James Coburn (31 August 1882 – 5 December 1953) was an Irish politician.
Early and personal life
He was born 31 August 1882, one of seven children of George Coburn, a stonemason, and Bridget Coburn (née Flynn) of Camp St. (now Wolfe Tone St.), in
Dundalk
Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...
,
County Louth. He was educated at Dundalk CBS, he became a bricklayer and after a time was promoted to foreman.
[
He was known as "The Juker Coburn" or "The Duker Coburn", possibly an allusion to his namesake the prizefighter Joseph Coburn, or to his shifting political allegiances.][ He married Elizabeth Grant, a teacher, on 26 August 1914. They had five sons and two daughters, and resided at 16 St Mary's Road, Dundalk. One of his sons was George Coburn, Fine Gael TD for Louth 1954 to 1961.][
]
Politics
He entered local politics in 1920 when he was elected to Dundalk urban district council (1920–1953) and Louth County Council
Louth County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Lú) is the authority responsible for local government in County Louth, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and c ...
(1920–1953) as a nominee of both the trade and labour council and the Irish Parliamentary Party
The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP; commonly called the Irish Party or the Home Rule Party) was formed in 1874 by Isaac Butt, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nation ...
.[ He first stood for election as an independent Labour candidate for the ]Monaghan
Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Ireland. It also provides the name of its civil parish and barony.
The population of the town as of the 2016 census was 7,678. The town is on the N2 road from Dublin to Derry and Lette ...
constituency at the 1923 general election but was unsuccessful. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a National League Party
The National League was a political party in Ireland. It was founded in 1926 by William Redmond (Irish politician, born 1886), William Redmond and Thomas O'Donnell (Irish nationalist politician), Thomas O'Donnell in support of the Anglo-Ir ...
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 Louth Louth may refer to:
Australia
*Hundred of Louth, a cadastral unit in South Australia
* Louth, New South Wales, a town
* Louth Bay, a bay in South Australia
**Louth Bay, South Australia, a town and locality
Canada
* Louth, Ontario
Ireland
* Cou ...
constituency at the June 1927 general election.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 Páirtà Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...
's entry into the Dáil in August 1927, Coburn proposed that the National League support the Labour Party motion of no confidence
A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or m ...
in the government. The motion failed and in the subsequent election in September 1927 the National League was reduced to only two TDs, Coburn being one of them. He became an Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
TD in July 1931 following the disbandment of the National League.
He was re-elected as an independent TD at the 1932
Events January
* January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel.
* January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort to assassinate Emperor Hiro ...
and 1933 general elections. He joined Fine Gael
Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil à ...
in 1933 shortly after its foundation. He was re-elected at each general election until the 1951 general election.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 ...
on 3 March 1954 was won by his son George Coburn.
See also
*Families in the Oireachtas
There is a tradition in Irish politics of having family members succeed each other, frequently in the same parliamentary seat. This article lists families where two or more members of that family have been members ( TD or Senator) of either of th ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coburn, James
1882 births
1953 deaths
National League Party TDs
Independent 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 9th Dáil
Members of the 10th Dáil
Members of the 11th Dáil
Members of the 12th Dáil
Members of the 13th Dáil
Members of the 14th Dáil
Politicians from County Louth