Eddie Kelliher

Eddie Kelliher was born in the town of Tralee, County Kerry, on the 8 March 1920. From an early age Kelliher was surrounded by an entrepreneurial atmosphere, as the Kelliher family were known as general merchants and millers since 1859. Following the completion of his studies at Castleknock, Kelliher did a year long apprenticeship within the family business. Kelliher would later become a chairman in Eason's as well as the president of Dublin Chamber of Commerce in 1978. == Family life ==

Hailing from a family of millers and general merchants since 1859, Eddie Kelliher was the only son of Maurice A. and Ellen Kelliher, who married in 1918. Kelliher had two sisters, Susan McKenna and Mary Walsh. Kelliher's father, Maurice A., the second son of Maurice J., was managing director of the family firm, M. Kelliher & Sons (1935) Ltd. until it was acquired by Edward, Maurice P. And John J. Kelliher in 1951. The family lived at “Park na Doon” house in Oakpark, Tralee. The property, which was built by its previous owner, William H. McCowen in 1882, is a detached five-bay three-storey house featuring an on-site tennis court; an addition that was laid out by the Kelliher family. They resided there from the early 1920s until the 1950s when the family moved to Listowel soon after Maurice stepped down from the family firm. Prior to the family moving to Listowel, Eddie met Doreen (née O’Sullivan), a Valentia native, in 1940, whom he would eventually marry five years later on 16 August 1945. The couple had three sons, Desmond, Malcolm and St John; and six daughters; Christine, Laura, Brenda, Judith, Felicity and Genevieve. Two of Kelliher's daughters, Christine and Laura, have died. However, as of his memoriam, it is noted that he is survived by his twelve grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. One of his granddaughters, Daisy Kelliher, has been a cast member on the TV series Below Deck Sailing Yacht since season 2. == Career in sailing ==

Kelliher began sailing at the age of 15 in Fenit Tralee, in an old canoe that was given to him by his uncle. After moving to Dublin in 1952, Kelliher joined the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire as a member in 1954. He was a member in the Royal Irish for over 62 years. He spent most of his sailing career here. In 1961 Kelliher competed in the Edinburgh Cup Competition on the Firth of Clyde. Kelliher's boat was the sole boat from Dun Laoghaire at the event. The boat suffered many breakages at this event, including a broken kicker strap and parted spinnaker halyard, however Kelliher's results prior to this aided his selection to go to the Olympics. In the lead up to the Olympics, Kelliher continued to sail as a member in the Royal Irish Yacht Club. In preparation, he competed in their 1963 End Of Season race in his own Dragon keelboat named ysolde. He finished first place in this event with a time of 6 hours 55 minutes and 2 seconds. Saphire of osyth in 2nd position and verve in 3rd. In 1964, Kelliher was nominated by the then Irish Yachting Association, now the Irish Sailing Association to compete in the Tokyo Summer Olympics 1964 for sailing. He was helmsman in the mixed three person dragon keelboat category with Harry Maguire and Robert Dalton. They chartered the boat named '''Akatombo','' where they finished in 20th place out of a total of 23 boats. Kelliher and his two crew mates had a total of 1'331 points in the event. In 1965 a year after his Olympics debut, Kelliher competed in the first Dragon keel boat World Championships in Sweden with his wife Doreen Kelliher (née O'Sullivan) as his crew. == Later life and death ==

After retiring from his competitive sailing career, he carried on sailing with his wife, Dooren. Kelliher and Doreen traveled together through many places such as the Mediterranean. Regularly following the same ways of classical figures such as Ulysses. They owned a cruising boat in Mallorca, where they both lived for a few years before returning to Ireland. ==References==