Patrick Beegan (26 May 1895 – 2 February 1958) 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 ...

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 Christia ...

politician. He was born in the

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...

of Oatfield,

Cappataggle Cappataggle () is a village located between the towns of Loughrea and Ballinasloe in east County Galway. With the areas Kilrickle and Killalaghton it forms a parish of the same name. The name Cappataggle is an anglicisation of the Irish name ''C ...

, County Galway, to John Beegan, a herdsman, and Mary Stephenson. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1932 general election when Fianna Fáil first came to power. He was re-elected for various

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...

constituencies a further nine occasions. In 1951 he was appointed to the position of Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance by

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of govern ...

's government. He served in that position until 1954, and was re-appointed in 1957 when Fianna Fáil returned to power. Beegan served in that post until his death on 2 February 1958. The subsequent

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 ...

to fill Beegan's seat in the Galway South constituency was won by his nephew, Anthony Millar, whose mother, Mary, was Beegan's sister.

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