Members of the Fifth Dáil - Denis Cullen

Denis Cullen

Denis Cullen (23 September 1878 – 26 November 1971) was an Irish Labour Party politician and trade union official. He was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Labour Party Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin North constituency at the June 1927 general election. He lost his seat at the September 1927 general election having only served 3 months as a TD.

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This is the 500th post since the blog was started back in February 2010! It just goes to show, there is always something to say about the Irish.

Members of the Fifth Dáil - John Byrne

John Joseph Byrne (23 September 1878 – 29 July 1942) was an Irish politician. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Cumann na nGaedheal Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin North constituency at the June 1927 general election. He was re-elected at the September 1927 and 1932 general elections. He lost his seat at the 1933 general election.

Members of the Fifth Dáil - Patrick Belton

Patrick Belton (1885 – 30 January 1945) was an Irish politician, anti-communist and leader of the Irish Christian Front. Belton provided a strong Catholic voice in an Irish nationalist context throughout his 20th century career. Supportive of Francisco Franco and an activist in favour of the forces against Bolshevism, Belton however opposed Eoin O'Duffy taking an Irish Brigade to Spain, feeling that they would be needed in Ireland to counter domestic "political ills". His family, including three sons and a granddaughter have also gone on to have careers in Irish politics.

He was born in 1885 in Rathcline, near Lanesborough, County Longford. He attended the local national school and subsequently won a scholarship to King's College London. Following his secondary education, he stayed in London and entered the British Civil Service. He became very friendly with Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins at this time. He was a prominent member of the Geraldines GAA Club in London, and he was for many years its chairman. In 1909 he became Secretary of the London County Board of the GAA.

In 1910, he was transferred to the Irish Land Commission in Dublin. He took part in the 1916 Easter Rising. His obituary in the Longford Leader noted that he "...was associated with Michael Collins and other London comrades when they came to Ireland in 1916 for the Rising. After the Rising he was suspended from the Land Commission on suspicion of having been connected with the event, but was later reinstated". In 1918 he was imprisoned in Belfast Jail, possibly because of his involvement in the National Aid Association.

In 1927, he was elected as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin County in the June 1927 general election. However he was expelled from the party soon afterwards as he broke with Fianna Fáil policy by taking the Oath of Allegiance and entering the Dáil.

In 1933, he joined Cumann na nGaedheal and was returned as a TD for Dublin North in the 1933 general election.

On 22 August 1936, the Irish Independent called for the formation of a committee to help the (pro Franco) citizens of Spain in their war effort. These calls for support resulted in the formation of the Irish Christian Front (ICF). The ICF held its initial meeting at the Mansion House, Dublin on 31 August 1936. Already a TD, an ambitious and charismatic leader, Belton became the organisation's president. The group had overwhelming support from the general population as well as the backing of the Catholic church. On ICF platforms would stand local sympathisers, priests, Bishops and local TDs usually from Fine Gael but some from Fianna Fáil and even the Labour Party. Belton would hold pro-Catholic and anti-communist rallies, drawing an estimated crowd of 30,000 on one occasion. He would publicise the massacres committed by the Spanish Republicans and sent aid and money to Franco's forces.

However Belton, a supporter of nationalist Spain, claimed that the important battle was to be fought at home and not abroad. An ex-Blueshirt, he went as far as opposing Eoin O'Duffy's dispatching of the Irish Brigade in the Spanish Civil War.

The ICF would dwindle following Belton's loss in the 1937 general election. He was elected as a Fine Gael TD for Dublin County in the 1938 general election, however he once again lost his seat in the 1943 general election.

Belton died on 30 January 1945, at his home, Belleview Park, Killiney, County Dublin.
Three of his four sons – Richard, Jack and Paddy served as members of the Oireachtas, as did his granddaughter Avril Doyle.

Quotes from Patrick Belton:

"When our organisations work is complete we will make Ireland a very hot
spot for any communist to live in...if it is necessary to be a fascist to defend
Christianity then I am a fascist and so are my colleagues." – Irish Independent,
12 October 1936

"I did not agree with the wisdom of Irishmen going out to Spain." – Irish Press
(26 November 1936)

Members of the Fifth Dáil - Daniel McMenamin

Daniel McMenamin (1 March 1882 – Date of death unknown) was an Irish politician and barrister. McMenamin first stood for election at the 1918 general election as an Irish Parliamentary Party candidate for the Donegal West constituency but was defeated by Sinn Féin's Joseph Sweeney. He stood as an independent candidate at the 1923 general election but was not elected. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a National League Party Teachta Dála (TD) for the Donegal constituency at the June 1927 general election. He did not contest the September 1927 general election.

He was elected as a Cumann na nGaedheal TD at the 1932 and 1933 general elections. At the 1937 general election he was re-elected as a Fine Gael TD for Donegal East. He was re-elected at each general election until he retired at the 1961 general election. He served as Leas-Cheann Comhairle (Deputy Speaker) during the 12th Dáil from 1944–48.

His daughter Rosaleen Linehan is a famous stage and screen actress in Ireland.

Members of the Fifth Dáil - Michael Óg McFadden

Michael Óg McFadden (1885 – 27 August 1958) was an Irish Fine Gael politician, merchant and auctioneer. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Cumann na nGaedheal Teachta Dála (TD) for the Donegal constituency at the June 1927 general election. He was re-elected at the September 1927 general election but lost his seat at the 1932 general election. He re-gained his seat at the 1933 general election and was re-elected at each subsequent election until he lost his seat again at the 1951 general election. At the 1951 Seanad election, he was elected to the 7th Seanad on the Agricultural Panel. He lost his seat at the 1954 Seanad election.

Members of the Fifth Dáil - Hugh Law

Hugh Alexander Law (1872 – 1 April 1943) was an Irish nationalist politician. He represented constituencies in County Donegal as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom House of Commons and later as a Teachta Dála (TD) in Dáil Éireann.

A barrister, Law was the grandson of Hugh Law (1818–1883), who had been Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1881–1883. He was elected as an Irish Parliamentary Party MP for Donegal West at an unopposed by-election in April 1902, and was re-elected unopposed at successive general elections until he stood down at the 1918 general election, when the seat was won by Joseph Sweeney of Sinn Féin.

At the 1923 Irish general election, he was an unsuccessful Farmers' Party candidate for the 5th Dáil Éireann in the Donegal constituency. He stood again as a Cumann na nGaedheal candidate at the June 1927 general election and was elected to the 6th Dáil. Law was re-elected at the September 1927 general election, but lost his seat at the 1932 general election, and did not stand again.

Members of the Fifth Dáil - Frank Carney

Frank Carney (25 April 1896 – 19 October 1932) was an Irishman who fought in the British Army in the World War I before joining the Irish Republican Army (IRA). He fought in the Irish War of Independence and the Civil War before being elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD).

A former chief Supplies Officer of the National Army, he won his seat in the Dáil on his first attempt, when he was elected for the Donegal constituency at the June 1927 general election. He was re-elected at the September 1927 and 1932 general elections, but died in office later that year, aged 36. No by-election was held for his seat, which remained vacant until the next general election in January 1933.

Members of the Fifth Dáil - Neal Blaney

Ned Blaney - Left

Neal Blaney (1 November 1893 – 30 October 1948) was an Irish Fianna Fáil Party politician, and long-serving member of the Oireachtas.

Blaney, a native of Fanad in the north of County Donegal, had been a commander of the IRA in Donegal during the War of Independence and the Civil War. He was first elected to the 5th Dáil Éireann for the Donegal constituency at the June 1927 general election. He retained his seat at subsequent general elections until it was abolished in boundary changes for the 1937 general election when he was returned for the new Donegal East constituency. He lost his seat at the 1938 election, and was elected to the 3rd Seanad on the Agricultural Panel, serving until 1943.
He returned to 11th Dáil at the 1943 election, and was re-elected at the 1944 election. He died on 30 October 1948, shortly after being returned to the 13th Dáil at the 1948 election, and in the resulting by-election on 7 December 1948, his son Neil Blaney was elected as the new TD for Donegal East.

Another son, Harry Blaney, and Harry's son Niall Blaney, were later elected as TDs for the constituency of Donegal North East.

Members of the Fifth Dáil - Jasper Wolfe

Jasper Travers Wolfe (3 August 1872 – 27 August 1952) was an Irish independent (non-party) politician who was elected three times as Teachta Dála (TD) for Cork West, from 1927–1933.
He was born into a Methodist family the son of William J. Wolfe. He was educated at Bishop's School, Skibbereen and was admitted as a solicitor in 1893. He obtained first place in his final exams and was awarded the Findlater Scholarship. He was a member of Skibbereen UDC for a number of years. He was crown prosecutor in Cork City for a period and for the West Riding of County Cork 1916–1923. He was the first Cork man to hold the Presidency of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland. Wolfe was elected to Dáil Éireann on his first attempt, at the June 1927 general election, and took his seat in the short-lived 5th Dáil. He was re-elected at the September 1927 general election and again at the 1932 election, but did not contest the 1933 general electio. He died at his residence "Norton", SKibbereen and is buried at Aughadown Cemetery.

Wolfe was a solicitor who also owned the Cork County Eagle and Munster Advertiser newspaper. This was a successor to the Skibbereen Eagle (see Skibbereen) which in an editorial in 1897 had famously warned the Tsar of Russia about expanionist aims towards China, declaring that the Skibbereen Eagle had "got its eye on the Tsar".

An incident with Solicitor Jasper Wolfe (later Teachta Dála for West Cork) was described by another solicitor Willie Kingston in Skibbereen Historical Journal. Willie Kingston was a cousin of Jasper Wolfe, Solicitor and Crown prosecutor in Skibbereen. Wolfe at the time had friends in both camps. In April 1921, Wolfe, Kingston and Miss Brown motored to Durrus where he had a case at Petty Sessions. Kingston had been in Bantry earlier where he saw two men coming towards him, one saying to the other 'that's him’, he thought it was a case of mistaken identity. Later he met Jasper at the hotel and a man came out of the shadows and peered at his face. Jasper had met (Bawnie) T.T. McCarthy, cattle dealer earlier and offered him a lift to Skibbereen. They all went to Durrus in Jasper's car driven by a chauffer and had tea in Miss Brown's mother's house. Leaving Durrus for Caheragh McCarthy was in front with Jasper but his profile indicated him as a cattle dealer rather than the Crown Prosecutor. In Caheragh, as they rounded a corner a whistle was blown violently suggesting the man was running and giving a pre-ordained signal. Kingston and Miss Brown crouched down but nothing happened. Jasper had a few drinks and slept through the entire episode. When they got back to Skibbereen they heard that an ambush was being laid for Jasper, he thought that the unexpected lift to the cattle dealer had the effect of calling off the ambush.

A book about Jasper's life has been written, entitled 'Jasper Wolfe of Skibbereen'. It was written by Jasper Ungoed-Thomas, who is the grandson of Jasper Wolfe, and tells the story of Jasper's life, set against the backdrop of the partition of Ireland and the emergent new political order
In 1894 Jasper founded Wolfe & Co. Solicitors, which is still operating in Market Street, Skibbereen, Co. Cork.

Members of the Fifth Dáil - Timothy Sheehy

Timothy Sheehy - Cork

Timothy Sheehy (2 December 1855 – 5 November 1938) was an Irish politician. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Cumann na nGaedheal Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork West constituency at the June 1927 general election. He was re-elected at the September 1927 general election but lost his seat at the 1932 general election.

Members of the Fifth Dáil - Thomas Mullins

Thomas Lincoln Mullins (1903 – 2 November 1978) was an American born Irish Fianna Fáil politician. A journalist, Mullins was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork West constituency at the June 1927 general election and was re-elected at the September 1927 general election.He did not contest the 1932 general election. In 1957, he was nominated by the Taoiseach Éamon de Valera to the 9th Seanad. Mullins was re-nominated to the 10th, 11th and 12th Seanads. He served as Leader of the Seanad from 1961 to 1973.

Members of the Fifth Dáil - Timothy Quill

Timothy Quill

Timothy Quill (9 May 1901 – 10 June 1960) was an Irish Labour Party politician. He was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Labour Party Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork North constituency at the June 1927 general election. He lost his seat at the September 1927 general election having only served 3 months as a TD.

Members of the Fifth Dáil - David O'Gorman

David Leo O'Gorman (born c. 1865 – died 1945) was an Irish politician. He was an unsuccessful candidate at the 1923 general election. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the June 1927 general election as a Farmers' Party Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork East constituency. He lost his seat at the September 1927 general election. O'Gorman was a native of Youghal. At the time of his election as TD, he was a member of the governing body of University College Cork and chairman of Cork County Council.

In 1933, O'Gorman was vice-chairman of Cork County Council and lived at Janeville, Fermoy, County Cork.

In April 1941, he was chairman of Cork County Council.

Members of the Fifth Dáil - Martin John Corry

Martin John Corry (12 December 1890 – 14 February 1979) was a farmer and long-serving backbench Teachta Dála (TD) for Fianna Fáil. He represented various County Cork constituencies covering his farm near Glounthaune, east of Cork city. He was a founder member of Fianna Fáil in 1926, and among its first TDs after the June 1927 general election. He was returned at every election until he stood down at the 1969 election. Corry was active in farming issues, serving as Chairman of the Beet Growers’ Association in the 1950s. In 1966, upon the resignation of Seán Lemass as Fianna Fáil leader and Taoiseach, Corry was among the Munster-based TDs who approached Jack Lynch to be a compromise candidate for the party leadership.

Corry was a senior member of the Cork No. 1 Brigade of the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence (1919–21). He took the anti-Treaty side in the Civil War (1922–23). In 2007, it was reported that Corry's farm had been the suspected site of the execution and burial place of several people considered to be pro-British agents, spies, or informers. Among these was Michael Williams, an ex-Royal Irish Constabulary officer abducted by the IRA "Irregulars" on 15 June, 1922 for his alleged role in the shooting dead in 1920 of Tomás Mac Curtain, the Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Cork. Gerard Murphy's 2010 book The Year of Disappearances:Political Killings in Cork 1920–1923 claims Corry personally killed about 35 forcibly disappeared civilians, from a total of 73 in the Cork area of whom 26 were abducted after the June 1921 ceasefire. Murphy presents the Cork IRA's targeting of Protestants, and particular suspicion of members of the YMCA, Boy Scouts, and Methodist community, as amounting to ethnic cleansing.

Senior IRA commanders including Ernie O'Malley, Richard Mulcahy, Liam Lynch and Sean Moylan, attempted to curb the excesses of the Cork IRA, with mixed success. In later years, rumours of Corry's activities persisted, but the Military History Bureau was able to whitewash the account as its director Florrie O'Donoghue had been a comrade of Corry's.

In a Dáil career of over forty years, Corry generally restricted himself to speaking on local issues affecting his constituents. In 1953, Corry lobbied unsuccessfully for the Faber-Castell factory planned for Fermoy to be relocated further south in his territory, to the chagrin of party colleagues in Fermoy.

Corry was a staunch advocate of Irish republicanism, strongly opposed to Partition, antipathetic to the United Kingdom, and sometimes bluntly outspoken within the chamber. In 1928, he criticised the Cumann na nGaedheal government's expenditure on the diplomatic corps, stating "These salaries of £1,500 have to be paid so that they might squat like the nigger when he put on the black silk hat and the swallow-tail coat and went out and said he was an English gentleman." His opposition to the Blueshirts in the early 1930s provoked an attempt to burn down his house.

In the 1938, debate on the Anglo-Irish Trade Agreement which ceded the Treaty Ports to the Irish state, Corry expressed regret that Northern Ireland remained excluded, suggesting "I personally am in favour of storing up sufficient poison gas, so that when you get the wind in the right direction you can start at the Border and let it travel, and follow it." In a 1942, debate on exporting food to Great Britain during World War II, Corry remarked about food shortages there that "They have no more rabbits to get, and now they are on the crows", and "I would not like to see too many crows going out to feed them. I think the crows are too good for them". Patrick Giles called Corry a "bounder", and Alfred Byrne persisted in demanding an apology for the "unchristian" comments to the point of himself being suspended from the chamber.

According to Dan Keating, Corry led a group of TDs who persuaded Taoiseach Éamon de Valera to exercise clemency when Tomás Óg Mac Curtain sentenced to death in 1940 for shooting dead a Garda. Tomás Óg was an IRA member and the son of the 1920 Lord Mayor.

In 1948 and again in 1950, Corry proposed a Private Member's Bill to allow less restricted Sunday opening of public houses in rural areas, arguing the existing licensing law was widely flouted.

The bill was withdrawn after ministerial assurance of an imminent Government-sponsored licensing bill (which did not materialise) and in the face of public condemnation from members of the Catholic hierarchy.

Corry was a member of Cork County Council, representing the Cobh electoral area, from 1924 till after 1970. He often clashed with Philip Monahan, the first county manager. Corry regarded the ability of the manager, an appointed bureaucrat, to overrule the elected Council as an affront to democracy, "the tail wagging the dog", reducing councillors to being "a cloak for his dictatorship". Corry was Chairman of the Council (a position later retitled Mayor) for four years in the 1960s: 1962/3, 1964/5, 1967/8, and 1968/9. In this role in 1968 he inaugurated Cork County Hall, the tallest building in the Republic of Ireland.

Corry did not stand in the June 1969 general election. In May 1969, Tom Fitzpatrick had read a letter under Dáil privilege; allegedly written by Corry in 1955, it demanded £200 in cash from an engineering firm for securing a favourable County Council vote. It was later alleged that Corry was compelled to stand down to avoid the allegation embarrassing the party.

In November 1969, Corry was appointed a director of Comhlucht Siúicre Éireann Teoranta, the national sugar company, which was then a state-sponsored body.

Members of the Fifth Dáil - John Horgan

John Horgan (born 1876 – 27 June 1955) was a Limerick born Irish politician from Cork who had a very brief career as a parliamentary representative in the Irish Free State. He served for three months as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the National League Party, a short-lived party which advocated closer ties with the United Kingdom. He was a member of the Cork Corporation, served a term as Lord Mayor. Son of a County Cork ironmonger, was otherwise a master plumber.

He was elected at the June 1927 general election as a TD for the Cork Borough constituency, taking his seat as one of eight National League TDs in the 5th Dáil. However, the 5th Dáil was short-lived, and at the September 1927 general election Horgan and all but two of his party's TDs lost their seats. The party went bankrupt in 1928, and was formally disbanded in 1931.

Horgan subsequently joined Cumann na nGaedheal, and stood again as a Cumann na nGaedheal candidate in Cork Borough at the 1932 and 1933 general elections, but did not regain his seat. As a member of Fine Gael, John Horgan was Lord Mayor of Cork for the term from 1941 to 1942. He retired from Cork Corporation in 1949 after 25 years' membership.

He died at his residence, at 2, The Orchards, Glasheen Road, Cork, on 27 June 1955 aged 79 and was buried in St. Finbarr's Cemetery. His grandson, Judge Seán O'Leary, served as Lord Mayor of Cork (1972/73).

Members of the Fifth Dáil - Seán French

Seán French (29 May 1890 – 12 September 1937) was a Fianna Fáil politician from Cork in Ireland. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1927 to 1932.

A merchant and harbour commissioner, French stood unsuccessfully as an anti-Treaty Sinn Féin candidate for Dáil Éireann at a by-election in 1924 for the Cork Borough constituency. When Sinn Féin split in 1926 over the policy of abstentionism, he joined the breakaway Fianna Fáil party, and won the seat at the June 1927 general election — although like other Fianna Fáil TDs, he did not take his seat until 12 August 1927. He was re-elected at the September 1927 election, but did not contest the 1932 general election. He stood one more time, at the 1933 election, but did not regain his seat.

French was Lord Mayor of Cork from 1924 to 1929 and again from 1932 until his death in 1937. His son, also called Seán followed him into politics and served as both Lord Mayor and TD in Cork.

Members of the Fifth Dáil - Barry Egan

Barry M. Egan (died 3 March 1954) was an Irish politician. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Cumann na nGaedheal Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork Borough constituency at the June 1927 general election. He was re-elected at the September 1927 general election but he did not contest the 1932 general election. He stood again at the 1933 general election but was not elected.

Members of the Fifth Dáil - Richard Anthony

Richard Sidney Anthony

Richard Sidney Anthony (1875–1962) was an Irish politician. A Linotype operator by profession, Anthony stood unsuccessfully for election at the 1923 general election. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as an Labour Party Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork Borough constituency at the June 1927 general election. He was re-elected as a Labour Party TD at the September 1927 general election. He left the Labour Party and was elected as an independent TD at the 1932 general election. He was re-elected as an independent TD at the 1933 and 1937 general elections.

He lost his seat at the 1938 general election but was re-elected at the 1943 and 1944 general elections. He again lost his Dáil seat at the 1948 general election but was elected to the 6th Seanad on the Labour Panel at the subsequent Seanad election in 1948. He stood at the 1951 general election but was not elected. He did not contest the 1951 Seanad election but was elected to the 8th Seanad in 1954, again on the Labour Panel. He did not contest the 1957 Seanad election and retired from politics. He served as Lord Mayor of Cork from 1942–43.

Members of the Fifth Dáil - Patrick Michael Kelly

Patrick Michael Kelly 1900

Patrick Michael Kelly

Patrick Michael Kelly (10 August 1875 – 20 November 1934) was an Irish soldier, farmer and politician. He was a member of the Irish Free State Oireachtas (legislature) as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Clare constituency from 1927 to 1932.

He was the eldest son of Tom Bán Kelly and Bridget Davoren and the grandson of the successful landowner, Pat Mór Kelly, and Bridget Gibson from Fortview in County Clare. As a soldier, he was a member of the Household Cavalry, with whom he distinguished himself with honours in the Boer War. After the war he returned to County Clare to take over the farm at Clonina and eventually to enter political life. Kelly was known as a leader during Ireland’s struggle for independence from Britain in the early 20th century.

He was privately educated at home until 1889, when at the age of 14, he was sent to the Jesuit Mungret College in Limerick where he stayed until 1891. He then became a medical student at University College Cork, but clearly retained a bent for adventure.

In 1893, at the age of 18, he joined the British Army to fight in the Boer War in South Africa. His cousin, General Sir Thomas Kelly-Kenny, appointed him to the 1st Regiment of Life Guards for the campaign during the Second Boer War of 1899–1901. The size of South Africa meant that cavalry became an invaluable tool for the generals of both sides.

Kelly's cavalry unit was very effective and helped win one of their most significant victories of the Boer War at Paardeberg. He had a very successful career in the First Lifeguards and he was Mentioned in Despatches, receiving the Queen's South Africa Medal with six clasps, for his efforts in the Relief of Kimberley and the battles of Paardeberg, Wittebergen, Driefontein, Diamond Hill and Johannesburg.

In the 1920's, he turned his attention to politics becoming a member of the Cumann na nGaedheal party. He was an unsuccessful candidate at the 1923 general election. At the June 1927 general election, Cumann na nGaedheal performed poorly, winning just 47 seats of the 153 seats.

However, Kelly was elected to the 5th Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (legislature) of the Irish Free State. Kelly, along with Éamon de Valera, was elected for the Clare constituency. Kelly served until September of that year, as the 5th Dáil is the shortest Dáil in the history of the state, lasting only 98 days. Following victory in two by-elections, the President of the Executive Council, W. T. Cosgrave called a snap election in September 1927. Cumann na nGaedheal regained most of the ground lost in June, winning 62 seats and 39% of the vote. In the September election for the 6th Dáil which was held on 11 October 1927 Kelly was re-elected.

Kelly received 5,647 votes, and de Valera received a massive 13,903 votes and both were elected, based on the proportional representation system of the Irish Oireachtas. He lost his seat at the 1932 general election.

In 1934, at the age of 59, he died of pneumonia and septicaemia, while he was on the farm. He left his wife, Bridget, and eight children, the youngest of which was just one year old.

His friend Paddy J. Egan of Tullamore, wrote the following glowing appreciation of him in the Mungret Annual in 1935:

"I remember Pat Kelly very well at Mungret. He was one of the personalities amongst the Lay Boys of the College about 1890. A bright, breezy, and always cheerful lad, very original and liked by all of us, he was one of the few chaps the mention of whose name provoked smiles of affection in all directions. I would not describe him as a worshipper at the shrine of discipline; in fact, I know that he held somewhat elastic views when he came to interpret rules and regulations. Apart from his likeable disposition, this certainly did contribute something to his popularity. Most of us did not have either his initiative or courage in this respect... I gather that he was personally as popular in the Dáil as he was in Mungret years ago. It was with a keen sense of regret that I heard of his death".

Members of the Fifth Dáil - Patrick Houlihan

Patrick Houlihan (25 March 1889 – 4 May 1963) was an Irish politician and farmer. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for the Clare constituency at the June 1927 general election. He was re-elected at the September 1927 general election but lost his seat at the 1932 general election. He was elected again at the 1933 general election but again lost his seat at the 1937 general election.

Members of the Fifth Dáil - Thomas Falvey

Thomas Falvey (died 17 February 1941) was an Irish politician and farmer. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the June 1927 general election as a Farmers' Party Teachta Dála (TD) for the Clare constituency. He lost his seat at the September 1927 general election.

Falvey was a member of Clare County Council when elected TD and lived in Kilkee.

Members of the Fifth Dáil - John O'Hanlon

John Frederick O'Hanlon (4 November 1872 – 22 December 1956) was an Irish politician and journalist. He stood unsuccessfully as a Farmers' Party candidate at the Cavan by-election on 11 March 1925. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as an independent Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cavan constituency at the June 1927 general election. He was re-elected at the September 1927 and 1932 general elections. He contested the 1933 general election as a National Centre Party candidate but did not retain his seat.

Members of the Fifth Dáil - Richard Holohan

Richard Holohan (11 January 1882 – 30 May 1954) was an Irish politician. A farmer by profession, he was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the June 1927 general election as a Farmers' Party Teachta Dála (TD) for the Carlow–Kilkenny constituency and he was re-elected at the September 1927 general election. He lost his seat at the 1932 general election. He was elected as a National Centre Party TD at the 1933 general election. He became a Fine Gael TD on 8 September 1933 when Cumann na nGaedhael and the National Centre Party, along with the Army Comrades Association merged to form the new party of Fine Gael. He lost his seat at the 1937 general election.

The Fifth Dáil

This is a list of the members who were elected to the 5th Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (legislature) of the Irish Free State. These TDs (Members of Parliament) were elected at the June 1927 general election on 9 June 1927 and met on 23 June 1927. The 5th Dáil was dissolved by Governor-General Timothy Michael Healy, at the request of the President of the Executive Council W. T. Cosgrave on 25 August 1927. The 5th Dáil is the shortest Dáil in the history of the state, lasting only 98 days.

The list of the 153 TDs elected, is given in alphabetical order by constituency.

Members of the 5th Dáil Constituency Name Party

Carlow–Kilkenny
W. T. Cosgrave Cumann na nGaedheal
Edward Doyle Labour Party
Denis Gorey Cumann na nGaedheal
Thomas Derrig Fianna Fáil
Richard Holohan Farmers' Party

Cavan
Patrick Baxter Farmers' Party
John O'Hanlon Independent
John Joe O'Reilly Cumann na nGaedheal
Paddy Smith Fianna Fáil

Clare
Éamon de Valera Fianna Fáil
Thomas Falvey Farmers' Party
Patrick Hogan Labour Party
Patrick Houlihan Fianna Fáil
Patrick Kelly Cumann na nGaedheal

Cork Borough
Richard Anthony Labour Party
Barry Egan Cumann na nGaedheal
Seán French Fianna Fáil
John Horgan National League Party
James J. Walsh Cumann na nGaedheal

Cork East
Martin Corry Fianna Fáil
John Daly Independent
Michael Hennessy Cumann na nGaedheal
David Kent Sinn Féin
David O'Gorman Farmers' Party

Cork North
Daniel Corkery Independent
Timothy Quill Labour Party
Daniel Vaughan Farmers' Party

Cork West
Thomas Mullins Fianna Fáil
Timothy J. Murphy Labour Party
Timothy O'Donovan Farmers' Party
Timothy Sheehy Cumann na nGaedheal
Jasper Wolfe Independent

Donegal
Neal Blaney Fianna Fáil
Frank Carney Fianna Fáil
Eugene Doherty Cumann na nGaedheal
Hugh Law Cumann na nGaedheal
Michael Óg McFadden Cumann na nGaedheal
Daniel McMenamin National League Party
James Myles Independent
John White Farmers' Party

Dublin County
Patrick Belton Fianna Fáil
Bryan Cooper Independent
Desmond FitzGerald Cumann na nGaedheal
John Good Independent
Thomas Johnson Labour Party
Seán MacEntee Fianna Fáil
Batt O'Connor Cumann na nGaedheal
Kevin O'Higgins Cumann na nGaedheal

Dublin North
Alfred Byrne Independent
John Byrne Cumann na nGaedheal
Kathleen Clarke Fianna Fáil
Margaret Collins-O'Driscoll Cumann na nGaedheal
Denis Cullen Labour Party
Richard Mulcahy Cumann na nGaedheal
Seán T. O'Kelly Fianna Fáil
Oscar Traynor Sinn Féin

Dublin South
James Beckett Cumann na nGaedheal
Peadar Doyle Cumann na nGaedheal
Myles Keogh Independent
Thomas Lawlor Labour Party
Seán Lemass Fianna Fáil
Constance Markiewicz Fianna Fáil
Vincent Rice National League Party

Dublin University
Ernest Alton Independent
James Craig Independent
William Thrift Independent

Galway
Seán Broderick Cumann na nGaedheal
William Duffy National League Party
Frank Fahy Fianna Fáil
Patrick Hogan Cumann na nGaedheal
Mark Killilea, Snr Fianna Fáil
Gilbert Lynch Labour Party
Martin McDonogh Cumann na nGaedheal
Thomas Powell Fianna Fáil
Seán Tubridy Fianna Fáil

Kerry
James Crowley Cumann na nGaedheal
Fionán Lynch Cumann na nGaedheal
Tom McEllistrim Fianna Fáil
William O'Leary Fianna Fáil
Thomas O'Reilly Fianna Fáil
John O'Sullivan Cumann na nGaedheal
Austin Stack Sinn Féin

Kildare
Domhnall Ua Buachalla Fianna Fáil
Hugh Colohan Labour Party
George Wolfe Cumann na nGaedheal

Leitrim–Sligo
Michael Carter Farmers' Party
Frank Carty Fianna Fáil
James Dolan Cumann na nGaedheal
John Hennigan Cumann na nGaedheal
Samuel Holt Fianna Fáil
John Jinks National League Party
Martin Roddy Cumann na nGaedheal

Leix–Offaly
Patrick Boland Fianna Fáil
William Davin Labour Party
James Dwyer Cumann na nGaedheal
John Gill Labour Party
Thomas Tynan Fianna Fáil

Limerick
George C. Bennett Cumann na nGaedheal
Patrick Clancy Labour Party
James Colbert Fianna Fáil
Tadhg Crowley Fianna Fáil
Gilbert Hewson Independent
Michael Keyes Labour Party
Richard O'Connell Cumann na nGaedheal

Longford–Westmeath
Henry Broderick Labour Party
Hugh Garahan Farmers' Party
Michael Kennedy Fianna Fáil
Patrick Shaw Cumann na nGaedheal
James Victory Fianna Fáil

Louth
Frank Aiken Fianna Fáil
James Coburn National League Party
James Murphy Cumann na nGaedheal

Mayo North
Michael Davis Cumann na nGaedheal
Mark Henry Cumann na nGaedheal
John Madden Sinn Féin
P. J. Ruttledge Fianna Fáil

Mayo South
James FitzGerald-Kenney Cumann na nGaedheal
Michael Kilroy Fianna Fáil
Eugene Mullen Fianna Fáil
Martin Nally Cumann na nGaedheal
Thomas J. O'Connell Labour Party

Meath
Eamonn Duggan Cumann na nGaedheal
David Hall Labour Party
Matthew O'Reilly Fianna Fáil

Monaghan
Ernest Blythe Cumann na nGaedheal
Alexander Haslett Independent
Patrick McCarvill Fianna Fáil

National University of Ireland
Arthur Clery Independent
Michael Hayes Ceann Comhairle
Patrick McGilligan Cumann na nGaedheal

Roscommon
Michael Brennan Independent
Gerald Boland Fianna Fáil
Martin Conlon Cumann na nGaedheal
Patrick O'Dowd Fianna Fáil

Tipperary
Séamus Burke Cumann na nGaedheal
Andrew Fogarty Fianna Fáil
Seán Hayes Fianna Fáil
John Hassett Cumann na nGaedheal
Michael Heffernan Farmers' Party
Daniel Morrissey Labour Party
William X. O'Brien Labour Party

Waterford
Caitlín Brugha Sinn Féin
Patrick Little Fianna Fáil
William Redmond National League Party
Vincent White Cumann na nGaedheal

Wexford
Richard Corish Labour Party
Michael Doyle Farmers' Party
John Keating National League Party
James Ryan Fianna Fáil
James Shannon Labour Party

Wicklow
James Everett Labour Party
Séamus Moore Fianna Fáil
Dermot O'Mahony Cumann na nGaedheal

Changes
Date Constituency Gain Loss
Note
1927-08-24 24 August 1927 Dublin South Cumann na nGaedheal Fianna Fáil

Thomas Hennessy (CnaG) wins the seat vacated by the death of Constance Markiewicz (FF)

1927-08-24 24 August 1927 Dublin County Cumann na nGaedheal Cumann na nGaedheal

Gearóid O'Sullivan (CnaG) holds the seat vacated by the death of Kevin O'Higgins (CnaG)

Members of the Fourth Dáil - James Dwyer

Great Southern Railway Meeting: W Gordon Bradley and James Dwyer

James Dwyer (1881 – 17 December 1932) was an Irish politician and farmer. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Cumann na nGaedhael Teachta Dála (TD) for the Leix–Offaly constituency at the Leix–Offaly by-election on 18 February 1926 caused by the disqualification of Seán McGuinness of Sinn Féin. He was re-elected at the June 1927 and September 1927 general elections but lost his seat at the 1932 general election.

This ends the 4th Dáil.

Members of the Fourth Dáil - William Norton

William Norton (1900 – 4 December 1963) was an Irish Labour Party politician, and leader of the party from 1932 to 1960.

Norton was born in Dublin in 1900. He joined the postal service in 1916. By 1920 he was a prominent member in the trade union movement in Ireland. From 1924 to 1948 he served as secretary of the Post Office Workers' Union. He was elected as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin County at a by-election in 1926, but was defeated at the June 1927 general election. In Professor Tom Garvin's review of the 1950s 'News from a New Republic', he comes in for praise as a moderniser. Garvin places him with a cross party group including Gerard Sweetman and Daniel Morrissey of Fine Gael as well as Sean Lemass of Fianna Fail who were pushing a modernising agenda. He represented Kildare from 1932 until his death.

In 1932 he became leader of the Labour Party. In the First Inter-Party Government (1948–1951), Norton became Tánaiste and Minister for Social Welfare. In the Second Inter-Party Government (1954–1957), Norton served as Tánaiste and Minister for Industry and Commerce.

William Norton died in Dublin in 1963. His son Patrick Norton served as a TD for Kildare from 1965 to 1969.

Members of the Fourth Dáil - Martin Conlon

Martin Conlon (1879 – 23 January 1966) was an Irish politician. He was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Cumann na nGaedheal Teachta Dála (TD) for the Roscommon constituency at the by-election caused by the resignation of Henry Finlay of Cumann na nGaedheal. He was re-elected at the June 1927, September 1927 and 1932 general elections. He lost his Dáil seat at the 1933 general election. He was elected to the 3rd Seanad in 1938 on the Industrial and Commercial Panel. He was defeated at the 1943 Seanad election.

Members of the Fourth Dáil - Michael Tierney

Michael Tierney (30 September 1894 – 10 May 1975) was Professor of Greek at University College Dublin (UCD) from 1923 to 1947 and President of UCD between 1947 and 1964.

Tierney was born in 1894 in Ballymacward, County Galway. He was educated at UCD where he won a National University of Ireland travelling studentship. He studied classics at the Sorbonne, Athens and Berlin. He was appointed to a lectureship in classics in 1915 and to the Professorship of Greek in 1923.

Tierney was elected a Cumann na nGaedhael Teachta Dála (TD) for Mayo North in a by-election in 1925 and for the NUI constituency in 1927, a seat he held until 1932. He was a member of Seanad Éireann from 1938–44.

He was the prime mover behind the transfer of UCD to its present site at Belfield. He married Eibhlín MacNeill, daughter of Eoin MacNeill, and wrote a biography of his father-in-law, Eoin MacNeill: scholar and man of action (1980).

Members of the Fourth Dáil - Martin Roddy

Martin Roddy (1887 – 8 January 1948) was an Irish politician, newspaper editor and company director. He was first elected as a Cumann na nGaedheal Teachta Dála (TD) at the by-election held on 11 March 1925 for the constituency of Leitrim–Sligo following the resignation of Alexander McCabe. He was re-elected at the June 1927, September 1927, 1932 and 1933 general elections. He was elected as a Fine Gael TD for the new Sligo constituency at the 1937 general election. He lost his seat at the 1938 general election, but re-gained it at 1943 general election. He died while still in office in 1948.

He served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Fisheries in 1927 and as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Land and Fisheries from 1927–1932.

Members of the Fourth Dáil - Samuel Holt

Samuel Edward Holt (1887 – 18 April 1929) was an Irish politician. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Sinn Féin Teachta Dála (TD) for the Leitrim–Sligo constituency at the 1925 by-election caused by the resignation of Thomas Carter of Cumann na nGaedheal. He was re-elected at the June 1927 and September 1927 general elections as a Fianna Fáil TD. He died during the 6th Dáil in 1929. The by-election caused by his death was held on 7 June 1929 and was won by Seán Mac Eoin of Cumann na nGaedhael.

Members of the Fourth Dáil - Thomas Hennessy

Thomas Hennessy was an Irish Cumann na nGaedhael Party politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) in the years of the Irish Free State.

He was first elected to Dáil Éireann in a by-election on 11 March 1925 in the Dublin South constituency, after the resignation of the Cumann na nGaedhael TD Daniel McCarthy.

He did not contest the June 1927 general election, but after the death of the Fianna Fáil TD for Dublin South, Constance Markiewicz, he stood as a candidate in the by-election on 24 August. He won the election, becoming the first — and only — candidate to win more than one by-election to the Dáil.

The 5th Dáil lasted only 98 days in total, and last sat on 16 August 1927, before adjourning until October. However, it did not meet again; a second general election was held in September, and Hennessy was returned to the 6th Dáil. He was re-elected again at the 1932 election, but was defeated at the 1933 election, and retired from politics.

Members of the Fourth Dáil - Oscar Traynor

Oscar Traynor 10th July 1922

Oscar Traynor

Oscar Traynor (21 March 1886 – 15 December 1963) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. A former revolutionary, he served in a number of Cabinet positions, most notably as the country's longest-serving Minister for Defence.

Oscar Traynor was born into a strongly nationalist family in Dublin, Ireland. He was educated by the Christian Brothers in Dublin. In 1899 he was apprenticed to John Long, a famous wood-carver. As a young man he was a noted footballer and toured Europe with Belfast Celtic.

Traynor joined the Irish Volunteers and took part in the Easter Rising in 1916. Following this, he was interned in Wales. During the Irish War of Independence, he was brigadier of the Dublin Brigade of the Irish Republican Army and led the attack on The Custom House in 1921 and an ambush on the West Kent Regiment at Claude Road, Drumcondra, on 16 June 1921, when the Thompson sub-machine gun was fired for the first time in action. When the Irish Civil War broke out in June 1922, Traynor took the republican side. The Dublin Brigade was split however, with many of its members following Michael Collins in taking the pro-Treaty side. Traynor and his supporters tried to help the republicans who had occupied the Four Courts when they were attacked by Free State forces, by occupying O'Connell street. Traynor and his men held out for a week of street fighting before making their escape. He organised guerilla activity in south Dublin and county Wicklow, before being captured by Free State troops in September. He was then imprisoned for the remainder of the war.

On 11 March 1925, he was elected to Dáil Éireann in a by-election as a Sinn Féin TD for the Dublin North constituency, though he did not take his seat due to the abstentionist policy of Sinn Féin. He was re-elected in the June 1927 general election, once again not taking his seat. He did not contest the September 1927 general election. He stood again in the 1932 general election and was elected as a Fianna Fáil TD for Dublin North.

In 1936, he was first appointed to the Cabinet as Minister for Posts & Telegraphs. In September 1939, Traynor was appointed Minister for Defence and held the portfolio to February 1948. In 1948, he became President of the Football Association of Ireland, a position he held until his death. He served as Minister for Defence in several Fianna Fáil governments and as Minister for Justice before he retired in 1961.

Oscar Traynor died on 15 December 1963, in Dublin at the age of 77.

5 May 2011 - 95th Anniversary of the Death of the Rebels #3

95 years ago, 5 May 1916, John (Sean) McBride was executed.

MacBride, unlike the other leaders of the Easter Rising in Dublin in 1916, was not a member of the Irish Volunteers, and happened to find himself in the midst of the Rising without notice, but he offered his services to Thomas MacDonagh and was appointed second-in-command at the Jacob's factory. MacBride, after a court martial under the Defence of The Realms Acts, was shot by British troops in Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin.

He was executed on 5 May 1916, two days before his fifty-first birthday. Facing the British firing squad, he refused to be blindfolded, saying "I have looked down the muzzles of too many guns in the South African war to fear death and now please carry out your sentence." He is buried in the cemetery at Arbour Hill Prison in Dublin.

Yeats, who had hated MacBride during his life largely because of Yeats' unrequited love for Maud Gonne and who had heard negative reports of MacBride's treatment of Gonne in their marriage, gave him the following ambivalent eulogy in his poem "Easter, 1916":

"This other man I had dreamed
A drunken, vain-glorious lout.
He had done most bitter wrong
To some who are near my heart,
Yet I number him in the song;
He, too, has resigned his part
In the casual comedy;
He, too, has been changed in his turn,
Transformed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born."

4 May 2011 - 95th Anniversary of the Death of the Rebels #2

95 years ago, 4 May 1916, 3 rebels were executed: Joseph Mary Plunkett, Ned Daly, and Michael O'Hanrahan.

Following the surrender, Joseph Mary Plunkett was held in Kilmainham Gaol, and faced a court martial. Hours before his execution by firing squad at the age of 28, he was married in the prison chapel to his sweetheart Grace Gifford, a Protestant convert to Catholicism, whose sister, Muriel, had years before also converted and married his best friend Thomas MacDonagh, who was also executed for his role in the Easter Rising.

Ned Daly's battalion, stationed in the Four Courts and areas to the west and north of Dublin center, saw the most intense fighting of the rising. He surrendered his battalion on 29 April. In his trial, he claimed that he was just following orders, but was executed by firing squad on 4 May 1916, at the age of 25.

The men in his battalion spoke of him as a good commandant. This opinion was also shared by a British officer that Daly's battalion had captured.

Michael O'Hanrahan was second in command of Dublin's 2nd battalion under Commandant Thomas MacDonagh, though his role as such was usurped by the last minute addition of John MacBride to the battalion (as, one could argue, was MacDonagh's). He fought at Jacob's Biscuit Factory, though the battalion saw little action throughout Easter week, as the British Army largely circumvented their position.

O'Hanrahan was executed by firing squad on May 4, 1916. His brother, Henry O'Hanrahan, was sentenced to penal servitude for life for his role in the Easter Rising.

Wexford railway station is named in commemoration of O'Hanrahan, as is the road bridge over the River Barrow at New Ross.

3 May 2011 - 95th Anniversary of the Death of the Rebels #1

95 years ago, on 3 May 1916, Pearse and fourteen other leaders, including his brother Willie, were court-martialled and executed by firing squad. Sir Roger Casement, who had tried unsuccessfully to recruit an insurgent force among Irish-born prisoners of war from the Irish Brigade in Germany, was hanged in London the following August. Thomas Clarke, Thomas MacDonagh, and Pearse himself were the first of the rebels to be executed, on the morning of 3 May 1916. Pearse was 36 years old at the time of his death.

Clarke was stationed in the headquarters at the General Post Office during the events of Easter Week, where rebel forces were largely composed of Irish Citizen Army members under the command of Connolly. Though he held no formal military rank, Clarke was recognised by the garrison as one of the commanders, and was active through out the week in the direction of the fight, and shared the fortunes of his comrades. Following the surrender on April 29, Clarke was held in Kilmainham Jail until his execution by firing squad on May 3 at the age of 59. He was the second person to be executed, following Patrick Pearse.

Before execution, he asked his wife Kathleen to give this message. Message to the Irish People, 3rd May 1916.

‘I and my fellow signatories believe we have struck the first successful blow
for Irish freedom. The next blow, which we have no doubt Ireland will strike,
will win through. In this belief, we die happy. '

During the rising, MacDonagh's battalion was stationed at the massive complex of Jacob's Biscuit Factory. On the way to this destination the battalion encountered the veteran Fenian, John MacBride, who on the spot joined the battalion as second-in-command, and in fact took over part of the command throughout Easter Week, although he had had no prior knowledge and was in the area by accident. MacDonagh's original second in command was Michael O'Hanrahan.

As it was, despite MacDonagh's rank and the fact that he commanded one of the strongest battalions, they saw little fighting, as the British Army avoided the factory as they established positions in central Dublin. MacDonagh received the order to surrender on April 30, though his entire battalion was fully prepared to continue the engagement. Following the surrender, MacDonagh was court martialled, and executed by firing squad on 3 May 1916, aged thirty-eight.

Members of the Fourth Dáil - Patrick Leonard

Patrick Leonard was an Irish politician. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Cumann na nGaedhael Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin North constituency at the Dublin North by-election on 11 March 1925 caused by the resignation of Francis Cahill of Cumann na nGaedhael. He lost his seat at the June 1927 general election but was re-elected at the September 1927 general election. He lost his seat again at the 1932 general election.

Members of the Fourth Dáil - John Joe O'Reilly

John Joseph O'Reilly (24 April 1881 – 28 December 1967) was an Irish Cumann na nGaedhael / Fine Gael politician and physician. He was born in Carrickallen, County Leitrim and practised as a GP in Tullyvin, County Cavan. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Cumann na nGaedhael TD in the March 1925 by-election for the Cavan constituency. He was re-elected at each successive election until the 1937 general election when he lost his seat to John J. Cole, Independent Unionist.

Members of the Fourth Dáil - Thomas Bolger

Thomas Bolger (died 1 May 1938) was an Irish Cumann na nGaedhael Party politician who was a Teachta Dála (TD) for two years in the 1920s.

Bolger was an unsuccessful Cumann na nGaedhael candidate in the Carlow–Kilkenny constituency at the 1923 general election. He stood again at a by-election on 11 March 1925, following the resignation of Carlow-Kilkenny TD Seán Gibbons, and was elected to the 4th Dáil.

He did not contest the June 1927 general election, but stood unsuccessfully in Carlow-Kilkenny as an independent candidate at the 1932 general election.

Members of the Fourth Dáil - Denis McCullough

Denis McCullough (24 January 1883 – 11 September 1968) was a prominent Irish nationalist political activist in the early 20th century.

Born in Belfast, Ireland McCullough was a separatist nationalist from an early age. When he was 17, his father had him inducted into the Irish Republican Brotherhood at the side door of a pub by a man who seemed to view the ritual as an unpleasant distraction to a night of drinking. The event disillusioned McCullough with the Brotherhood, and he soon took it upon himself to revitalize the organisation.

He did so over the years with the aid of Bulmer Hobson and Sean MacDermott. Together they founded the Dungannon Clubs for recruitment into the Brotherhood, and they worked to remove the "armchair republicans" from positions of power to be replaced with more determined men. Their cause prospered with the return of veteran Fenian Tom Clarke to Ireland in 1907.

McCullough (Donnchadha Mac Con Uladh) was elected to fill the vacant seat of the President of the IRB late in 1915, a position he held during the Easter Rising of 1916, though he took no active role in the rising itself. He was not a member of the Military Committee that was responsible for its planning (and probably didn't even know of its existence until after the rising). It is likely that the other members of the 3-person IRB executive, Clarke and MacDermott (the treasurer and secretary) supported his nomination as president because, being isolated in Belfast, he would be in no position to interfere with their plans. Nevertheless, during Holy Week he got word of what was afoot and travelled to Dublin to question Clarke and MacDermott, who avoided him as long as they could. Eventually, they informed him of their plans, which he was brought to support.

Though he was an officer of the Irish Volunteers, in charge of 200 men in Belfast, it was decided that Belfast could not take part in the rising, as the dominance of the Ulster Volunteers in the northeast could lead to sectarian civil war. Therefore McCullough was to lead Volunteers in his area to Dungannon, County Tyrone, from where they would link up with Liam Mellows in Connacht. Although the Volunteer's Chief-of-Staff Eoin MacNeill issued a countermanding order, cancelling orders for the rising, McCullough took 150 Volunteers and Cumman na mBan women by train from Belfast to Dungannon. There he found that the local Volunteers under Patrick McCartan did not want to leave their home area and McCullough decided to return to Belfast. During the abortive Rising, he accidentally shot himself in the hand. Nevertheless, he was arrested that week and taken to Richmond Barracks in Dublin. He spent several months incarcerated in Frongoch in Wales and Reading Jail. On his release he married Anne Ryan, daughter of James Ryan.

It has been argued that as President of the Irish Republican Brotherhood at the time of the Easter Rising, the title President of the Irish Republic was by rights his, and not Patrick Pearse's. However, as he had no real role in the planning of the insurrection, and was not in the vicinity of Dublin, where it was clear the leadership would need to be, it is understandable that Pearse was given the title instead.

McCullough's decision not to fight in the Easter Rising lost him his pre-eminent position among Belfast republicans. One, Sean Cusack later said that he told McCullough, "we all felt he had, to some extent, let us down".

McCullough was therefore sidelined in the subsequent Irish War of Independence (1919–1921). He was, however, arrested and imprisoned by the British several times and held for long periods. In 1922, he supported the Anglo-Irish Treaty, despite its acceptance of the Partition of Ireland, as a way of keeping the republican movement united and focussed on the north, where Catholics were being attacked by loyalists. He later said of the split in the southern movement,

"while they were making up their minds about the Treaty, their people in
the north were being killed day by day. They could not stand up the terror
in Ulster unless they had a united organisation behind them".

McCullough was obviously not aware that Collins continued to covertly arm the IRA in Ulster until August 1922, partly to protect nationalists there and partly to try to bring down the Northern Irish state.

After the Treaty, in early 1922 he was sent by George Gavan Duffy (and possibly also by Michael Collins) to the United States to make contact with Irish republican organisations there. He subsequently settled in Dublin in the new Irish Free State.

McCullough's political activity went alongside maintaining and developing an instrument making and retail music business in Belfast’s Howard Street, generated from his original trade as a piano tuner. F.J. Biggar, the solicitor antiquarian and friend of Roger Casement, encouraged its growth with orders for bagpipes for his boy bands. In time, after he moved to Dublin, this became McCullough Pigott of Suffolk Street and marked the beginning of a highly successful and influential Free State business career.

McCullough distinguished himself (inspired by Michael Collins) in forming the New Ireland Assurance Company. A director of Clondalkin Paper Mills, he also had a role in the Irish Army School of Music, and the Gate Theatre. While in America as Special Commissioner for the Free State (leaving his wife in charge of the music business) his new premises in Dawson Street were entirely destroyed by an Anti-Treaty IRA land mine as a reprisal, during the Irish Civil War.

On 20 November 1924, McCullough stood as the Cumann na nGaedheal candidate at a by-election in the Donegal constituency, following the resignation of Cumann na nGaedheal TD Peter Ward. He was elected to the 4th Dáil Éireann, but did not stand again at the next general election, in June 1927.