Durkan, Frank, 1930-2006.

Frank Durkan (1930-2006), a native of Co. Mayo, was a New York-based Irish American attorney active in legal cases and human rights issues related to Northern Ireland. He was a central player on the U.S. end of the Northern Ireland Peace Process, particularly in his role as Chairman of the political pressure group Americans for a New Irish Agenda (ANIA). In addition, Durkan was widely consulted on deportation and extradition cases involving Irish Americans living in the United States; his papers document the defense efforts mounted on behalf of dozens of men, particularly between 1991 and 2001.

Francis Patrick Durkan was born in Bohola, Co. Mayo, Ireland on 13 August 1930, the second son of Bernard Durkan, a teacher, and Mary Rose O’Dwyer. He was educated at St. Nathy’s in Ballaghadereen, Co. Mayo until emigrating (at age 17) to New York City in 1947, where two of his maternal uncles William and Paul O’Dwyer were already prominent members of municipal government and legal circles. Durkan earned his bachelor’s degree from Columbia University in 1951 followed by a law degree from New York Law School in 1953. He worked for the family firm of O’Dwyer & Bernstien, starting as a clerk and rising to senior partner. During his distinguished law career, he represented cases of injury, negligence, and malpractice but became best known for his work defending Irish Americans in civil rights matters related to the conflict in Northern Ireland.

He succeeded in preventing the extradition of Desmond Mackin in 1981 – that decision is a landmark in the field of Extradition Law – and successfully defended the Fort Worth Five in 1973 and George Harrison in 1982 against charges of gun-running for the Provisional IRA. He was also consulted on several other important deportation, extradition, and Irish prisoner cases that followed the Harrison trial, including Joe Doherty who was represented by Steve Sommerstein and Mary Pike between 1982-1992.

Frank Durkan cut his socio-political eye-teeth at the elbow of his uncle Paul O’Dwyer, a towering figure in the Mayo Society of New York, the United Irish Counties Association, the American League for an Undivided Ireland, and the Irish Institute. Paul O’Dwyer (1907-1998) was also President of the New York City Council (1974-1977). His uncle, William O’Dwyer (1890-1964) was mayor of New York City from 1946-1950.

Durkan was known and respected across a spectrum of the New York Irish community through some of these same organizations. In addition, he was a founding member of the Brehon Law Society of the City of New York (est. 1978) and the Irish American Unity Conference (est. 1983), both dedicated to working towards the extension of human rights in the north of Ireland. In 1992 Durkan helped organize Irish-Americans for Clinton-Gore with Congressman Bruce Morrison (D-CT), the co-sponsor of H.R. 4300 (Immigration Act of 1990), as its first Chairman. After the election of President Bill Clinton, this group became Americans for a New Irish Agenda (ANIA), a less partisan and more inclusive organization that monitored the Clinton Administration’s Irish campaign promises, worked closely with the Ad Hoc Committee for Irish Affairs in Congress, and was a key player in the Northern Ireland peace process. Durkan had been Chairman of ANIA for four years when he was the Mayo Society of New York’s Millennium Honoree and ‘Mayo Man of the Year’ in 2000. The history of the peace process in Northern Ireland, as it has been written since 1998, focused on ‘stars’ like George Mitchell, Jean Kennedy Smith, and William J. Flynn. The intense, behind-the-scenes work of groups like ANIA has been overlooked. The Frank Durkan Papers offer insight into the significant network of key relationships and perseverance in the United States that enabled dialogue to begin and continue in the north of Ireland during the 1990s.

Frank Durkan died on November 16, 2006 due to complications from a lung infection. He was survived by his wife, Monica Goggin, and daughters Mary Louise and Aisling.

From the guide to the Frank Durkan Papers, 1970-1990, (Tamiment Library / Wagner Archives)