[1][5] His mother ran McNamee's, a nearby public house and grocery store, and his father was a local member of the Garda Síochána.
[5] He hosted events at Quinn County,[clarification needed] featuring pop stars such as Joe Dolan, The Drifters and the Royal Showband.
[2] Quinn advanced his knowledge of the grocery and music business in Canada,[3] and promoted artists such as The Beach Boys, Johnny Cash, The Dave Clark Five, The Dubliners, Roy Orbison and The Supremes.
[2][4] He introduced the Rolling Stones to North America in 1965, with Canadian police being called to a riot at the band's debut concert in London, Ontario.
[3] Upon learning that the fee to hire football player George Best to open one of his stores was £1,000, Quinn donated the money to charity instead, believing he had a high enough profile to perform the ceremony on his own.
[2] Quinn is noted for participating in his own advertising,[3] wearing a white polo neck jumper in "the fashion and retailing statement of the late 1960s", as Sam Smyth dubbed it in the Irish Independent after his death.
[1] Quinn opened three pool halls, initially above Rathmines's Stella cinema and later in Bray and Drogheda and also set up an "executive coach service" for businessmen travelling around Ireland.
[1] There were also discount stores in Ballymun and Finglas, Ringsend's Pierrot snooker and gaming club and the Shoparound Centre on Dublin's South Great George's Street.
[4] Senator Feargal Quinn, the founder of rival Superquinn, remarked upon the death of his namesake: "He certainly changed retailing in Ireland [...] He was always on the microphone in the shop giving away cars and houses".
[6] Louis Copeland, the tailor responsible for the suits he wore in his advertisements, commented: "I remember going to his house in Killiney and the phone never stopped, calls from people down the country looking for jobs.