Desmond Doyle

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Desmond Doyle (1924 - 1986) was a poor Irish painter, decorator and sometime cello player whose children (Evelyn, Maurice, Noel, John, Kevin and Dermot) were taken into care by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) when his wife, Charlotte, left him on St. Stephen's Day, 1953 (December 26). After placing the children in what he believed to be a temporary situation, he left for work in England. While in England, he met Jesse Brown, who was his landlady and later accompanied him back to Ireland as his "housekeeper." However, upon his return to Ireland in the fall of 1954, he petitioned for the return of his children. However, the government denied his request, citing the best interests of the children (and, it is believed, disapproval of his living arrangements with Miss Brown, a Protestant). He subsequently fought a legal battle to regain custody of them, which required overturning the provisions of the Irish Children's Act, which did not allow for a father to care for his own children in the absence of their mother (unless she was living and gave written permission for him to do so), and a case presented in the Irish Supreme Court in which it was claimed that the Children's Act contravened several sections of the Irish Constitution. In December of 1955, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Desmond Doyle, and ordered that the children be returned to him and that his court costs were to be reimbursed by the government.

The events leading up to the Supreme Court's decision were recounted in the book "Evelyn A True Story", by eldest daughter Evelyn Doyle (2003, Orion Publishing Group, London). The story was also published as "Tea and Green Ribbons: A Memoir" (2003, Free Press, New York). Her sequel describing the Doyle's life and Evelyn's life after the Supreme Court decision was published as "Nothing Green: The Sequel to the Bestselling 'Evelyn'" (2004, Orion Publishing Group, London).

These events have also been recorded in a film, Evelyn (2002), starring Pierce Brosnan (who plays Desmond), Julianna Margulies, Sophie Vavasseur and Aidan Quinn and directed by Bruce Beresford. The film only showed three children, Evelyn and two brothers, instead of the family's true six.