 He was born 14 April 1915 in Tralee, County Kerry, second son among three sons and one daughter of John McCourt, originally of Banbridge, County Down, clerk with the congested districts board at Tralee, and later a distributor with Argosy Libraries, and Mary Christina McCourt (née Small) of Co. Down.He was educated at the Christian Brothers in Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, and Blackrock College.He left school at 16 he joined the Dublin United Tramway Company as a clerk (1933–7), during which time he continued his education part-time at the Rathmines College of Commerce Dublin Institute of Technology.