Members of the 1934 Seanad
This is a list of the members of the 1934 Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (legislature) of the Irish Free State. These Senators were elected at the 1925, 1928, 1931 and 1934 Seanad elections.
Composition of the 1934 Seanad
The Free State Seanad was elected in stages and thus considered to be in permanent session. However, as a gesture of continuity with its Free State predecessor, the first Seanad elected after 1937 is numbered as the "Second Seanad". The Free State Senate, despite the occurrence of five senatorial elections before its abolition, is considered to have been a single 'Seanad' for the duration of its existence and is thus referred for that whole period as the "First Seanad".
There were a total of 60 seats in the Free State Seanad. In 1934, 22 Senators were elected. The Seanad election in 1925 was a popular election. However, at the 1928 and subsequent Free State Seanad elections, the franchise was restricted to Oireachtas members.
23 Senators had been elected at the 1931 Seanad election, 17 Senators had been elected at the 1928 Seanad election and 19 Senators had been elected at the 1925 Seanad election. This was the final election of the Free State Seanad before it was abolished on 29 May 1936.
The following table shows the composition by party when the 1934 Seanad first met on 12 December 1934.
Party | Seats | |
---|---|---|
Fine Gael | 22 | |
Fianna Fáil | 19 | |
Labour Party | 7 | |
Independent | 12 | |
Total | 60 |
Election of Cathaoirleach
At the first meeting on the 12 December 1934 there was a contest to decide who would be elected Cathaoirleach (chairman). James J. MacKean was absent for the vote but all other members were present. General Sir William Hickie chaired the election. The two candidates were the outgoing Cathaoirleach, Thomas Westropp Bennett, and the Fianna Fáil candidate, Michael Comyn. Neither of the two candidates voted and so fifty-six senators voted in the election. This resulted in a tie of twenty-eight votes each. Westropp Bennett received the votes of all twenty-one members of Fine Gael and seven independents. Comyn received the votes of his eighteen Fianna Fáil colleagues, all the votes of the seven Labour Party senators and the votes of three independents: Sir Edward Bellingham, Thomas Linehan and Laurence O'Neill. Hickie then gave his casting vote for Westropp Bennett saying he would have done so had he had the opportunity in the division.
The following week, Comyn defeated the outgoing Leas-Chathaoirleach, Michael O'Hanlon of Fine Gael, by twenty-six votes to twenty-five.[1]
List of senators
- Note: The entries for Senators who were elected or appointed to fill vacancies are shown in italics
Name | Party | Entered Office | Term | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Henry Barniville | Fine Gael | Elected in 1925 | 12 years | ||
Sir Edward Bellingham | Independent | Elected in 1925 | 12 years | ||
William Cummins | Labour Party | Elected in 1925 | 12 years | ||
James Dillon | Fine Gael | Elected in 1925 | 12 years | ||
Michael Fanning | Fine Gael | Elected in 1925 | 12 years | ||
Thomas Foran | Labour Party | Elected in 1925 | 12 years | ||
Sir William Bernard Hickie | Independent | Elected in 1925 | 12 years | ||
Cornelius Kennedy | Fine Gael | Elected in 1925 | 12 years | ||
Thomas Linehan | Independent | Elected in 1925 | 12 years | ||
Joseph O'Connor | Fine Gael | Elected in 1925 | 12 years | ||
J. T. O'Farrell | Labour Party | Elected in 1925 | 12 years | ||
Michael F. O'Hanlon | Fine Gael | Elected in 1925 | 12 years | ||
James Parkinson | Fine Gael | Elected in 1925 | 12 years | ||
Thomas Toal | Fine Gael | Elected in 1925 | 12 years | ||
Kathleen Clarke | Fianna Fáil | Elected in 1928 | 9 years | ||
Joseph Connolly | Fianna Fáil | Elected in 1928 | 9 years | ||
Seán Milroy | Fine Gael | Elected in 1928 | 9 years | ||
Séamus Robinson | Fianna Fáil | Elected in 1928 | 9 years | Resigned on 11 December 1935[2] | |
William O'Sullivan | Fine Gael | Elected in 1931 | 6 years | ||
Michael Comyn | Fianna Fáil | Elected in 1931 | 9 years | Leas-Chathaoirleach. Appointed as a judge of the Circuit Court on 24 February 1936[3] | |
John Counihan | Fine Gael | Elected in 1931 | 9 years | ||
James G. Douglas | Independent | Elected in 1931 | 9 years | ||
Michael Duffy | Labour Party | Elected in 1931 | 9 years | ||
Thomas Farren | Labour Party | Elected in 1931 | 9 years | ||
Hugh Garahan | Fine Gael | Elected in 1931 | 9 years | ||
Sir John Griffith | Independent | Elected in 1931 | 9 years | ||
Seán MacEllin | Fianna Fáil | Elected in 1931 | 9 years | ||
Ross McGillycuddy | Independent | Elected in 1931 | 9 years | ||
James J. MacKean | Fine Gael | Elected in 1931 | 9 years | ||
John MacLoughlin | Fine Gael | Elected in 1931 | 9 years | ||
Daniel MacParland | Fianna Fáil | Elected in 1931 | 9 years | ||
Maurice George Moore | Fianna Fáil | Elected in 1931 | 9 years | ||
Laurence O'Neill | Independent | Elected in 1931 | 9 years | ||
Brian O'Rourke | Fine Gael | Elected in 1931 | 9 years | ||
William Quirke | Fianna Fáil | Elected in 1931 | 9 years | ||
David Robinson | Fianna Fáil | Elected in 1931 | 9 years | Succeeded Michael Comyn as Leas-Chathaoirleach upon the former's appointment as a judge of the Circuit Court. | |
Michael Staines | Fine Gael | Elected in 1931 | 9 years | ||
Sir Edward Coey Bigger | Independent | Elected in 1934 | 3 years | ||
John Philip Bagwell | Independent | Elected in 1934 | 6 years | ||
Patrick Baxter | Fine Gael | Elected in 1934 | 9 years | ||
Thomas Westropp Bennett | Independent | Elected in 1934 | 9 years | Cathaoirleach | |
Ernest Blythe | Fine Gael | Elected in 1934 | 9 years | ||
James Boyle | Fianna Fáil | Elected in 1934 | 9 years | ||
Samuel Lombard Brown | Independent | Elected in 1934 | 6 years | ||
Kathleen Browne | Fine Gael | Elected in 1934 | 9 years | ||
James Charles Dowdall | Fianna Fáil | Elected in 1934 | 9 years | ||
Eamonn Duggan | Fine Gael | Elected in 1934 | 9 years | ||
Séamus Fitzgerald | Fianna Fáil | Elected in 1934 | 9 years | ||
Oliver St. John Gogarty | Fine Gael | Elected in 1934 | 9 years | ||
Denis Healy | Fianna Fáil | Elected in 1934 | 9 years | ||
T. V. Honan | Fianna Fáil | Elected in 1934 | 9 years | ||
Andrew Jameson | Independent | Elected in 1934 | 9 years | ||
Thomas Johnson | Labour Party | Elected in 1934 | 9 years | ||
Thomas Kennedy | Labour Party | Elected in 1934 | 9 years | ||
Raphael Keyes | Fianna Fáil | Elected in 1934 | 9 years | ||
Patrick Lynch | Fianna Fáil | Elected in 1934 | 9 years | ||
Pádraic Ó Máille | Fianna Fáil | Elected in 1934 | 9 years | ||
Thomas Ruane | Fianna Fáil | Elected in 1934 | 9 years | ||
Richard Wilson | Fine Gael | Elected in 1934 | 9 years | ||
Jennie Wyse Power | Fianna Fáil | Elected in 1934 | 9 years | Joined Fianna Fáil in advance of the 1934 Seanad election[4] |
Changes
Date | Gain | Loss | Note | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
11 December 1935 | Fianna Fáil | Resignation of Séamus Robinson[2] | |||
24 February 1936 | Michael Comyn appointed as a judge of the Circuit Court[3] |
See also
- Modern Seanad Éireann
- Members of the 8th Dáil
- Government of the 8th Dáil
- Parliamentary Secretaries of the 8th Dáil
References
- ↑ O'Sullivan, Donal. (1940). "The Irish Free State and its Senate: A Study in Contemporary Politics". Faber and Faber, London, p. 448.
- 1 2 "Mr. Séamus Robinson". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 23 November 2009.
- 1 2 "Mr. Michael Comyn". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 23 November 2009.
- ↑ O'Neill, Marie (1991). "From Parnell to de Valera: A Biography of Jennie Wyse Power 1858-1941." Blackwater Press, Dublin, p. 172.
External links
- "1934 Seanad". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 22 November 2009.
- "The New Free State Senate". The Irish Times digital archive (subscription required). 8 December 1934. Retrieved 19 December 2009.