Paul C. Haley was born in Hyde Park, Massachusetts, in 1926, and moved to Weymouth in 1954. He graduated from Boston Boys Latin School in 1945 and Boston College Law School in 1955. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War and worked for over 50 years in the printing ink industry. In his spare time, he served many years as the corresponding secretary for the Donegal Club of Greater Boston, and regularly played bodhrán at local Irish music sessions. Haley married Margaret T. (Dougherty), and they had 16 children: Dermit, Erin, Paul, Cormac, Brigid, Aedan, Marykate, Megan, Grainne, Alanna, Sean, Maire, Mara, Hugh, Conal, and Padraic. Paul Haley died on December 3, 2018.

Source:

"Paul C. Haley", Boston Globe, December 4, 2018. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/bostonglobe/name/paul-haley-obituary?id=1788892

Jeremiah Patrick O'Brien was born in 1899 in Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland, to Cornelius and Mary O'Brien, and was one of eight siblings. As a young man, O'Brien became a hedgerow teacher of Gaelic and was forced to flee to Massachusetts in 1921 in order to avoid hanging by the Black and Tans. He joined his brother, Timmy, near Gloucester, Massachusetts, and worked as a butler. He became a naturalized United States citizen in 1928. Jerry O'Brien taught himself to play melodeon and also practiced step dancing. He became a professional accordionist, recording with O'Leary's Irish Minstrels and teaching Irish music throughout Boston. In 1928, he also made one solo recording before the Great Depression brought most Irish-American recording to a halt. O'Brien married Mary Egan in the early 1930s, and they had six children together. The family moved to Dorchester around 1936 while O'Brien worked as a welder at the Quincy shipyard, and then moved to Dedham around 1942. He began recording again after World War II, both solo and with fellow accordionist Joe Derrane, whom he had taught. O’Brien also worked for the O’Byrne DeWitt Irish Professional Accordion company as a clerk, producer, and accordion teacher, and published two tune and tutor books for accordion. O'Brien died on April 30, 1968, of a sudden heart attack.

Sources:

"Irish Music Archives Acquires Joe Derrane’s Accordion," Boston College Libraries News, May 30, 2018. https://library.bc.edu/newsletter/irish-music-archives-acquires-joe-derranes-accordion/. Accessed May 29, 2024.

"Jerry O’Brien’s Accordion Instructor," Irish Traditional Music Archive. https://www.itma.ie/notated-collections/job_acc1/. Accessed May 29, 2024.

"Jerry O'Brien," The Traditional Tune Archive, January 21, 2023. https://tunearch.org/wiki/Biography:Jerry_O%27Brien.

Varlet, Philippe. Liner Notes. Irish Accordion Masters. Joe Derrane and Jerry O’Brien. Copley COP-5009. CD. 1995.