James Walter Beckett (5 August 1875 – 19 December 1938) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

politician and building contractor.

Early and personal life

James Beckett was born in

Sandymount Sandymount () is an affluent coastal suburb in the Dublin 4 district on the Southside of Dublin in Ireland. Etymology An early name for the area was Scal'd Hill or Scald Hill.

, Dublin on 5 August 1875. His parents were Frances (née Horner) and James Beckett, builder. This was his father's second marriage, and he was the founder and president of the Dublin Master Builders' Association. Beckett was his parents' eldest son. He had four brothers and four sisters, as well as 4 half siblings from his father's first marriage to Mary Ann Jessie Kennedy. His brother, George F. Beckett became an architect and building contractor. The family moved to 7

Kildare Street Kildare Street () is a street in Dublin, Ireland. Location Kildare Street is close to the principal shopping area of Grafton Street and Dawson Street, to which it is joined by Molesworth Street. Trinity College lies at the north end of the ...

while Beckett's father worked on the construction of

National Library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, o ...

and

National Museum of Ireland The National Museum of Ireland ( ga, Ard-Mhúsaem na hÉireann) is Ireland's leading museum institution, with a strong emphasis on national and some international archaeology, Irish history, Irish art, culture, and natural history. It has thre ...

. They later moved to Ely Place. He attended Rathmines School, Dublin. He served an apprenticeship with Patterson & Kempster, quantity surveyors; became head of the family building firm James Beckett Ltd, Ringsend, in 1915; and was later president of the Builders' Federation and the Dublin Master Builders' Association. In June 1899, he married Elizabeth Ethel Keohler (later spelt Keller); and they had two sons and two daughters. One of their sons was the composer Walter Beckett. He was a relative of

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...

Politics

A personal friend and political supporter of

W. T. Cosgrave William Thomas Cosgrave (5 June 1880 – 16 November 1965) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as the president of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State from 1922 to 1932, leader of the Opposition in both the Free State and Ire ...

, Beckett was first elected to

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland read ...

as a

Cumann na nGaedheal Cumann na nGaedheal (; "Society of the Gaels") was a political party in the Irish Free State, which formed the government from 1923 to 1932. In 1933 it merged with smaller groups to form the Fine Gael party. Origins In 1922 the pro-Treaty G ...

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parli ...

(TD) for the Dublin South constituency at the June 1927 general election. He was re-elected at each general election until he lost his seat at the 1937 general election. He regained his seat at the 1938 general election in June but died in December 1938. The

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

caused by his death was held on 6 June 1939 and was won by John McCann of

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christian- ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beckett, James 1875 births 1938 deaths Cumann na nGaedheal TDs Fine Gael TDs Members of the 5th Dáil Members of the 6th Dáil Members of the 7th Dáil Members of the 8th Dáil Members of the 10th Dáil Politicians from County Dublin People educated at Rathmines School Irish Anglicans