James Crowley (Irish politician)

James Crowley (1880 – 21 January 1946) was an Irish nationalist politician and veterinary surgeon. He was born in County Kerry. He was a member of the Irish Volunteers. He was elected at the 1918 general election as a Sinn Féin MP for the Kerry North constituency.^[1] In January 1919, Sinn Féin MPs refused to recognise the Parliament of the United Kingdom and instead assembled at the Mansion House in Dublin as a revolutionary parliament called Dáil Éireann. At the official roll call, Crowley was marked "fé ghlas ag Gallaibh" (imprisoned by the foreign enemy).^[2]

During the War of Independence he was interned in the Curragh Camp. He was elected at the 1921 elections as a Sinn Féin Teachta Dála (TD) for Kerry–Limerick West and was released after the truce. He supported the Anglo-Irish Treaty and voted in favour of it. He was re-elected at the 1922 general election as a Pro-Treaty Sinn Féin TD and subsequently as a Cumann na nGaedheal TD at the 1923 general election for the Kerry constituency.^[3] He lost his seat at the 1932 general election and retired from politics.

Sources

• Todd Andrews (1979), Dublin Made Me.

References

1. "Mr. James Crowley". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 23 April 2009.
2. "Roll call of the first sitting of the First Dáil". Dáil Éireann Historical Debates (in Irish). 21 January 1919. Retrieved 23 April 2009.
3. "James Crowley". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 23 April 2009.