David P. B. Fitzpatrick

Fitzpatrick was born in Melbourne, Australia to Brian Charles Fitzpatrick, an author and journalist, and mother Dorothy Mary (née Davies), a historian at the Monash University.[6] His elder sister Sheila Fitzpatrick is a historian of modern Russia.[7] At birth, Fitzpatrick was given three names as their parents could not decide on either David, Brian or Patrick. To the family he was initially known as Pat, but he later took to using his first name.[8]

His parents instilled in their children a strong sense of academic achievement. Two months before his Matriculation examinations, his father died during a research trip to Sydney.[9] His parents were not separated as claimed elsewhere. Fitzpatrick nevertheless topped the State of Victoria in Modern History, adding an Exhibition to his other awards and scholarships. He went on to study history at the University of Melbourne and resided at Trinity College.[8] His first foray into Irish history, through his love of the poetry of W. B. Yeats, was his B.A. Hons. thesis "The Dancer and the Dance: The Social and Political Ideas and Activities of William Butler Yeats from 1916 to 1928".[10] Fitzpatrick graduated in 1969 before moving to La Trobe University as a tutor.[11] After discussions there with the fellow Irish historian John O'Brien, he moved to do a PhD at Trinity College, Cambridge.[12]

Fitzpatrick spent his professional life at Trinity College Dublin, where he was appointed a lecturer in Modern History in 1979.[1] In 1982, he was made a Fellow, an Associate Professor 1993 and a Professor in 2000.[12] Prior his move to Dublin, he spent time as a Prize Research Fellow between 1975 and 1977 at Nuffield College, Oxford, and returned to the University of Melbourne for two years as a research fellow (1977–1979). He published his first book, Politics and Irish Life, 1913–1921: Provincial Experience of War and Revolution in 1977. Based on his PhD thesis, the publication was described as "fair, balanced and neutral, with a touch of irreverence, indeed a model of objectivity."[13]

Fitzpatrick was married twice.[1] He first married Georgina Huege de Serville (known as Haigh), a historian who studied the Australian War Trials.[14] They had a son, Brian, and daughter, Margaret. The marriage was dissolved in 1999. His second marriage was to Jane Leonard, an Irish military historian, with whom he had two daughters, Julia and Hannah. He died, aged 70, in Belfast after suffering a long illness.[15][16]