Dave Allen (comedian)
Irish comedian and satirist (1936-2005)
David Tynan O'Mahony (6 July 1936 – 10 March 2005), known professionally as Dave Allen, was an Irish comedian, satirist, and actor. He was best known for his observational comedy. Allen regularly provoked indignation by highlighting political hypocrisy and showing disdain for religious authority. His technique and style have influenced young British comedians.
Initially becoming known in Australia in 1963 and 1964, Allen made regular television appearances in the United Kingdom from the late 1960s until the mid-1980s. The BBC aired his Dave Allen Show from 1971 to 1986, which was also exported to several other European countries. He had a major resurgence during the late 1980s and early to mid-1990s before retiring in 1998. His television shows were also broadcast in the United States, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Yugoslavia, Australia, and New Zealand.
Early life
David Tynan O'Mahony was born in the Firhouse suburb of Dublin on 6 July 1936, the son of an Irish father and English mother. His father, Cullen "Pussy" O'Mahony, was the managing editor of The Irish Times, the son of writer Nora Tynan O'Mahony, and a nephew of writer Katharine Tynan.
“Dave Allen (comedian)” enters the record as irish comedian and satirist (1936-2005). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Dave, Allen and comedian can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q529262. VIAF identifies the subject as 3585327. The Library of Congress control number is nb2006007607. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1936, 2005, 1963 and 1964.
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This entry incorporates text from “Dave Allen (comedian)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.