Who Killed Noel Lemass?

In a post on the website Politics.ie entitled "Who Killed Noel Lemass?" from January 2011, with the moniker Turdsl states the following:

I have mentioned this many times down through the years to Fine Gael people, they were always the best at condemning Adams and McGuinness and the IRA as cold blooded killers.

Mention the Killing of Noel Lemass and the excuses varied and the subject would change. Some of the answers were just unbelievable; it was one of the most savage killings ever.

Fine Gael never did want to hear about it, One point must be said Sean Lemass always treated the opposition with dignity, I am sure he did not find it easy at times on account of that episode in the countries history alone.

 

Originally Posted by El Libre

In the Irish Mail on Sunday of 3rd October, Dermot Bolger's review of Damian Corless's Irish Hospitals Sweeptstakes contains some remarkable claims. Joe McGrath, one of the leading lights of the Sweepstakes racket, as is well known, is also stated to have been 'Michael Collins's former enforcer and torturer'. More than that, Bolger alleges that Seán Lemass's brother Noel 'was tortured and murdered by McGrath'.

The murder of Noel Lemass is notable for the fact that it took place after the end of the Civil War, he being abducted in July 1923 and his dismembered body located at the Featherbed in the Dublin Mountains in October (the spot is marked by a monument). While it is accepted that Free State forces were to blame, I have never seen anyone mentioned by name as the killer, and although McGrath might have turned a blind eye, one wonders if he is being unfairly accused? Ulick O'Connor wrote in the Sunday Indo in 2002 that Noel Lemass was killed because of the mistaken belief that he had been involved in the murder of Sean Hales.

Those were indeed terrible times, and it is suspected that the Military Archives in Cathal Brugha Barracks may still hold some surviving secret files that just might throw a little more light on these officially sanctioned murders. You will still find the odd 'Blueshirt' justifying the killings today, in the cause of preserving order and democracy. Of course the Republicans killed ruthlessly as well and have their apologists, but they could not match the ferocity and resources of their former colleagues and friends in the Free State government.

 

 

Members of the Fifteenth Dáil - Noel Thomas Lemass Jr

Noel Thomas Lemass (14 February 1929 – 13 April 1976) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin South–West from 1956 until 1976.

Born in Dublin in 1929, Lemass was the son of Seán Lemass, a Fianna Fáil TD, and Kathleen Lemass (née Hughes). He was named after his uncle, a victim of the Irish Civil War in the early 1920s. Lemass was educated at Catholic University School, Leeson Street in Dublin and later at Newbridge College in County Kildare. He didn't attend university, against his father's wishes, instead undertaking business training and later becoming an executive member and branch secretary of the Irish Commercial Traveller's Association.

Lemass followed his father into politics in 1955 when he was elected to Dublin City Council. He was elected to Dáil Éireann in a by-election in Dublin South–West the following year. In winning that by-election, Lemass delivered a blow to the ruling Fine Gael party whose TD had held the seat for a number of years.

Lemass had to wait until his father retired as Taoiseach for political preferment. In spite of this he was active in a number of political councils and other groupings. From 1966 to 1968 he was a member of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe. He was also a member of the Irish-British Parliamentary Group and the Irish-French Parliamentary Group.

Lemass was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance, serving from 1969 until 1973 and holding responsibility for the Board of Works. In his first year at the Department, he served under his brother-in-law, Charles Haughey, and later under George Colley.

When Fianna Fáil lost power in 1973 Lemass was named on the front branch as spokesperson for physical planning and the environment. He held that position until January 1975 when he was dropped from the front bench.

Lemass's political career, a career in which he was invariably judged in comparison to his father, was cut short when he died suddenly in 1976.

Lemass married Eileen Delaney in 1950. The couple had four children. Lemass's wife became involved in politics herself when she became a member of Dublin Corporation. She also entered the Dáil following the death of her husband.

Members of the Fifteenth Dáil - Martin Medlar

Martin Medlar (4 December 1899 – 4 June 1965) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. A farmer by profession, he was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for the Carlow–Kilkenny constituency at the 1956 by-election caused by the death of Thomas Walsh of Fianna Fáil. He was re-elected at the 1957 and 1961 general elections. He lost his seat at the 1965 general election.

Members of the Fifteenth Dáil - John Galvin

John Galvin (15 May 1907 – 11 October 1963) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork Borough constituency at the August 1956 by-election caused by the death of Patrick McGrath of Fianna Fáil. He was re-elected at the 1957 and 1961 general elections. He died in office in 1963, and the February 1964 by-election held for his seat was won by his widow Sheila Galvin.

Members of the Fifteenth Dáil - Kieran Egan

Kieran P. Egan (26 May 1916 – 25 March 1976) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for the Leix–Offaly constituency at the 1956 by-election caused by the death of William Davin of the Labour Party. He was re-elected at the 1957 and 1961 general elections. He lost his seat at the 1965 general election, but was subsequently elected to the 11th Seanad by the Administrative Panel. He did not contest the 1969 Seanad election.

Members of the Fifteenth Dáil - Patrick Byrne

Patrick Byrne (born 2 April 1925) is a retired Irish politician. An accountant by profession, he was first elected to Dáil Éireann as an independent Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin North–East constituency at a by-election on 30 April 1956.  The by-election was caused by the death of his father, Alfred Byrne. In 1957, he joined Fine Gael and was re-elected at the 1957, 1961 and 1965 general elections. He did not contest the 1969 general election.

His father Alfred Byrne was an MP, TD, Senator and Lord Mayor of Dublin. His brothers Thomas Byrne and Alfred P. Byrne were also TDs.

Members of the Fifteenth Dáil - Kathleen O'Connor

Kathleen O'Connor (born 30 July 1934) is an Irish former Clann na Poblachta politician.

A National School teacher by profession, she was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Clann na Poblachta Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kerry North constituency at the Kerry North by-election on 29 February 1956, following the death of her father Johnny Connor. She did not stand at the 1957 general election, and retired from politics. She was 21 years, 7 months old when elected, making her the third youngest ever person elected to the Dáil.

Members of the Fifteenth Dáil - Patrick "Paudge" Brennan

(Patrick) "Paudge" Brennan (18 February 1922 – 10 June 1998) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who sat for 25 years as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wicklow constituency, was briefly a Senator.

Brennan first stood for election to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil candidate in Wicklow in the 1953 by-election created as a result of the death of his father Thomas Brennan. While unsuccessful he was returned at the following 1954 general election, where he was elected to the 15th Dáil, and was returned at the next four general elections. He topped the poll on each occasion and by virtue of one of the largest votes at the 1957 general election managed to secure two seats for Fianna Fáil in the constituency. He was joined by his running mate James O'Toole.

He served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Local Government from 1965 until he resigned on 8 May 1970. His resignation followed that of his boss, local government minister Kevin Boland, in sympathy with Neil Blaney and Charles Haughey, who had both been sacked from the cabinet in the Arms Crisis.

After being expelled from the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party in 1971, Brennan remained an independent and while closely aligned with Kevin Boland did not in fact join Boland's new party, Aontacht Éireann. He contested the 1973 general election as an independent candidate, but he lost his seat to Fianna Fáil's Ciarán Murphy.

He subsequently rejoined Fianna Fáil, and at the 1981 general election he was elected again as TD for Wicklow. He lost his seat at the February 1982 election, and was a Taoiseach's nominee to the Seanad but was re-elected to the Dáil at the November 1982 general election, ousting Ciarán Murphy. Brennan retired from politics at the 1987 general election.

His father, Thomas Brennan, was Fianna Fáil TD for Wicklow from 1944 to 1954.

Members of the Fifteenth Dáil - Thaddeus Lynch

Thaddeus Lynch (1901 – 25 October 1966) was an Irish Fine Gael politician and auctioneer. He first stood for election at the 1952 Waterford by-election but was unsuccessful. He was first elected as a Fine Gael Teachta Dála (TD) for the Waterford constituency at the 1954 general election. He was re-elected at each subsequent general election until his death in 1966. The by-election caused by his death was won by Fad Browne of Fianna Fáil.

In 1964, he proposed that boxwood cuttings from the U.S. state of Virginia be planted in the memorial park to honour John F. Kennedy then being planned for Wexford.

Members of the Fifteenth Dáil - Patrick Mooney

Patrick Mooney (12 November 1903 – 30 October 1989) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for the Monaghan constituency at the 1954 general election. He was re-elected at the 1957, 1961 and 1965 general elections but lost his seat at the 1969 general election.

Members of the Fifteenth Dáil - James Tully

 ^{James Tully}

James "Jim" Tully (18 September 1915 – 20 May 1992) was an Irish trade unionist, politician and Deputy leader of the Labour Party who served as a minister in a series of Fine Gael-Labour Party coalition governments.

A native of Carlanstown, near Kells in County Meath, Tully was educated in Carlanstown schools and in St. Patrick's Classical School in Navan. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Labour Party Teachta Dála (TD) for the Meath constituency at the 1954 general election. He lost his seat at the 1957 general election, but was re-elected at the 1961 general election and served until 1982. When Labour entered into a coalition government with Fine Gael in 1973, he was appointed Minister for Local Government. While serving in that post he gained prominence for a massive increase in the building of public housing, and notoriety for an attempt to gerrymander Irish constituencies to ensure the re-election of the National Coalition at the 1977 general election. His electoral reorganisation effort, which came to be called a Tullymander, backfired spectacularly and helped engineer a landslide for the opposition, Fianna Fáil.

Also as Minister for Local government Tully decided on alterations to the plans for the controversial Dublin Corporation Civic Offices.

Tully was appointed Deputy Leader of the Labour Party under Michael O'Leary in 1981, and Minister for Defence in the short-lived 1981–82 Fine Gael-Labour Party government. In that capacity he traveled to Cairo in 1981 as Ireland's representative in Egypt's annual 6 October military victory parade. While in the reviewing stand, next to President Anwar Sadat, he suffered a shrapnel injury to his face when Sadat was assassinated by members of Egyptian Islamic Jihad who had infiltrated the Egyptian Army.

In 1982, a few months after the event, James Tully retired from politics. He died ten years later at the age of 76.

Members of the Fifteenth Dáil - Henry Kenny

Henry Kenny (7 September 1913 – 25 September 1975) was an Irish Fine Gael politician from County Mayo and a Gaelic footballer who won an All-Ireland medal with the Mayo inter-county team in 1936. A Teachta Dála (TD) for over 20 years, he was the father of Enda Kenny, the current Taoiseach.

Members of the Fifteenth Dáil - Patrick J. Lindsay

Patrick J. Lindsay (18 January 1914 – 29 June 1993) was an Irish politician and lawyer.

He was born in Dublin but before his second birthday, his family returned to their native County Mayo, settling in the village of Doolough, Kiltane Parish, Erris. He received his primary education at Gweesalia National School, and attended secondary school at St. Muiredach's College, Ballina. He subsequently attended University College Galway, where he studied ancient classics, between 1933 and 1937, graduating with an M.A. He was a noted figure in the college - a gifted orator, he served on the committee of the Literary and Debating Society, and took part in the productions of the Drama Society. He was also a leader of the Blueshirts movement while in college.

Lindsay subsequently became a teacher of classics at the Royal School, Cavan, and later at schools in Dublin. He studied law at the King's Inns, and was called to the Irish Bar in 1946. He married Moya Brady in 1952.

He was first elected to Dáil Éireann on his sixth attempt, at the 1954 general election as a Fine Gael Teachta Dála (TD) for Mayo North. He was re-elected at the 1957 general election, but lost his seat at the 1961 general election, after which he was elected to the 10th Seanad by the Industrial and Commercial Panel. He became Leas-Chathaoirleach (deputy chairman) of the Seanad.

Linday returned to the Dáil at the 1965 general election, but lost his seat at the 1969 general election, when he switched constituency to Dublin North–Central. He was again unsuccessful at the 1973 general election.

His ministerial career was brief, lasting only eight months. In July 1956, he was appointed by Taoiseach John A. Costello as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Gaeltacht and to the Minister for Education in the Second Inter-Party Government. In October 1956, he was promoted to the cabinet as Minister for the Gaeltacht, serving until March 1957, when Fianna Fáil returned to power after the 1957 general election. On his return to the Dáil in 1965, he was appointed Fine Gael spokesman on transport and power.

Lindsay had become a Senior Counsel in 1954, and following the loss of his parliamentary seat in 1969, he devoted himself full-time to his practice at the bar, becoming a leading figure in criminal law. In 1975, he was appointed to the position of Master of the High Court, from which he retired on his seventieth birthday in January 1984.

Lindsay served as chairman of Cumann Céimithe na Gaillimhe, the University College Galway Graduate Association, during the 1980s. He published his memoirs in 1992. He died on 29 June 1993.

Major historical find in Fermanagh - 1,000 year old Crannog at the center of archaeological dig

Amazing discovery in Fermanagh - aerial shot of the crannog settlement 

 

In an article by Antoinette Kelly on IrishCentral, dated 5 December 2012, she writes the following:

Find is of international historic significance but may soon be a motor way bypass.

Another Irish site with major international archaeological significance will shortly have a motor way link road paved through it. The site, located in County Fermanagh, has been called one of the most important and interesting archaeological digs in Northern Ireland.

Known as a crannog - an artificial island in a lake - archeologists at the site have been making startling discoveries almost weekly since the dig began in June.

Now however, according to the BBC, the Institute for Archaeologists (IFA) has become concerned about 'the apparently imminent destruction' of the historical site. To date they have regarded the crannog as too fragile to preserve rather than excavate after the nearby engineering works for the road scheme drained water from the site.

The new A32 Cherrymount link road near Enniskillen will eventually be built on top of the archeological wonder.

But as the dig went on it became clear it was of international significance, revealing a wealth of information about living conditions there.

Although at the time inhabitants would have had little private space in the cramped conditions that are little bigger than a large modern living room, the house walls were insulated with heather and other native plants and living conditions were reportedly reasonably comfortable for the times.

Humans probably shared their homes with occasional unwelcome guests like bugs and parasites, and the surrounding lake could have occasionally flooded the floors from time to time.

But the objects found to date show that people living there were very sophisticated, skilled at metal working, woodworking and carpentry, from constructing their houses to decorating wooden containers of all sizes.

 It has been revealed that the crannog was occupied from at least AD 900 to AD 1600, and was probably the home of a noble Irish family, perhaps with four or five houses lived in at any time, occupied by an extended family of parents, grandparents, children, servants and retinue.

Some of the most striking finds to date include a wooden bowl with a cross carved into its base, a unique find from an excavation in Ireland, and exquisite combs made from antler and bone, ornate status symbols that date to between 1000 and 1100 AD.

Other finds include what is believed to be the largest collection of pottery from a crannog in Northern Ireland, as well as ornaments of iron, bronze and bone.

 A huge number of wooden remains have been found, from gaming chess-like pieces, to drinking cups right through to the timber foundations of dozens of houses. Archaeologists have also discovered leather shoes, agricultural equipment, knives and decorated dress pins.

Environment Minister Alex Attwood told the BBC the dig had changed his view of history and Irish life.

 'This is the first substantial, scientific excavation of a crannog in Northern Ireland. What has been found has the potential not only to be internationally important but ultimately to lead to a reassessment of life in Ulster in early Christian and medieval times,' he said.

It was important therefore that we took both time and the effort to unearth this rich seam of history. That is why in August I placed an exclusion zone around the site and ensured that the time was given to allow archaeological excavation to proceed.'

Read more: http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Major-historical-find-in-Fermanagh---1000-year-old-Crannog-at-the-center-of-archaeological-dig-182055251.html#ixzz2EEmxV3AS
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Proving the Irish Famine was genocide by the British

The Famine memorial on the quays in Dublin City

In an article in IrishCentral.com dated 4 December 2012 subtitled "Tim Pat Coogan moves Famine history on to a new plane, Niall O'Dowd cites the following:

The most significant section of Tim Pat Coogan’s new book on the Irish Famine is not his own writing, but his printing of the United Nations definition of genocide.

“The Famine Plot”, published by Palgrave MacMillan, was released in America last week and Coogan should have been here to launch it but in a separate but equally confounding plot he was denied a visa to come here by the American Embassy in Dublin.

The conclusion from his book is unmistakable. Ireland’s most prominent historian, who has previously created definitive portraits of both Michael Collins and Eamon De Valera, has now pointed the finger squarely at the British during the Famine and stated it was genocide.

It is a big charge, but Coogan is a big man, physically, intellectually, and in every sense and makes a very effective accusation. Coogan has painted a portrait of devastating neglect, abuse, and mismanagement that certainly fits the genocide concept.

I mean if we go back to that time, Ireland was the equivalent of Puerto Rico or Samoa, massive dependencies on the United States today.

If there were a massive food shortage in either of those two countries, we know the US would step up to the plate, literally.

Back in Famine time, the same potato crop disease occurred most heavily in Scotland, outside Ireland, yet there were relatively few casualties as the landowners and government ensured, for their own sakes as much as anything, that there was no mass death.

That was not the case in Ireland, where a very different mentality prevailed. The damned Irish were going to get what they deserved because of their attachment to Catholicism and Irish ways when they were refusing to toe the British line.

As Coogan painstakingly recounts, every possible effort by local organizations to feed the starving were thwarted and frustrated by a British government intent on teaching the Irish a lesson and forcing market forces on them.

Charles Trevelyan, the key figure in the British government, had foreshadowed the deadly policy in a letter to the “Morning Post”, after a trip to Ireland, where he heartily agreed with the sentiment that there were at least a million or two people too many in the benighted land and that the eight million could not possibly survive there.

“Protestant and Catholic will freely fall and the land will be for the survivors.”

Shortly after, he was in charge of a policy that brought that situation about.

One Trevelyan story and one quote suffice.

“British Coastguard Inspector-General, Sir James Dombrain, when he saw starving paupers, ordered his subordinates to give free food handouts. For his attempts to feed the starving, Dombrain was publicly rebuked by Trevelyan…”

The Trevelyan quote is “The real evil with which we have to contend is not the physical evil of the Famine but the moral evil of the selfish, perverse and turbulent character of the people.”

Tim Pat Coogan has done an enormous service with this book.

Read more: http://www.irishcentral.com/story/news/periscope/proving-the-irish-famine-was-genocide-by-the-british----tim-pat-coogan-moves-famine-history-unto-a-new-plane-181984471.html#ixzz2EEi4LqiN
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A picture of Michael Collins just hours before his death is discovered

An image of Michael Collins taken just hours before his death in August 1922

In an article in Irishcentral.com By JAMES O'SHEA, IrishCentral Staff Writer, subtitled "‘Big Fella’ seated in military car on his way to IRA ambush", he  states the following:

A remarkable photo of Michael Collins taken just hours before his death has been uncovered in an attic.

The images, captured using an old Brownie camera, were taken in August 1922 by 18-year-old Agnes Hurley from Bandon. One shot features Collins in the back of the military vehicle in which he was driven to his death just hours later.

The Hurley collection spans 20 years from 1921. It was lost and last year found again in a Dublin attic by her niece Mim O’Donovan.

O'Donovan brought the photographs to the 'Revolutionary Decade Roadshow' in Clonakilty, organised by University College Cork.

Another picture shows the scene at Beal na Blath where Collins was killed on August 23, 1922, the day after the ambush.

No photograph of the site where Collins died was known to exist previously.

"Aggie went to Beal na Blath to see what had happened because they'd heard gunshots the previous day.

She took hundreds of photographs over the years and dated the back of every single one," O'Donovan told the Irish Independent.

Cork archivist Brian Magee described the find as "extraordinary".

Read more: http://www.irishcentral.com/news/A-picture-of-Michael-Collins-just-hours-before-his-death-is-discovered-182161491.html#ixzz2EEeP8hXC
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Members of the Fifteenth Dáil - Patrick Sarsfield Paddy Donegan

Patrick Sarsfield "Paddy" Donegan (29 October 1923 – 26 November 2000) was an Irish Fine Gael politician.

He was educated at a Christian Brothers School in Drogheda, County Louth and at the Vincentian Castleknock College, County Dublin. Donegan was first elected as a Fine Gael Teachta Dála (TD) for the Louth constituency at the 1954 general election. He lost his seat at the 1957 general election but was elected to Seanad Éireann by the Agricultural Panel. He regain his Dáil seat at the 1961 general election. In the Fine Gael-Labour Party coalition government which took power after the 1973 general election Donegan was appointed as Minister for Defence.

In October 1976, Donegan made a controversial speech on an official visit to the opening of new kitchen facilities in an army barracks at Mullingar. He described as a "thundering disgrace" President Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh's refusal to sign the Emergency Powers Act, 1976, instead using his powers under Article 26 of the Constitution to refer it to the Supreme Court. The Taoiseach, Liam Cosgrave, refused Donegan's resignation, and instead Ó Dálaigh resigned as President of Ireland. The whole episode badly damaged the government's reputation.

In 1976, Donegan became Minister for Lands, and, in 1977, he served briefly as Minister for Fisheries. Donegan retired from politics at the 1981 general election, and died in 2000. He was buried in his home town of Monasterboice.

Members of the Fifteenth Dáil - Donogh Brendan O'Malley

Donogh Brendan O'Malley (January 1921 – 10 March 1968) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. A Teachta Dála (TD) for Limerick East from 1954 until 1968, he also served as Minster for Health (1965–66) and Minister for Education (1966–68).

Donogh O'Malley was born in Limerick in 1921. Born into a wealthy, middle-class family, he was educated by the Jesuits at Crescent College and later at Clongowes Wood College in County Kildare. O'Malley later studied at University College Galway (UCG) where he was conferred with a degree in engineering in 1943. He then returned to Limerick where he worked as an engineer before becoming involved in politics.

O'Malley married Dr. Hilda Moriarty (1922–1991) in August 1947 and together the couple had two children, Daragh and Suzanne. O'Malley's wife has become famous in poetry as the object of Patrick Kavanagh's desire in the poem On Raglan Road.

O'Malley was born into a highly politicised family who supported Cumann na nGaedheal until a falling out with the party in the early 1930s. O'Malley first became involved in local politics as a member of Limerick Corporation. He became Mayor of his native city in 1961, the third O'Malley brother to hold the office. Desmond O'Malley was Mayor from 1941 to 1943 and Michael O'Malley held the office from 1948 to 1949.

O'Malley was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála for Limerick East at the 1954 general election; Fianna Fáil were not returned to government on that occasion. The new Dáil deputy spent the rest of the decade on the backbenches, however, his party was returned to power in 1957. Two years later Seán Lemass took over from Éamon de Valera as Taoiseach and the modernising process began. Lemass introduced younger cabinet ministers as the old guard, who had served the party since its foundation in 1926, began to retire. In 1961 O'Malley joined the government as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance, one of the most senior junior ministerial positions. O'Malley was part of a newer, brasher style of politician that was emerging in the 1960s. He was a colourful and charming character and his heavy drinking exploits with fellow ministers Charles Haughey and Brian Lenihan have become part of Irish political folklore. On one occasion O'Malley was reputed to have destroyed a chip shop causing £500 worth of damage. Another incident attributed to O'Malley involved him driving the wrong way down O'Connell Street in Dublin.

Following Fianna Fáil's return to government following the 1965 general election O'Malley joined the cabinet as Minister for Health. He spent just over one year in this position before he was appointed Minister for Education, a position where he will be forever remembered for his dynamism as a minister.

Having succeeded another dynamic young minister, Patrick Hillery, O'Malley acted swiftly to introduce the recommendations that were made in an official report regarding education. Shortly after he was appointed he announced that from 1969 all schools up to Intermediate Certificate level would be free and that free buses would bring students from rural area to the nearest school. O'Malley seems to have made this decision himself without consulting other ministers, however, he did discuss it with Lemass. Jack Lynch, who as Minister for Finance had to find the money to pay for it, was certainly not consulted and was dismayed at the announcement. In spite of this O'Malley's proposals were hugely popular with the public and it was impossible for the government to go back on its word.

As minister O'Malley also extended the school transport scheme and commissioned the building of new non-denominational comprehensive and community schools in areas where they were lacking. He also introduced Regional Technical Colleges (RTCs), now called Institutes of Technology, in areas where there was no third level college in proximity. The best example of this successful policy is Limerick, now a university, where O'Malley is credited with taking the steps to ensure the university came into existence. His plan to merge Trinity College, Dublin and University College Dublin aroused huge controversy and was not successful, despite being supported by his cabinet colleague Brian Lenihan. Access to third level education was also extended as the old scholarship system was replaced by a system of means-tested grants which gave easier access to less well-off students.

 O'Malley's package of reforms made him one of the most innovative and popular members of the government and he was affectionately known as 'the School Man' for his work in the area of education. His sudden death in Limerick on 10 March 1968, before his vision for the education system was completed, came as a great shock to the Irish public. He was buried with a full Irish state funeral.

Following O'Malley's death, his widow, Hilda O'Malley, did not run in the subsequent by election for the seat left vacant by her deceased husband. That by-election was won narrowly by O'Malley's nephew, Desmond O'Malley. However, Hilda O'Malley sought the Fianna Fáil nomination for the 1969 general election but Fianna Fáil gave the party nomination to the now sitting TD, Desmond O'Malley. Hilda O'Malley ran as an Independent candidate in that election and after what proved a bitter campaign against her nephew, she failed to get the fourth seat in Limerick East by just 200 votes.

Members of the Fifteenth Dáil - Nicholas Egan

Nicholas Egan (17 July 1903 – 5 December 1971) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He contested the Leix–Offaly constituency at the 1951 general election but was not elected. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) at the subsequent 1954 general election and held his seat until retiring at the 1969 general election.

Members of the Fifteenth Dáil - Johnny Connor

Johnny Connor (died 11 December 1955) was an Irish Clann na Poblachta politician.

He was elected to Dáil Éireann on his third attempt, at the 1954 general election as a Clann na Poblachta TD for the Kerry North constituency, unseating sitting Fine Gael TD John Lynch. He had been an unsuccessful Clann na Poblachta candidate at the 1948 and 1951 general elections.

Clann na Poblachta had won ten seats at the 1948 general election, but after the collapse of the First Inter-Party Government, it had been reduced to two TDs at the 1951 general election. Connor's victory was the party's only gain in 1954.

After Connor's death in December 1955, the by-election for his Dáil seat was held on 29 February 1956 and won for Clann na Poblachta by his 21-year-old daughter, Kathleen O'Connor.

Members of the Fifteenth Dáil - Johnny Geoghegan

Johnny Geoghegan (5 November 1913 – 5 January 1975) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for more than twenty years.

Geoghegan was elected to Dáil Éireann on his first attempt, at the 1954 general election, taking his seat in the 15th Dáil as TD for the Galway West constituency.

He was re-elected at the next five general elections, taking ministerial office only once, in the 19th Dáil. In the ministerial reshuffle following the dismissal of two Cabinet ministers in the Arms Crisis, Taoiseach Jack Lynch appointed Geoghegan on 9 May 1970 as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Social Welfare, under Minister Joseph Brennan. He served until Fianna Fáil lost power at the 1973 general election.

After his death on 5 January 1975, the by-election for his Galway West seat in the 20th Dáil was held on 4 March and won for Fianna Fáil by his daughter Máire Geoghegan-Quinn.