Charles McGleenan (1895 – 1974) was a farmer,

Irish republican Irish republicanism ( ga, poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate. The develop ...

volunteer and political candidate. McGleenan was an

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief tha ...

volunteer during the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

. He was interned at Newbridge Prison, but successfully escaped. He subsequently worked as a farmer of apples.Biographies of Members of the Northern Ireland House of Commons
, election.demon.co.uk; accessed 4 March 2017. At the

1935 United Kingdom general election The 1935 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 14 November 1935 and resulted in a large, albeit reduced, majority for the National Government now led by Stanley Baldwin of the Conservative Party. The greatest number of members, ...

, McGleenan stood in

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

as an Independent Republican, winning 32.4% of the vote. He joined the Anti-Partition League of Ireland (APL), which was founded in 1945. In May 1950, the APL conference voted down a motion calling for

abstentionism Abstentionism is standing for election to a deliberative assembly while refusing to take up any seats won or otherwise participate in the assembly's business. Abstentionism differs from an election boycott in that abstentionists participate in ...

from the

Parliament of Northern Ireland The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended because of its inability to restore ord ...

. McGleenan had been a supporter of the motion, and when a local convention selected him as their candidate for the South Armagh by-election in 1950, this was in clear opposition to party policy. Despite this, the executive did not intervene, Michael Farrell, ''Northern Ireland: The Orange State'' and McGleenan was able to defeat an

Irish Labour Party The Labour Party ( ga, Páirtí an Lucht Oibre, literally "Party of the Working People") is a centre-left and social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. Founded on 28 May 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, ...

candidate.Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election Results: Counties: Armagh
, election.demon.co.uk; accessed 4 March 2017. McGleenan did not take his seat, but did join with the Nationalist Party MPs

Cahir Healy Cahir Healy (2 December 1877 – 8 February 1970) was an Irish politician. Background Born in Mountcharles in County Donegal, he became a journalist working on various local papers. He joined Sinn Féin on its foundation in 1905. He later camp ...

Joe Connellan Joseph Connellan, known as Joe Connellan (died 11 April 1967) was a nationalist politician and newspaper editor in Ireland. Connellan joined Sinn Féin in 1908 and was prominent in the Newry Sluagh. Later in life, he was active in the Gaelic Lea ...

and

Edward McCullagh Edward Vincent McCullagh (2 December 1912 – 28 November 1986) was a nationalist (Ireland), nationalist politician and farmer in Northern Ireland. He was born in the townland of Sheskinshule (Greencastle, County Tyrone, Greencastle) in 1912, the ...

in lobbying for admission to the Dáil, as elected representatives of territory it claimed. A motion from Con Lehane proposing this was rejected; later in the year, a more modest proposal by McGleenan to gain a right of audience in the Dáil or the

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann (, ; "Senate of Ireland") is the upper house of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (the lower house). It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its memb ...

was put by

Seán MacBride Seán MacBride (26 January 1904 – 15 January 1988) was an Irish Clann na Poblachta politician who served as Minister for External Affairs from 1948 to 1951, Leader of Clann na Poblachta from 1946 to 1965 and Chief of Staff of the IRA from 193 ...

, but also failed. McGleenan held his seat in an uncontested election in

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

, but stood down at the 1958 general election. At the 1966 general election, McGleenan stood again in Armagh, on this occasion taking 28% of the vote.Armagh 1950–1970
ark.ac.uk; accessed 4 March 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGleenan, Charles 1895 births 1974 deaths Irish Republican Army (1919–1922) members Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1949–1953 Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1953–1958 Independent politicians in Northern Ireland People from County Armagh Place of birth missing Place of death missing Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland for County Armagh constituencies