IRISH AMERICA came of age in the 1970s and Eamonn Doran, who died on March 16th, two days before his 59th birthday, was a central figure in that maturing process. Not that he would have ever seen himself in those terms, but when the ebullient young man from Athboy, Co Meath, landed in Manhattan to make his fortune, it was in very much a case of cometh the hour, cometh the man. For Eamonn achieved that rare bipolar feat of being authentically Irish and genuinely American, as opposed to so many unfortunate souls who were neither.
He embraced America with passion and pride and gratitude, and the return embrace was as loving. From the day that he took up position behind the bar of P. J. Moran's saloon on 48th Street, between Fifth and Madison in 1971, the symbiosis began its magic work. Eamonn rapidly became an icon for Irish people and American people and everyone in between, an icon which found its permanent home when he opened his own restaurant and bar on Second Avenue.
The range and number of people who were attracted to him, and found in him echoes of who they were and who they wanted to be, was awesome. Everyone who was anyone in Irish and American circles came to Eamonn's restaurant, to reach out and be reached. But none had a longer reach than Eamonn. He was an outstanding fundraiser for private and public charities, and did good turns for people at a speed which Nigel Mansell would envy. He warmed a room by walking into it. His currency of life was friendship, and in that sense he was a very rich man.
In 1976, on Eamonn's birthday, a group of like souls formed the First Friday Club, which continues to congregate on the first Friday of every month in his restaurant, bringing together an extraordinary cross-pollination of the two countries joined by a hyphen. Governor Mario Cuomo presented him with the formal declaration that the great state of New York recognised First Friday as an official day of celebration and union.
Over the years, Eamonn had a little difficulty with the US immigration people, but when it was finally resolved, his first visit to Dublin caused 600 people to attend a party in his honour. As his business grew and prospered in New York, with four restaurants bearing his name, he returned to his roots and opened his eponymous establishment in Dublin's Temple Bar.
On his death, the New York Foundling Hospital placed a notice in the New York Times, saying: "Through Eamonn's untiring efforts and boundless energy over the last 17 years, public awareness and significant funds were raised for the children and families that the Foundling serves. With Eamonn's passing, the world is a less warm and friendly place." Equally he laboured for the benefit of Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin.
Eamonn has now been called to another, more celestial bar. The warmth of his welcome there will be matched by the sense of loss felt by his darling wife and business partner Claire, their sons Edward and Dermot, their extended family and the multitude of people who were proud to call him friend.