John, known as Olly, was born on May 25th, 1920 in Cork, Ireland. He died due to a medical problem, liver disease, at the age of 72 on October 2nd, 1992.
General Notes
Recollection from Colin McCarthy: "Nan [Lilian DOWNING] moved from Leyton to Ilford in about 1942 took in lodgers to help pay the rent. One of the lodgers was my father (John Oliver McCarthy) who migrated from Cork, Ireland to England in 1943 to work at Ford's Dagenham. That was how my Dad met my mum - although their relationship didn't really get established immediately (she spent most of the war away from home - in the Land Army based down in Ringwood, Hants). Betty and Olly married in 1950 and I was born in 1951 (on their first wedding anniversary). They continued living in the same house in Ilford (with Nan until she died in 1970). My parents both died in 1992.