James Hickey (c. 1886 – 7 June 1966) was an Irish Labour Party politician who joined the short-lived breakaway National Labour Party. He served four terms as

Lord Mayor of Cork The Lord Mayor of Cork ( ga, Ard-Mhéara Chathair Chorcaí) is the honorific title of the Chairperson ( ga, Cathaoirleach) of Cork City Council which is the local government body for the city of Cork in Ireland. The office holder is elected annu ...

. Hickey was one of twelve children in his family and was a native of Ballinagar,

Mallow, County Cork Mallow (; ) is a town in County Cork, Ireland, approximately thirty-five kilometres north of Cork. Mallow is in the barony of Fermoy. It is the administrative centre of north County Cork, and the Northern Divisional Offices of Cork County Coun ...

. He was educated at Rahan national school, and moved to Cork City in 1913. At the age of 27, he found employment first with the Cork Steam Packet Company and later with John Daly & Co, then-manufacturers of Tanora. He joined the Labour Party about this time and became a trade union official. In 1931 he married Eileen Kiernan, and they had four children. Hickey first stood for the Dáil at the 1937 general election for the Cork Borough constituency, but narrowly missed being elected. He was successful at the 1938 general election, unseating Richard Anthony, a former Labour TD who left the Party in the 1920s and sat as an independent. His filled the role of former Lord Mayor Seán French, who died in office in September 1937, and stayed in the role afterwards. Hickey made international headlines in February 1939, when, as

, he refused to give a civic reception to the captain and crew of the German warship SMS Schlesien which was on a 'courtesy visit' to

Cork Harbour Cork Harbour () is a natural harbour and river estuary at the mouth of the River Lee in County Cork, Ireland. It is one of several which lay claim to the title of "second largest natural harbour in the world by navigational area" (after Port Ja ...

flying the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

flag, despite Irish neutrality. The Schlesien was a 13,000 tonne

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

battleship. Hickey's reasoning for refusing to entertain the German crew was stated to be a slight by the German media on the occasion of the death of Pope Pius XI some time earlier. Hickey said, "the insult given to the Catholic world on the death of the Pope, when the responsible German Press termed our Holy Father a political adventurer". Hickey lost his seat in the

1943 Irish general election The 1943 Irish general election to the 11th Dáil was held on Wednesday, 23 June, having been called on 31 May by proclamation of President Douglas Hyde on the advice of Taoiseach Éamon de Valera. It took place in 34 parliamentary constitu ...

. Hickey was one of the six prominent members who left Labour in 1944 to form the National Labour Party, and it was as a National Labour Party candidate that he was defeated at the 1944 general election. He was re-elected at the 1948 election as a National Labour candidate, and after the split in Labour was healed, he was returned to the Dáil for a final time at the 1951 general election. After his defeat at the 1954 general election (to his running mate,

Seán Casey Seán Casey (9 May 1922 – 29 April 1967) was an Irish Labour Party politician and trade union official. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Labour Party Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork Borough constituency at the 1954 general elec ...

), he stood unsuccessfully for election to

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 ...

. He was later nominated to the

8th Seanad This is a list of the members of the 8th Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland. These Senators were elected or appointed in 1954, after the 1954 general election and served until the close of poll for the 9 ...

by the

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the o ...

John A. Costello. He was the first chairman of the Cork Branch of the Irish Red Cross Society and was active in the Catholic Young Men's Society. He died in 1966 at his home in St. Luke's Cross, Cork and was buried at the cemetery in Rahan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hickey, James 1880s births 1966 deaths Labour Party (Ireland) TDs National Labour Party (Ireland) TDs Members of the 10th Dáil Members of the 13th Dáil Members of the 14th Dáil Members of the 8th Seanad Local councillors in Cork (city) Lord Mayors of Cork Place of birth missing Place of death missing Nominated members of Seanad Éireann Labour Party (Ireland) senators