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In loving memory of Mícheál Ó Doibhilín, 
founder and Managing Director of Kilmainham Tales Teo.

It is with our saddest hearts that we share the news of Mícheál's death. A wonderful husband, Dad and Grandad, our hearts are broken. Kilmainham Tales was Dad’s passion and we thank you all for your support and for putting your trust in him to share the importance and significance of Irish history - remembering for the future. 
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

Mícheál Ó Doibhilín: An Appreciation by Ray Bateson
Researcher, author and publisher devoted to Irish history

Mícheál Ó Doibhilín, researcher, author and publisher of more than 40 books, died on July 4th, 2022. He was born and educated in Dublin, and following his studies in the National College of Art and Design, he began his career as a graphic designer in advertising. He was freelance for a period, then worked in various managerial roles in the industry.
At the age of 60 he changed direction, becoming a tour guide at Kilmainham Gaol. He began researching the Gaol’s history and started an in-house magazine called Sentences, where he and other guides could publish research, articles or information related by visitors.
Ó Doibhilín saw that there was a need for simple books on Irish history that visitors could enjoy. The subject matter was more often a forgotten or little-known piece of history, such as the Great Liberties Whiskey Fire by Las Fallon or Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc’s book on the British men who fought and died for the Irish Republic 1916-1923. 
He launched the publishing house Kilmainham Tales in 2010 with his own book, Anne Devlin: The Bravest of the Brave, about his hero. Through his research he identified the cell she occupied in Kilmainham Gaol, and for more than 15 years, arranged to commemorate her with a mass and a service at her grave in Glasnevin. He began a campaign to have Devlin’s husband reinterred with her. His background in art and design was an invaluable asset as he did all the work of publication from cover design, layout, publicity and marketing. 
He published a second book and six by his fellow guides, including ones by Dr Shane Kenna and Paul O’Brien. 
Ó Doibhilín retired from Kilmainham Gaol in 2016 and this allowed him to work full time on his publications. The final count in the Kilmainham Tales series was more than 20 books. He also developed a local history series, publishing books on the Dougher cemetery in Lurgan and stories and poems by Greg Creaney in two volumes. He published two volumes for the Blanchardstown Castleknock History Society. 
He started a series of 14 longer books — Kilmainham Tales Specials — which includes the excellent four volumes on weapons of the Easter Rising, War of Independence and Civil War by retired US army lieutenant Col Kieran E McMullan. The last in the series, published a few months ago, was on St James’ Church and graveyard by Sean J Murphy. 
For more than 10 years, Ó Doibhilín, with his friend, colleague and historian Liz Gillis, organised an annual conference on the burning of the Custom House 1921, and he published a book under that name, written by Gillis. The conferences produced another four books by various authors. 
In 2020 Ó Doibhilín published James Langton’s The Forgotten Fallen. The last book he finished was a joint effort with Langton on the graves of IRA Volunteers who were buried in the cemetery in Esker.
Ó Doibhilín gave talks to history societies and schools, and worked with voluntary organisations. He was a fluent Irish speaker and gave interviews on television and radio. 
One of his greatest supporters was the then Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr Nial Ring, who obtained grants for some of the publications and honoured Ó Doibhilín with a reception in the Mansion House to recognise 10 years of Kilmainham Tales. 
On a personal level, he made you feel like he was your very best friend. He would drop everything to provide assistance, and he had a wonderful laugh and wasn’t afraid to use it. It was a measure of the man that one of the last things he did was to text an apology to those whose books he hadn’t been able to finish. 
He will be sadly missed by his great company of friends, from all over Ireland, but especially by his wife, Milla, his three children Aisling, Jenny and Neasa, and his five beloved grandchildren Cian, Henry, Luke, Emmet and Will.


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