Thomas O’Connor was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1916, the future capital city of the Irish Republic. Known as a Tom to his family and friends, Grandad O’Connor was the fourth of six children. Sadly, his father died when he was only nine years old. He was compelled to drop out of school at age fourteen and pursue a trade to help support his mother and younger siblings. Due to the dire economic circumstances in Ireland during World War II, Tom traveled to Birmingham, England where he worked in a factory supporting the war effort. There he met his love of his life and wife to be.

Eileen Carey was born on the family farm near the small Northern Ireland village of Newtown-Crommelin in County Antrim. Northern Ireland was, and still is, part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. She studied nursing and was sent to a hospital in Birmingham during the war. At a dance one nigh between Nazi bombings, Tom and Eileen met. They married shortly after the war in 1946.

Tom and Eileen returned to Dublin, where they raised four children. The family emigrated to Chicago in the 1950s but missed home terribly and returned in the 1960s. Tom began his own small construction business. Together they shared the ups and downs of life for over 50 years and were blessed with five grandchildren. They passed away a year apart in 2001 and 2002.

Alas, they did not live to witness the establishment and phenomenal growth of O’Connor’s in Clarksville, Tennessee when it opened in 2007. However, they would have been extremely proud to see their name lent to this establishment with its high level of service, friendly staff, and exceptional clientele. On their behalf, Fáilte (welcome in Gaelic, the Irish language).