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John Corrigan obituary: Dedicated former Dundee councillor and SNP group leader

John also served as convener of Tayside Joint Police Board and was known as a local champion in the east of Dundee, hardworking and approachable.

Former Dundee councillor and bailie John Corrigan has died.
Former Dundee councillor and bailie John Corrigan has died.

Former Dundee councillor John Corrigan, who served as the SNP group leader and education spokesman, has died aged 97.

He was elected in the 1980s aged 62 and stood down at the 2007 election after representing Craigiebank and Craigie on both Dundee District Council and its successor authority for 19 years.

John, who also served as convener of Tayside Joint Police Board, was known as a local champion in the east of Dundee, both hardworking and approachable.

He became active in politics in the 1970s and worked closely with former Dundee East MP and SNP leader Gordon Wilson.

John was born in 1926, the year of the General Strike, and would often relate to his family the changes he had seen in the city.

Councillor John Corrigan was a strong voice on behalf of Craigiebank and Craigie residents.

As one of a family of six children, the city he knew as a boy was one of colourfully named closes, cobbled streets and horse-drawn transport.

His first family home was in Brook Street, Dundee. John’s father, James, was a railwayman and his mother, Lily, worked in the jute mills six days a week.

In later years he would recount his fascination with Harpy Close next to the Harp Bar near where he lived, the excitement of visiting the steamie in Guthrie Street and the thrill of seeing milk delivered in canisters from a pony and trap.

As he grew older, the family made several house moves including to Kenmore Terrace below the Law.

School years

He was educated at Saints Peter and Paul Primary School, St John’s High School, and then started work as a butcher’s assistant.

As a teenager he contributed to the war effort by driving ambulances to Bridge of Earn Hospital and later did his National Service as a corporal with the army at Grantown-on-Spey.

John later trained as a motor mechanic and worked in factories before moving to Timex as a production engineer.

He met his future wife, Doreen, at a Scottish country dancing event. John was playing the accordion in the band and Doreen was dancing.

The couple married in St Patrick’s Church in 1953 and celebrated their platinum wedding anniversary in June this year. The couple had two of a family, Anne and Fiona.

John Corrigan with then Tayside chief constable John Vine.

It was in his 60s that John was elected as a councillor in the east of the city and he relished solving residents’ problems, the buzz of the local political scene and most of all, meeting people.

He was a strong voice for his constituents and was always quick to identify problems that were likely to affect them.

Retirement

John’s retirement was action-packed. He devoted more time to hillwalking and mountain climbing with his friend, Graham Johnstone, and, at the age of 68, graduated with an honours degree in English and philosophy from Dundee University.

His daughters said: “Our father loved Dundee, his life here, the city’s history, and its future.

“When he was in his 80s he was compelled to write about his childhood and upbringing, his family tree and the history of Dundee’s streets. Thankfully, we have these books to remind us of him and what Dundee meant to him.”

John was grandfather to Ciaran, Linsey, Naomi, Heather and Daniel, and great-grandfather of Sam, Corrie, Flynn and Jonah.

You can read the family’s announcement here.

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