Early and Private Life
Enda Kenny was born in Derrywash in the village of Islandeady near Castlebar, County Mayo in 1951, the third child of five. He was educated locally at St. Patrick's National School in Cornanool and St. Gerald's College (De La Salle) in Castlebar. Kenny subsequently attended St. Patrick's College of Education in Dublin and University College Galway. He briefly worked as a primary school teacher.
Kenny has been married to Dubliner Fionnuala O'Kelly since 1992. She has been described by the media as his "best asset" and his "secret weapon". O'Kelly is first cousin to sitting MEP Seán Kelly, former President of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). The Kelly family originally come from the parish of Kilcummin near Killarney, County Kerry. Enda and Fionnuala have three children, one daughter and two sons. The couple met in Leinster House where O'Kelly worked as a press officer for Fianna Fáil. She later worked with Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ).
Kenny has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and completed the Ring of Kerry Charity Cycle. He is a keen supporter of his native Mayo Gaelic football team. He played Gaelic football for his local club, Islandeady, of which he is the current club president. His father, Henry Kenny, won an All-Ireland medal with the inter-county team in 1936. His grandfather was a lighthouse keeper.
Read more about this topic: Enda Kenny
Famous quotes containing the words private life, early, private and/or life:
“What, really, is wanted from a neighborhood? Convenience, certainly, an absence of major aggravation, to be sure. But perhaps most of all, ideally, what is wanted is a comfortable background, a breathing space of intermission between the intensities of private life and the calculations of public life.”
—Joseph Epstein (b. 1937)
“... business training in early life should not be regarded solely as insurance against destitution in the case of an emergency. For from business experience women can gain, too, knowledge of the world and of human beings, which should be of immeasurable value to their marriage careers. Self-discipline, co-operation, adaptability, efficiency, economic management,—if she learns these in her business life she is liable for many less heartbreaks and disappointments in her married life.”
—Hortense Odlum (1892–?)
“The new sound-sphere is global. It ripples at great speed across languages, ideologies, frontiers and races.... The economics of this musical esperanto is staggering. Rock and pop breed concentric worlds of fashion, setting and life-style. Popular music has brought with it sociologies of private and public manner, of group solidarity. The politics of Eden come loud.”
—George Steiner (b. 1929)
“The fact which interests us most is the life of the naturalist. The purest science is still biographical.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)