ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
For help in a variety of ways, I wish to thank the following: the late Michael Adams, Bertie Ahern, Simon Ball, Kate Breslin, Maurice Bric, Robert Brigham, Anthony Carragher, Karina Daly, Ronan Fanning, Claire Joyce, Jim King, Marion McGowan, Denis O’Brien, Michael O’Leary, Fintan O’Toole, Michael Staunton, Peter Strafford, Harry White; the President, faculty and students at Bard College, particularly Deirdre d’Albertis, Michèle Dominy, Peter Gadsby, Stephen Graham, Mark Lytle, Wyatt Mason and Karen Sullivan; archivist of the Ryan papers, Áine Mc Hugh; Kathryn Aldous, Brian Murphy and my outstanding researcher Niamh Puirséil for reading the first draft; Michael Gill, Fergal Tobin, Deirdre Rennison Kunz, Teresa Daly, Jen Patton and the team at Gill & Macmillan; Georgina Capel at Capel and Land; and Kathryn Aldous, Elizabeth Aldous and my mother and late father for their constant support and encouragement. Finally I would like to thank Declan Ryan for asking me to write this biography and giving me the freedom to get on with the job—a testament to his confidence that Tony Ryan’s legacy will endure.
Richard Aldous
Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
IMAGES
Martin and Lily Ryan: Tony’s parents at Keane’s Points, Limerick Junction, Co. Tipperary, c. 1935.
Christening day: Martin Ryan with Tony, aged three months, at Keane’s Points, 1936.
‘Trains were in my blood’: Tony, aged around two years, wearing his father’s fireman’s cap, at Limerick Junction.
The railway children: (from left to right), Tony, Kell, Simon, Mary and Rena Ryan, with their parents Lily and Martin, at Bohernamona Road, Thurles, Co. Tipperary, c. 1950.
Tony (back row, far right), Simon Ryan and Rena Ryan (second row, fourth and fifth from right) at the National School in Monard, Co. Tipperary, c. 1943. Of the twelve children whose feet are visible, seven have no shoes.
Visit to Glenstal Abbey, Co. Limerick, 1948. Tony (far right) with Michael Cleary, Tony Wall, Pádraig Garman, Gus Mahoney, Seán Carey, Leo Mc Namara and Declan Mooney. (Courtesy of John [Seán] Carey)
‘Counter-jumper’: Tony in his Aer Lingus uniform at Bohernamona Road, c. 1955.
American Dream: Tony (far left) watches Minister for Transport and Power, Brian Lenihan, Snr, open the Aer Lingus-Irish terminal at JFK Airport, New York, 7 May 1971.
The boredom begins to show: Tony (far right) visibly outgrowing middle management at Aer Lingus. JFK Airport, c. 1972.
Mr GPA: (clockwise, left top) T.A. Ryan, chief executive; Boeing 707 in GPA livery; GPA Boeing 737 on wet lease to Air Lanka, Sri Lanka; GPA Boeing 737, one of two on long-term lease to Aerotour, France.
A new image: Tony in the Library at Kilboy, Dolla, Co. Tipperary, mid-1980s.
Always embracing a bull market: Tony on the farm at Kilboy.
Des O’Malley in 1982, when he was Minister for Trade, Commerce and Tourism. Both in and out of government, O’Malley was a forceful advocate for airline deregulation. (© Photocall Ireland)
Editor Vincent Browne in the offices of the Sunday Tribune, c. 1983. (© Photocall Ireland)
Tony with the Taoiseach and future GPA Board member, Garret FitzGerald. The coalition government led by FitzGerald awarded Ryanair a licence for the Dublin–Luton route in 1985.
Dr Tony Ryan: commencement ceremony at the University of Limerick for the award of an honorary doctorate, 1992.
‘There’s space for everyone here’: As Minister for Tourism and Transport in 1989, Séamus Brennan (pictured with Kerry Airport chairman Bryan Cunningham) promoted the ‘two airlines’ policy that allowed Ryanair to grow. (Courtesy of Kerry Airport)
‘Better to wear away than rust away’: Lily Ryan breaking ground for the Martin Ryan Institute, University College, Galway, 1990, with Captain Cathal Ryan on the left. When this photo was taken, Tony (hidden), 54, was very aware that his father had died at the same age.
Tony in February 1992, shortly before the failure of GPA’s share flotation. (© Getty Images/ David Levenson)
‘To look out the window at Dublin Airport and see a Ryanair aircraft sitting there was a wake-up call.’—David Kennedy, Aer Lingus.
With Bill Clinton, Dublin Castle, 1 December 1995. After the failure of GPA, Tony was already on his way back up with Ryanair.
Protégé: Michael O’Leary at the Ryanair offices in Dublin Airport, 1999. (© Photocall Ireland)
With Richard Branson. ‘Dear Richard, The correct spelling is Bollix. Warmest regards, Tony.’ Takeover talks between Virgin Express and Ryanair collapsed in 1996.
The House that Ryan Built: Lyons Demesne, Co. Kildare.
The front gate at Castleton Lyons in Lexington, Kentucky. (© Alamy)
Ryanair chairman David Bonderman at the company’s AGM, a year after taking the airline public in 1997. (© Photocall Ireland)
Tony with the jockey Kevin Manning and a groom at Leopardstown racecourse. Horses had been a passion since childhood when he could see the Tipperary racecourse from his house in Limerick Junction. (© Healy Racing)
Tony with his friend Ed Walsh (left), founding president of the University of Limerick, and Dublin City University president, Ferdinand von Prondzynski, at the DCU Ryan Academy, 2005. (© Irish Times)
The front gate of Lyons Demesne on 5 October 2007, the day that Tony was buried. (© Collins Agency)
Ireland’s Aviator: Tony in his Aer Lingus uniform in October 1957 and at the Pima Air and Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona, shortly before his death in 2007. Between these two photographs being taken, Tony Ryan had transformed the global aviation industry.
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First published by Gill & Macmillan 2013
This ebook edition published by Gill & Macmillan 2013
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About the Author
Richard Aldous holds the Eugene Meyer Chair at Bard College, New York, having previously taught for fifteen years at UCD. He is the bestselling author of numerous books, including Great Irish Speeches, Reagan and Thatcher and The Lion and the Unicorn: Gladstone vs. Disraeli.
About Gill & Macmillan
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