Born Christopher Stephen Andrews in Dublin, and educated at St Enda’s and University College Dublin, he joined the Volunteers in 1917 and fought in the War of Independence. Anti-Treaty, he was imprisoned, returned to college after his release and graduated with a degree in commerce in 1926. He began a lengthy and distinguished career as a public servant and was involved with the Irish Tourist Association, later Bord Fáilte, the Electricity Supply Board, Bord na Móna, Córas Iompair Éireann and Radio Telefís Éireann. He published two volumes of autobiography, Dublin Made Me (1979) and Man of No Property (1982).