Hospital in the Tranmere area of Birkenhead, Cheshire, to Mary Savage and Patrick O’Grady.
O’Grady’s father was Irish and had grown up in Ballincurry, County Roscommon, before moving to England in 1936 and settling in the working-class area of Birkenhead.
His name was changed from Grady to O’Grady in a paperwork mistake when he joined the Royal Air Force and he kept the new name.
Patrick married Mary Savage who was born in England to Irish immigrants from County Louth. Paul was their third child; his birth came a decade after those of brother Brendan and sister Sheila.
O’Grady spent his early life at the Family rented house at 23 Holly Grove in Higher Tranmere.