Early Life
Born in Bonnettsrath, County Kilkenny, Gibbons was born into a very politically-minded family. His uncle, Seán Gibbons, was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Cumann na nGaedheal candidate at the 1923 general election but later joined the Farmer's Party and eventually joined Fianna Fáil.
Gibbons was educated locally and later attended Kilkenny CBS and St Kieran's College. Here he earned a reputation on the sports field, winning a Leinster colleges' hurling title. Following the completion of his Leaving Certificate he studied medicine at University College Dublin, however, he abandoned his studies after two years to return to Kilkenny where he concentrated on farming.
Gibbons later bought a 300-acre farm at the Pheasantgry, Dunmore, about four miles from Kilkenny city.
Read more about this topic: Jim Gibbons (Irish Politician)
Famous quotes related to early life:
“Many a woman shudders ... at the terrible eclipse of those intellectual powers which in early life seemed prophetic of usefulness and happiness, hence the army of martyrs among our married and unmarried women who, not having cultivated a taste for science, art or literature, form a corps of nervous patients who make fortunes for agreeable physicians ...”
—Sarah M. Grimke (1792–1873)