Editing Patrick Hillery (section)

==Early and private life==
[[File:Colorful shops in Main Street Milltown Malbay.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Hillery's Pub on Main Street, Milltown Malbay]]
Patrick John Hillery, more popularly known as Paddy Hillery, was born in [[Spanish Point, County Clare|Spanish Point]], [[County Clare]], in 1923. The son of Michael Joseph Hillery, a local doctor, and Ellen McMahon, a district nurse, he was educated locally at [[Milltown Malbay]] [[National school (Ireland)|National School]], before later attending [[Rockwell College]]. At the third level, Hillery attended [[University College Dublin]], where he qualified with a degree in medicine. Upon his conferral in 1947, he returned to his native town where he followed in his father's footsteps as a doctor. Hillery's medical career in the 1950s, saw him serve as a member of the National Health Council and as Medical Officer for the Milltown Malbay Dispensary District. He also spent a year working as [[coroner]] for West Clare.

Hillery married [[Maeve Hillery|Maeve Finnegan]], on 27 October 1955. Together they had a son, John, and a daughter, Vivienne, who died after a long illness in 1987,<ref name="Brian Cowen">{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0416/hilleryoration.html|title=Brian Cowen's graveside oration|date=17 April 2008|publisher=[[RTÉ News]]|access-date=17 April 2008|archive-date=20 April 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420223107/http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0416/hilleryoration.html|url-status=live}}</ref> shortly before her eighteenth birthday.