a unit that operated against the BritishinDublin city centre. He was involved in numerous operations in the field.
He fought on the anti-Treaty side in the Irish Civil War. On 27 July, he led a small unit that breached the Dundalk prison wall with dynamite, and in fifteen minutes captured the garrison of 300 men and arms for 400 and freed Republican prisoners without any casualties.[1] In spring 1923, he succeeded Frank Aiken as commander of the IRA's 4th Northern Division.[2] He was severely wounded in the conflict and interned in the Curragh, where he watched his brother, Sean, die from neglect in an adjoining hospital bed.[3]
Quinn had tried to escape an ambush at a safe house in Co. Louth at the end of the Civil War before being taken prisoner.[citation needed]
After the war, he presided over the Newry Easter commemoration ceremonies in St Mary's cemetery in Newry, on the border between counties Armagh and Down, for 30 years.[4] He lobbied the Irish Government to recognize men who served under his command in both conflicts as veterans entitled to veterans' benefits.[citation needed]
Pádraig Quinn married Marguerite Magennis of the Priory House (Chapel Street, Newry); the couple had 5 children: Sean, Ann, Deirdre, Felim and Niall. Quinn was also a co-founder of the Old Newry Society.[citation needed]
