On the morning of 10 November 2022, this world of ours lost an extraordinary and irreplaceable human being. Paddy McSwiney hoisted his sails for his final voyage. Those of us who are left behind continue to experience an indescribable sense of loss, and we hope that those on the other side are ready for the arrival of that ‘larger than life’ character, who will, undoubtedly, have a major influence on how they do things over there.
Paddy McSwiney was born on 3 February 1953 and would have reached his 70th birthday this year. He was married to Ruth and they had six children, Chris, Joan, Laura, Kate, Carol and Francis, and eight grandchildren. He was proud of and deeply connected to his family having a clear understanding about their individual strengths and characteristics. He was quite definitely the pater familias, in their home in Dublin and when on holiday. He was probably at his happiest when surrounded by family and friends, chatting and entertaining, issuing instructions, in charge of the barbecue and being the life and soul of the party.
Paddy (second from right) sharing good times with some of his sailing friends
He was an accountant, a graduate of UCD, whose understanding of his profession and his knowledge of a wider range of subjects greatly exceeded the popular conception of what accountants did and extended into the realms of management, organisation, legal opinion, and providing encouragement and motivation to everyone he encountered, both professionally and socially. He was a reservoir of sound advice for anyone who might ask him, and many did, particularly when they were experiencing financial difficulties following the banking crisis in 2010 and the years following it. His advices were always intelligent, incisive, clear thinking, and invariably led to finding solutions and solving problems. These advices were always delivered with an underlying sense of humour that conveyed the impression that no problem was too big or too serious, and the solution was there to be found almost with no effort at all. He was highly loved and respected and had an extraordinary and unique capacity to engage with people and bring out the best in them.
Quite apart from his professional life and his business activities, he was totally involved and committed to the Royal Irish Yacht Club. He had been introduced to the Club by the late David Anderson, a former Commodore, and as a result, the RIYC became his second home. He served on many Club Committees during the terms of office of numerous Commodores. He served on the House Committee, the Wine Committee, the Sailing Committee, Membership Committee and Strategy Committee, and as Rear-Commodore, Vice-Commodore and ultimately Commodore during the years 2012-2014.
The Royal Irish Yacht Club was most fortunate to have him as a member and indeed the beneficiary of his involvement, dedication, wisdom and expertise and infinite capacity for social engagement throughout the years he spent there. He and eleven classmates from his school days would come together every year at one of the Club’s Christmas lunches. They were known as the twelve apostles and would always sing ‘the twelve days of Christmas’, after lunch. They had been doing this, every year, in one venue or another, since leaving school!
His primary passion and source of enjoyment, relaxation and entertainment was sailing. He was, yet again, the pater familias of another family of sailors most of whom he had introduced to the sport, and who accompanied him in his sailing activities on Dublin Bay and off-shore and further afield on one or other of the four boats he co-owned.
Shortly after joining the Royal Irish Yacht Club, Paddy purchased his first boat “Grasshopper” a Trapper 300, along with three friends, all of whom, at the time, knew little about sailing and less about the purchasing of boats. Paddy turned to an old college friend, John Kelly, who had been sailing mermaids since the age of twelve and even though he had abandoned sailing on going to college, Paddy felt he must know something about boats and provide this new crew with some introductory sailing lessons. Not only did John Kelly advise on the purchase of Grasshopper, but as a result of sailing around Dublin Bay, with Paddy and his mates, John realised how much he had missed the experience. He acquired a boat of his own and returned to sailing, an activity he religiously pursues to this day. Introducing people to sailing and encouraging lapsed sailors to return to the fold became one of the hallmarks of Paddy McSwiney’s sailing career. Throughout his life as a mariner he would invite countless newcomers to experience the joys of sailing, sail racing and cruising, and perhaps more importantly keep them connected to the sport by his indefatigable enthusiasm and his sense of fun and enjoyment. It didn’t matter how well or how badly the boat and crew performed in a race, as long as the sense of fun prevailed and everyone was enjoying themselves.
The early days of Grasshopper’s racing career may have resulted in many finishes towards the end of fleet, causing the ship’s motto to be coined “longer at sea!” Whatever about leading the fleet, you could always rely on Paddy’s team to lead the apres-sail!
Having sailed Grasshopper for a number of seasons, Paddy graduated to owning a Sigma 33 “Pippa 4”. This new boat extended his cruising range beyond the confines of Dublin Bay, making off-shore passages to Kinsale, Baltimore, Crosshaven and Schull to participate in Cork Week and visit various harbours along the south and west coasts. His sense of inclusivity never diminished nor did his determination to place fun and entertainment at the centre of all his sailing exploits. Michael Buckley summed it up by saying “He just wanted to make sure everyone was enjoying themselves as much as he was”. At that time, Sigma 33’s were extremely popular and numerous and on one occasion during Calves Week, Pippa 4 joined a fleet of sixty-four Sigma 33’s on the start line. During these away expeditions, Paddy was always the organiser both on land and on the water. He would always take personal responsibility to provision the boat, arrange on-shore accommodation for the crew, again taking on his roles as “Dad” of the household ashore and skipper of the boat at sea. His thoughtfulness and consideration towards the entire crew was the glue that held everything together and ensured that only wonderful memories would remain at the end of every voyage.
Pippa 4 was followed by a Beneteau 31.7 called “Extreme Reality”. The number of people Paddy introduced to sailing continued to increase. He found potential crew at Board meetings, encounters in restaurants, at social occasions, and through connections with old school friends, bringing people from all walks of life together and amazingly creating effective working teams, often from the most unlikely and unpromising raw material!
Tom Moloney, both a crew member and a business partner, believes that one of Paddy’s greatest achievements was encouraging non-sailors to give sailing ‘a go’. His Tuesday crew was his trademark. He was in his element as he left the mouth of the harbour, any harbour. He relished the open sea and what challenges it, the wind or the course committee might throw at him, and even if the boat ended up near the back of the fleet, he could always enjoy the après sail time with his crew. It became the time for conversation, not just an analysis of the pros and cons of the race just completed, but about any topic under the sun that might occur to Paddy or to any those present. Patricia Gaffney maintains that it was the exceptional joviality of the après sail that drew her to Paddy’s crew.
On board D-Tox, Paddy (top left) and his crew are dressed for the Christmas occasion before racing at the DBSC Turkey Shoot Series on Dublin Bay hosted by the Royal Irish Yacht Club
His last boat was a 35ft Danish built X-yacht, which, with the help of Kyran McStay, had been sourced in a boatyard in Cork. That boat, and the three others that preceded it, have left a legacy of truly extraordinary enjoyable and unique sailing from the Royal Irish Yacht Club, for a large cohort of sailors who would never have set foot on the deck of a yacht had they not been invited by Paddy McSwiney. Comhnall Tuohy who worked professionally with Paddy and who sailed with him, understood his all important love of life, and his love for his motley crew. “To his credit he never sought out better sailors (and he could have). His desire to win, never won over his desire for good company and fun.” Philip Sherry summed it up “He was a legend who is sadly missed”.
Two former Royal Irish Commodores share a joke - Paul Sherry (left) with Paddy
Throughout his life, Paddy’s work and leisure time interacted with countless people, and because of his open and generous personality, he was liked by all of them. His son, Christopher, in his eulogy and quoting Paul Sherry, said that “he had never met anyone who didn’t like Paddy and in fact that he never met anyone who hadn’t met Paddy”. His positivity was infectious, and his constant wit and humour was ever present. Peter Redden, remembering a trip to Galicia, could not recall so much laughter on board a yacht. His description of Paddy was “Paddy McSwiney - a life well lived”.
His instant wit and capacity to think on his feet can be illustrated by a story told of Paddy, as a recently qualified accountant working in one of Dublin’s well known accountancy firms, when one morning he took some time off from his work to go out to have his hair cut. When he returned to the office he was called in by the Senior Partner. “I see you have had your hair cut, Mr McSwiney”. Did you by any chance have that done on office time? “Yes sir” was the response, “you see it grew on office time”. The senior partner, not phased by this clever and quick-witted reasoning, retorted “But surely Mr McSwiney, it didn’t all grow on office time”. “That is correct sir, but I didn’t get it all cut off!!”
Apart from his effervescent personality and his capacity to be totally open and inclusive in the way he welcomed anybody and everybody to share in his enjoyment of sailing, Paddy was equally open to helping people whom he encountered professionally. In this respect, he did more good than most people will ever know, being generous with his advice, on professional, financial and personal matters. He fixed things for people by being obliging, understanding and quickly responding to identified and presented problems.
Paddy enjoying a drink onboard his yacht on Dublin Bay. His primary passion and source of enjoyment, relaxation and entertainment was sailing
Paddy McSwiney possessed a spectacularly improbable combination of intelligence, business acumen, professionalism, instant memory recall, thoughtfulness, generosity, humour and kindness.
We will not see the likes of him again.
“The life given us by nature is short, but the memory of a well-spent life is eternal.” - Marcus Tullius Cicero
James Horan
