An American Tale of Irish Twins

Slainte to the doctors Spillane

By Ross Boissoneau | March 13, 2021

Dennis and Shawn Spillane are Irish twins. For those unfamiliar with the term, it doesn’t mean that the siblings are Irish (though in this case, they are), nor does it mean they were born from the same mother on the same day (they weren’t).

The expression means siblings born within a year of one another, particularly those born in the same calendar year. Dennis Spillane was born in January 1958 and Shawn in December. 

They were best friends growing up. “That close in age, we were inseparable,” said Shawn.

Dennis said that was true of jobs, when both delivered newspapers (the Free Press in the morning and the Detroit News in the afternoon) or when playing: When kids wood choose sides for sports, Dennis and Shawn always were on the same team. “We went as a pair. There was no discussion, that’s just the way it was going to be. Shawn and I have done everything together.” 

That carried into their professional lives as well. Today Dr. Dennis and Dr. Shawn own and operate the Dental Health Care offices in Bellaire and in Acme.

A Wee Bit of History
Their parents were first-generation immigrants, their father, John Spillane, hailing from County Cork and their mother, Anna Mary O’Grady, from County Mayo. The two met through the Irish community in Detroit. 

(John, incidentally, wasn’t actually “John.” Immigration authorities who either didn’t understand or appreciate the Gaelic spelling and pronunciation of his given name, Sean, changed his name to John on official paperwork. Determined not to let that the same fate befall their family again, Mary and Sean named their third child Shawn.)

Despite the not-so-hospitable welcome, John Spillane believed America held some significant promise for his future.

“After World War II, things were tight in Ireland,” said Dennis, explaining that traditionally, the oldest son was typically the one to inherit money and property from the parents, with the others having to fend for themselves. “Dad was not the oldest brother and there was nothing there for him.”

So Sean/John emigrated to Newfoundland, making his way to Toronto and then the Detroit area. Anna Mary, the oldest of five sisters, came through via Ellis Island before making her way to Detroit.

After meeting and marrying, the two raised their seven children — Kathleen, Dennis, Shawn, Brian, Sheila, Kevin, and Daniel — in what Dennis described as an ethnic area of Detroit populated by many large Catholic families of many European descents — Irish, Italian and Polish, among others — with a steady eye on the future “They stressed education,” Dennis said of his parents. It worked; every one of the Spillane kids went to college.

While they put down roots in America, the couple continued to honor and hold tight to their Irish heritage. “They embraced being Americans but never became citizens. Every other summer we’d go to Ireland. We still have the family farm in County Cork and spent time with aunts and uncles and our grandparents’ house in County Mayo. As we got older, we realized how cool that was,” said Dennis.

When Irish Teeth Are Smiling
Shawn said it was an accident during a Little League baseball game that first turned him toward dentistry. “We were shagging fly balls, and one bounced off my glove and hit me right in the front teeth,” he said. A coach took him home, where the neighborhood dentist arrived to reattach his dangling front tooth and repaired it over subsequent visits. Through those appointments, Shawn began bonding with the dentist, eventually deciding it was a career path he wanted to explore. 

Not one to be left behind by his little brother, Dennis decided on a career in dentistry as well, again referencing that same dentist. “At the end of the street was a dentist’s office. He was a really nice man. We grew our interest through him. It seemed like a good thing to do,” Dennis said.

Perhaps they had dentistry in their blood; after all, their mother had worked in a dentist’s office in Ireland. Dennis demurs. “It was just a fluke that Mom worked there. We all had to do something,” he said, noting their siblings went into accounting, engineering, and law.

The brothers opened an office in Northville, sold it, and later opened offices in the thumb. But as both had vacation places on Torch Lake, eventually they decided they might as well live in the north country full-time. “We did 20 years there [downstate], so we figured we’d do the next 30 years up here. We do good work for a fair price,” said Dennis.

“We were always going to practice together,” added Dennis. “We bought a practice before Shawn was even done [with dental school]. It’s been a blessed way to practice.” 

The Blasted Old Screwball
Along the way, Dennis became enamored of restoring wooden boats. When he was working on a boat for his sons, he harkened back to one of their father’s favorite expressions. “When someone was being an idiot or being a clown, our dad would say he’s a ‘blasted old screwball.’ That always brought us all a chuckle. [My sons] said we’ve got to name it for Grandfather.” Thus that wooden boat became Blasted Screwball.

That’s not the only Irish play on words they use. The corporation that owns their offices is Bantry Bay, named for the seacoast in County Cork where their dad lived. Then there’s Liquored Up Irishman, their land holding company.

They’ve now been taking care of patients for nearly three-quarters of a century between them. “It’s 36 this year for me; 37 for Dennis,” Shawn said. 

They take pride in their work and in being down to earth. “We’re not ostentatious. We value family, friends, and are fiercely loyal. This is in honor of our parents and all they did for us,” said Dennis.

Shawn put it more simply. “We’re first-generation kids living the American dream.”