The Keough clan

Larger Text

Print

E-mail

2 Comments

Des Keogh

Photo by Playbill

Tweet

The Keogh name is also familiar to those with an eye on retirement. The Keogh plan, a tax-deferred retirement plan designed to help self-employed workers, was named after U.S. Representative Eugene James Keogh, who came up with the idea in 1962. Keogh, a Democrat, was born in Brooklyn in 1907, and elected to Congress in 1936.

But in a world of interesting Keoughs, both historic and present day, there is no one who means more to Irish America than Donald Keough. A true friend of Ireland, Keough, whose ancestors hail from Co. Wexford, established the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies at Notre Dame, and the Keough-Naughton Centre in Dublin. The former President and CEO of Coca-Cola Company, and current chairman of Allen & Co., grew up in Sioux City, Iowa.

He is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Horatio Alger Award and the Notre Dame Laetare Medal. A keynote speaker at Irish America's Business 100 and Wall Street 50 dinners, he was honored as "Irish-American of the Year" in 1995 and was named one of the "Irish of the Century," in 1999.

Over a century and a half after his ancestors left Ireland, Donald Keough became an Irish citizen, thus completing the "Long Journey Home," which began in Famine times when 18-year-old Michael Keough left County Wexford seeking a better life for his children and his children's children.

Donald Keough, is a man known for his generous support of Irish causes.

The son of a farmer and cattleman, he was born in a small town in Iowa in 1927. When the Depression hit, his father lost most of his money in the cattle market. When the house on the farm property accidentally burned down, the family moved to Sioux City, where Keough’s father struggled to start over again.

“It must have been devastating for him, but he never showed it. He was a great role model for me,” Keough says.

Keough traces his Irish roots to his great-grandfather, Michael, who came from New Ross, Co. Wexford to the U.S on board the ship the Dunbrody in 1847. (Patrick J. Kennedy, the great-grandfather of JFK, would set sail from New Ross for America two years later.) Michael later married a woman called Honora Bourke, and settled in Iowa.

He enlisted in the Navy and after serving two years, went to Creighton University on the G.I. Bill. He began his career in television and radio, and moved on to marketing for a food company, which was acquired by Coca-Cola in 1964. He became president of Coca-Cola in 1974.

Keough, who lives in Atlanta, stepped down from his position in the company in 1993, having served as president, chief operating officer, and director of the worldwide Coca-Cola Company. He is currently the chairman of Allen & Company, an investment banking firm in New York.

Keough’s pride in his Irish heritage remained constant throughout his working life.  And after a career in corporate America he turned to a venture of a different kind – investing in Irish studies.

In 1993, with an endowment of $2.5 million, he established the Keough Institute of Irish Studies at Notre Dame, and the Keough Notre Dame Centre in Dublin, Ireland. “Notre Dame didn’t have any type of academic Irish studies program. It just seemed like a natural fit to me,” Keough said. Today, over 400 students are part of Notre Dame’s Irish Studies Program.

Print

E-mail

Tweet