Michael Richard Heffernan (3 April 1885 – 21 November 1970) was an Irish politician, sportsperson and soldier.

Early life

While working as a bank clerk in Skibbereen,

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

, Heffernan played rugby for

Cork Constitution The Cork Constitution (CC) is a rugby union club based in Cork (city), Cork, playing in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League (rugby union), All-Ireland League. It was founded by staff of the ''Cork Constitution (newspaper), Cork Constitution'' ...

in the 1900s and by 1911 had risen to the level of playing for the

Ireland national rugby union team The Ireland national rugby union team is the men's representative national team for the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team represents both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Ireland competes in the annual Six Nations Champi ...

, earning 4 caps including one against England and one against France. He had also played for Munster Rugby. In 1911 Heffernan emigrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, continuing his career as a bank clerk there. In 1914 he enlisted with the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also respo ...

and fought in

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 ...

. Following the war he returned to Ireland and began farming on the family holding at Kilmurray Lodge, Ballyneally, near Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary in 1920.

Political career

Heffernan was county secretary of the South Tipperary Farmers Association. He 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 ...

at the 1923 general election as a Farmers' Party

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

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

. In 1927 he became the final leader of the Farmers' Party. He led the party into coalition with

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 ...

and for this he was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs Ernest Blythe from 1927 to 1932. By 1932 the Farmer's Party had lost its voter base of farmers to Cumann na nGaedheal, who were able to secure the backing of large farmers, and to Fianna Fáil, who were able to secure the backing of the farmers with smallholdings. In the face of this, the Farmer's Party dissolved, with both their supporters and their members going in three directions: Cumann na nGaedheal, Fianna Fáil, and a final holdout cohort who created the short-lived National Centre Party. Heffernan himself joined Cumann na nGaedheal, standing as one of their candidates at the 1932 general election. He was not successful however and ended up losing his seat. Following his defeat he retired from politics. He was manager of the Arklow Pottery plant in

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by t ...

from 1934 until his retirement. He died at his home in

Dalkey Dalkey ( ; ) is an affluent suburb of Dublin, and a seaside resort southeast of the city, and the town of Dún Laoghaire, in the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown in the historic County Dublin, Ireland. It was founded as a Viking settlement ...

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

on 21 November 1970, aged 85 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heffernan, Michael 1885 births 1970 deaths Farmers' Party (Ireland) TDs Cumann na nGaedheal politicians Members of the 4th Dáil Members of the 5th Dáil Members of the 6th Dáil Irish farmers Politicians from County Tipperary Parliamentary Secretaries of the 6th Dáil