Deane was educated at the Jesuit-run boarding school Mungret College, Limerick, and University College Dublin studying English and French, he had been training to become a Spiritan priest, in Killshane, Tipperary and Holy Ghost College, Kimmage Manor but became a teacher.[4] Deane married Barbara Sheridan. Barbara was the daughter of music hall performer Cecil Sheridan, and they had two children.[5] Deane got married again in 1984 to Ursula Foran of Drumkeelanmore, Drumshanbo Co Leitrim, and they have one daughter, Mary, born in 1985.[citation needed]
Interview with John F. Deane by Patrick O'Donnell as part of the O'Shaughnessy Poetry Award by the University of St. Thomas Center for Irish Studies, St. Paul, Minnesota (1998)