1934 Seanad
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Overview
Legislative bodySeanad Éireann
JurisdictionIrish Free State
Meeting placeLeinster House
Term12 December 1934 – 19 May 1936
Government7th Executive Council
Members60
CathaoirleachThomas Westropp Bennett (FG)
Leas-Chathaoirleach

The 1934 Seanad was the part of the Seanad of the Irish Free State (1922–1936) in office after the 1934 Seanad election until its abolition in 1936. Elections to the Seanad, the Senate of the Oireachtas (parliament of the Irish Free State) took place on a triennial basis, with senators elected in stages. The 1934 Seanad included members elected at the 1925, 1928, 1931 and 1934 Seanad elections. It sat as a second chamber to the 8th Dáil elected at the 1933 general election.

The Seanad of the Irish Free State was not numbered after every election, with the whole period later considered the First Seanad. Under the Constitution (Amendment No. 24) Act 1936, the Seanad was abolished, and for a time the Oireachtas became a unicameral legislature. The last sitting of the Seanad was on 19 May 1936, with the amendment signed on 29 May 1936. In 1937, on the adoption of the Constitution of Ireland, a new Seanad Éireann was established, with elections to follow general elections to Dáil Éireann, with each new Seanad numbered. An election to the 2nd Seanad took place in March 1938.

Composition of the 1934 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 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.[1]

The following table shows the composition by party when the 1934 Seanad first met on 12 December 1934.[2]

Party Seats
Fine Gael 22
Fianna Fáil 19
Labour 7
Independent 12
Total 60

Cathaoirleach

At the first meeting on 12 December 1934, there was a contest for the position of Cathaoirleach. 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, the seven Labour Party senators, and 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.[3]

The following week, Comyn defeated the outgoing Leas-Chathaoirleach, Michael O'Hanlon of Fine Gael, by twenty-six votes to twenty-five.[4][5]

On 11 March 1936, David Robinson was elected unanimously as Leas-Chathaoirleach following the appointment of Comyn to the Circuit Court.[6]

List of senators

  • Note: The entries for Senators who were elected or appointed to fill vacancies are shown in italics
Name PartyEntered OfficeTermNotes
Henry Barniville   Fine Gael Elected in 1925 12 years  
Sir Edward Bellingham   Independent Elected in 1925 12 years  
William Cummins   Labour 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 Elected in 1925 12 years  
Sir William 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 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  
Séumas Robinson   Fianna Fáil Elected in 1928 9 years Resigned on 11 December 1935[7]
William O'Sullivan   Fine Gael Elected in 1931 6 years  
Michael Comyn   Fianna Fáil Elected in 1931 9 years Appointed as a judge of the
Circuit Court on 24 February 1936[8]
John Counihan   Fine Gael Elected in 1931 9 years  
James G. Douglas   Independent Elected in 1931 9 years  
Michael Duffy   Labour Elected in 1931 9 years  
Thomas Farren   Labour 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  
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  
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 Elected in 1934 9 years  
Thomas Kennedy   Labour 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[9]

Changes

Date Loss Gain Note
11 December 1935


Fianna Fáil   Resignation of Séumas Robinson[7]
24 February 1936


Fianna Fáil   Michael Comyn appointed as a judge of the Circuit Court[8]

References

  1. ↑ "The New Free State Senate". The Irish Times. 8 December 1934. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
  2. ↑ "1934 Seanad". Oireachtas Members Database.
  3. ↑ "Election of Cathaoirleach – Seanad Éireann (1934 Seanad) – Vol. 19 No. 9". Oireachtas Debates. 12 December 1934.
  4. ↑ "Election of Leas-Chathaoirleach – Seanad Éireann (1934 Seanad) – Vol. 19 No. 9". Oireachtas Debates. 19 December 1934.
  5. ↑ O'Sullivan, Donal (1940). The Irish Free State and its Senate: A Study in Contemporary Politics. London: Faber and Faber. p. 448.
  6. ↑ "Election of Leas-Chathaoirleach – Seanad Éireann (1934 Seanad) – Vol. 20 No. 29". Oireachtas Debates. 11 March 1936.
  7. 1 2 "Mr. Séamus Robinson". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 23 November 2009.
  8. 1 2 "Mr. Michael Comyn". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 23 November 2009.
  9. ↑ O'Neill, Marie (1991). From Parnell to de Valera: A Biography of Jennie Wyse Power 1858–1941. Dublin: Blackwater Press. p. 172.
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