Paddy Healy, archaeologist, local historian and friend, has died after a long life devoted to Ireland's past. Through his work on archaeological excavations in Dublin city and elsewhere, his meticulous collection of information, his support of various societies and his encouragement to younger generations, his influence has been widespread and invaluable.
Born in Canada in 1916 of Irish emigrant parents, Paddy moved with his family to Dublin at the age of five. After schooling in Haddington Road and Marino, he studied building construction in Bolton Street College, where his subjects included land surveying and technical drawing; both were to prove important in his later career. After graduation he worked as a silkscreen printer in Modern Display Artists while he took night classes under Sean Keating at the National College of Art.
During the Emergency Paddy served in the Army, then worked as a painter and decorator for a time. An important change came in 1949 when he joined the staff of the Land Commission as a surveyor. After eight years he moved to the Forestry Division, again as a surveyor.
In 1952 he began to attend Prof Sean P. O Riordain's lectures in archaeology in University College Dublin as an occasional student. He joined the UCD Archaeological Society, becoming its vice-president, and his contact with the college led him to work as part of Prof O Riordain's team on the excavation of the Rath of the Synods at Tara during his annual holidays. In 1967 he joined Breandan O Riordain's team on the second excavation at High Street in Dublin. At this stage Paddy made a major decision to abandon the security of his job with the Forestry Division to work full-time on archaeological excavations. He went on to work on excavations at Winetavern Street in 1969, Christchurch Place between 1972 and 1979, and from 1976 in Fishamble Street.
When the work on the Wood Quay site became controversial, Paddy stood firmly on the side of archaeology. His quiet but determined manner was a great source of encouragement to his colleagues as he sat in on the site, and he was the author of a poem written about the controversy and sold to raise funds for the campaign.
During the 1970s Paddy Healy acted as a contract archaeologist providing advice and working on excavations. Most importantly, he provided lists of monuments and sites of archaeological interest in Co Dublin in the mid-1970s to assist in the preparation of the county development plan and the action area plans which preceded the development of the western new towns of Tallaght, Lucan/ Clondalkin and Blanchardstown.
Over the years he wrote papers and articles for a variety of publications, including several in which he described for the first time monuments and artefacts which he had discovered. Some of these were early grave slabs from the Rathdown area of south Dublin and north Wicklow and these became the topic of his MA thesis presented to NUI Galway under the supervision of Prof Etienne Rynne.
Paddy, in turn, was the subject of a publication when 29 colleagues and friends contributed papers in his honour for publication in a book, Dublin and Beyond the Pale, edited by Con Manning.
Among the organisations to benefit greatly from his membership were the Old Dublin Society, the Royal Society of Antiquaries, the Dublin Archaeological Society, Friends of Medieval Dublin, the Irish Architectural Archive and the Rathmichael Historical Society.
Paddy Healy was laid to rest on December 11th last in the cemetery at Mount Venus in the Dublin Mountains, close to historical and archaeological sites that he had investigated and overlooking the city which he had loved so much.
R.G.