Brosnan, Patrick (‘Paddy Bawn’) (1917–95), Gaelic footballer, was born 16 November 1917 at Strand St., Dingle, Co. Kerry, son of Timothy Brosnan, fisherman, and Ellie Brosnan (née Johnson). He was educated at Dingle national school and the local CBS, where he won a Kerry colleges football title; on leaving school he took up his father's occupation. Alongside his brother, Timineen Deas, he played club football on a very successful Dingle team, winning six county championships. During his inter-county career with Kerry, which began in 1936, he won four All-Ireland medals (1939–41, 1946). He was a substitute on the first two occasions, but played in the following two. He was on losing All-Ireland final teams three times, including 1944 when he was captain and 1947 at the Polo Grounds, New York. He retired after the 1952 Munster final, a game that enhanced his status as a legendary full-back, having collected twelve Munster senior football medals and three Railway Cup medals.
Being a fisherman contributed to the aura around this physically powerful footballer and ensured that his already unorthodox training methods, which included smoking and drinking, were still more irregular. A well known personality, he purchased a pub in Dingle in 1958 but continued to fish till 1982. He died 23 July 1995 at Tralee general hospital. He married (1950) Eileen Johnson (d. 1985). They had a daughter and two sons.