The incredible tale of the million dollar Irishman who went to the top
THEY say art imitates life and some of the best film plots have been based around the true-life events and experiences of ordinary people who happened to live extra-ordinary lives.
A new book has been published outlining the remarkable life of a man from Northern Ireland who has very strong Wexford connections, and whose life has been a ‘fight or flight’ tale of someone who went from being a bookies runner, at his family’s Irish pub, to the glittering and dazzling heights of Wall Street with mega-stakes gambling along the way.
‘The Million Dollar Irishman: From John Street to Wall Street’, is the memoir of Chris McGale whose wife, Niamh, is a Furlong from Adamstown, and his brother-in-law is well known and respected priest, Fr Odhran Furlong.
Chris and Niamh now live in London with their four children but he grew up in the North during the Troubles.
His memoir tells the story of how his life journey brought him from those dark times to the remarkable heights and high speed world of Wall Street.
He spent 15 years working in financial markets in Dublin and London. He began his career at the time of the infamous Black Monday Wall Street Crash of 1987 and he finished as one of the top-earning city stockbrokers.
While the memoir outlines a journey that saw Chris reach the absolute pinnacle of his profession it also strikes a very human chord as he relays his memories of growing up on the warring streets of Northern Ireland.
Along the way he experienced a near-fatal car crash in a collision with a lorry and burning out in the city.
Chris McGale’s life was one of ‘fight or flight’ and he always chose to fight.
His Wall Street journey led to an exemplary career with giants, Merrill Lynch, but despite the remarkable and stellar career he enjoyed in his working life Chris’ inherent compassion for others also saw him involved in highly regarded and successful fundraising initiatives for the victims of the Omagh bombing.
That work led to him being nominated on the prestigious New Year’s Honours list.
On a very human level the book also traces emotional conflict, return to education, and reconciliation between the author and his fellow-orphan sibling, Paul.
‘The Million Dollar Irishman’ is the story or a man who made it all the way to the top before burnout caught up with him.
Truly a life less-ordinary.