Pat Quinn

Pat Quinn. Made it, lost it, made it again.

Pat Quinn was born in the village of Cloone, Co Leitrim, on July 1, 1935, the eldest of six children. He was educated at the local national school and St Mel’s College, Longford, before working as as a management trainee at Woolworth’s in Limerick at five pounds a week salary. His mother Annie ran the family pub and shop, McNamee’s, while his father Barney was a garda. He retired from the police after 20 years and bought a Bedford truck and started to deliver groceries and rations throughout Leitrim.
After a five-year career with Woolworths which saw him working in branches in Ballina, Galway and back to Limerick as assistant manager, Pat opened the first Quinnsworth in Longford town, in partnership with his uncle.
He married Anne Blake from Ballyconnell, Co Cavan, in 1961. They went to Canada and he spent five years learning the grocery trade while also doing some promoting. Among the acts he brought to Canada were Johnny Cash and the Rolling Stones.
He came back to Dublin in 1965 and worked at first as a manager in H Williams. He opened Quinnsworth in the Stillorgan Shopping Centre in December, 1966, complete with escalator, a novelty in Ireland at the time. By 1971 he had six stores and a turnover of £6 million.
The stores depended heavily on Mr Quinn’s colourful personality – he had a strong belief in advertising and he fronted the Quinsworth TV ads himself in his poloneck, becoming a household name in the process. His main competitors were Dunnes Stores, Superquinn, H Williams and Five Star. He created the phrase “yellow pack” for his cut-price brand. In the early 1970s, Pat Quinn sold out his controlling interest in Quinnsworth and the stores eventually became the first branches of Tesco in Ireland.
He bought the Mooneys pub chain in Dublin, and lost it. He established and lost the KilternanSports Hotel in Co Dublin. He opened a chain of snooker halls and made money. At the age of 50, he went back into retailing with a new cut-price supermarket, ‘Shoparound’, but without success. He worked as a bookie before leaving recession-hit Ireland and returned to Canada. Before he left, a group of friends got together and held a £100-a-head dinner in Dublin to send him on his way.
Back in Canada his Midas touch returned. He worked with Murphy’s Snack foods for a while and then became Toronto’s Irish concert promoter. Over the years he showcased  The Dubliners, Paddy Reilly, Brendan Grace, The Fureys, Phil Coulter, Dave Allen, Daniel O’Donnell and Val Doonican.
He opened bookshops and later the Irish Embassy bar and grill and PJ O’Briens pub in Toronto. His son Paul operated The Irish Embassy Bar & Grill in Montreal. He also set up a successful bookmaking business, Booksworth Canada..
Pat Quinn died at his home in Toronto on November 24, 2009. He was survived by his wife Anne, and seven children: Bernard, Pat Jr, Lisa, Gavin, Paul, Tanya and Barry.