Born in County Tipperary in 1918, he joined the Irish Army as an officer cadet in 1938, and was commissioned in 1939.
He served subsequently as instructor in Irish Military College, being promoted colonel in 1959.
Later that year he was promoted to major general and appointed commander of UN Forces in Cyprus (UNFICYP), in which capacity he served until 1981.
He was the first Irish Army general to command British troops, since Britain provided a battalion as its contribution to UNFICYP.
Earlier, an Irish army battalion had served in UNFICYP when the force commander (Brigadier A.J.