Members of the 1934 Seanad

This is a list of the members of the 1934 Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (legislature) of the Irish Free State. These Senators were elected at the 1925, 1928, 1931 and 1934 Seanad elections.

Composition of the 1934 Seanad

The Free State Seanad was elected in stages and thus considered to be in permanent session. However, as a gesture of continuity with its Free State predecessor, the first Seanad elected after 1937 is numbered as the "Second Seanad". The Free State Senate, despite the occurrence of five senatorial elections before its abolition, is considered to have been a single 'Seanad' for the duration of its existence and is thus referred for that whole period as the "First Seanad".

There were a total of 60 seats in the Free State Seanad. In 1934, 22 Senators were elected. The Seanad election in 1925 was a popular election. However, at the 1928 and subsequent Free State Seanad elections, the franchise was restricted to Oireachtas members.

23 Senators had been elected at the 1931 Seanad election, 17 Senators had been elected at the 1928 Seanad election and 19 Senators had been elected at the 1925 Seanad election. This was the final election of the Free State Seanad before it was abolished on 29 May 1936.

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

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

Election of Cathaoirleach

At the first meeting on the 12 December 1934 there was a contest to decide who would be elected Cathaoirleach (chairman). James J. MacKean was absent for the vote but all other members were present. General Sir William Hickie chaired the election. The two candidates were the outgoing Cathaoirleach, Thomas Westropp Bennett, and the Fianna Fáil candidate, Michael Comyn. Neither of the two candidates voted and so fifty-six senators voted in the election. This resulted in a tie of twenty-eight votes each. Westropp Bennett received the votes of all twenty-one members of Fine Gael and seven independents. Comyn received the votes of his eighteen Fianna Fáil colleagues, all the votes of the seven Labour Party senators and the votes of three independents: Sir Edward Bellingham, Thomas Linehan and Laurence O'Neill. Hickie then gave his casting vote for Westropp Bennett saying he would have done so had he had the opportunity in the division.

The following week, Comyn defeated the outgoing Leas-Chathaoirleach, Michael O'Hanlon of Fine Gael, by twenty-six votes to twenty-five.[1]

List of senators
  • Note: The entries for Senators who were elected or appointed to fill vacancies are shown in italics
Name 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[2]
William O'Sullivan   Fine Gael Elected in 1931 6 years  
Michael Comyn   Fianna Fáil Elected in 1931 9 years Leas-Chathaoirleach. Appointed as a judge of the Circuit Court on 24 February 1936[3]
John Counihan   Fine Gael Elected in 1931 9 years  
James G. Douglas   Independent Elected in 1931 9 years  
Michael Duffy   Labour 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 Succeeded Michael Comyn as Leas-Chathaoirleach upon the former's appointment as a judge of the Circuit Court.
Michael Staines   Fine Gael Elected in 1931 9 years  
Sir Edward Coey Bigger   Independent Elected in 1934 3 years  
John Philip Bagwell   Independent Elected in 1934 6 years  
Patrick Baxter   Fine Gael Elected in 1934 9 years  
Thomas Westropp Bennett   Independent Elected in 1934 9 years Cathaoirleach
Ernest Blythe   Fine Gael Elected in 1934 9 years  
James Boyle   Fianna Fáil Elected in 1934 9 years  
Samuel Lombard Brown   Independent Elected in 1934 6 years  
Kathleen Browne   Fine Gael Elected in 1934 9 years  
James Charles Dowdall   Fianna Fáil Elected in 1934 9 years  
Eamonn Duggan   Fine Gael Elected in 1934 9 years  
Séamus Fitzgerald   Fianna Fáil Elected in 1934 9 years  
Oliver St. John Gogarty   Fine Gael Elected in 1934 9 years  
Denis Healy   Fianna Fáil Elected in 1934 9 years  
T. V. Honan   Fianna Fáil Elected in 1934 9 years  
Andrew Jameson   Independent Elected in 1934 9 years  
Thomas Johnson   Labour 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[4]

Changes
Date Gain Loss Note
11 December 1935   Fianna Fáil Resignation of Séumas Robinson[2]
24 February 1936     Michael Comyn appointed as a judge of the Circuit Court[3]

See also

References
  1. O'Sullivan, Donal. (1940). "The Irish Free State and its Senate: A Study in Contemporary Politics". Faber and Faber, London, p. 448.
  2. "Mr. Séamus Robinson". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 23 November 2009.
  3. "Mr. Michael Comyn". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 23 November 2009.
  4. O'Neill, Marie (1991). "From Parnell to de Valera: A Biography of Jennie Wyse Power 1858-1941." Blackwater Press, Dublin, p. 172.
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