Patrick James Lindsay (18 January 1914 – 29 June 1993) was an Irish politician and lawyer. He was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

but before his second birthday, his family returned to their native

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...

, settling in the village of Doolough,

Kiltane Kiltane ( Irish: ''Cill tSéadhna'') is a parish in Erris, North County Mayo, Ireland. Origins Kiltane derives its name from Cill tSéadhna, or Seadhna's church, which was in the townland of Kiltane by the banks of the Owenmore River. The name ...

Parish,

Erris Erris is a barony in northwestern County Mayo in Ireland consisting of over , much of which is mountainous blanket bog. It has extensive sea coasts along its west and north boundaries. The main towns are Belmullet and Bangor Erris. The name ...

. He received his primary education at

Gweesalia Gweesalia or Geesala () is a small village situated on the Gweesalia peninsula in the Electoral Division of Rathhill, in the Civil Parish of Kilcommon, in the Barony of Erris in western County Mayo, Ireland. The village has a national school, ...

national school, and attended secondary school at St. Muiredach's College, Ballina. He subsequently attended

University College Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

, where he studied ancient classics, between 1933 and 1937, graduating with an M.A. He was a noted figure in the college - a gifted orator, he served on the committee of the Literary and Debating Society, and took part in the productions of the Drama Society. He was also a leader of the

Blueshirts The Army Comrades Association (ACA), later the National Guard, then Young Ireland and finally League of Youth, but best known by the nickname the Blueshirts ( ga, Na Léinte Gorma), was a paramilitary organisation in the Irish Free State, founded ...

movement while in college. However, while Lindsay declared himself as being "an unrepentant" Blueshirt, in his autobiography he denied that himself or many of the membership saw themselves as actual Fascists. Rather that they viewed themselves as a pseudo-paramilitary wing of Cumann na nGaedhael that was a response to the IRA of the 1930s acting as a pseudo-paramilitary wing of Fianna Fail, and in fact, that they saw themselves as Democrats upholding free speech. Lindsay subsequently became a teacher of classics at the Royal School,

Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Bally ...

, and later at schools in Dublin. He studied law at the King's Inns, and was called to the Irish Bar in 1946. He married Moya Brady in 1952. 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 ...

on his sixth attempt, at the 1954 general election as a

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 � ...

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 Mayo North. He was re-elected at the 1957 general election, but lost his seat at the 1961 general election, after which he was elected to the

10th Seanad This is a list of the members of the 10th Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland. These Senators were elected or appointed in 1961, after the 1961 general election and served until the close of poll for th ...

by the

Industrial and Commercial Panel The Industrial and Commercial Panel ( ga, An Rolla Tionscail Agus Tráchtála) is one of five vocational panels which together elect 43 of the 60 members of Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland). The In ...

. He became

Leas-Chathaoirleach Cathaoirleach (; Irish for chairperson; plural: ) is the title of the chair (or presiding officer) of Seanad Éireann, the sixty-member upper house of the Oireachtas, the legislature of Ireland. The current Cathaoirleach, who has held the offi ...

(deputy chairman) of the Seanad. Linday returned to the Dáil at the 1965 general election, but lost his seat at the 1969 general election, when he switched constituency to Dublin North-Central. He was again unsuccessful at the 1973 general election. His ministerial career was brief, lasting only eight months. In July 1956, he was appointed by

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, 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 legisl ...

John A. Costello as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Gaeltacht and to the Minister for Education in the

Second Inter-Party Government The second (symbol: s) is the unit of Time in physics, time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally t ...

. In October 1956, he was promoted to the cabinet as Minister for the Gaeltacht, serving until March 1957, when

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- ...

returned to power after the 1957 general election. On his return to the Dáil in 1965, he was appointed Fine Gael spokesman on transport and power. Lindsay had become a

Senior Counsel The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel (post-nominal letters: SC) is given to a senior lawyer in some countries that were formerly part of the British Empire. "Senior Counsel" is used in current or former Commonwealth countries or jurisdictio ...

in 1954, and following the loss of his parliamentary seat in 1969, he devoted himself full-time to his practice at the bar, becoming a leading figure in criminal law. In 1975, he was appointed to the position of Master of the High Court, from which he retired on his seventieth birthday in January 1984. Lindsay served as chairman of ''Cumann Céimithe na Gaillimhe'', the University College Galway Graduate Association, during the 1980s. He published his memoirs in 1992. He died on 29 June 1993.

References

Sources

*Obituary, ''The Irish Times'', 30 June 1993. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lindsay, Patrick J. 1914 births 1993 deaths Alumni of King's Inns Alumni of the University of Galway Fine Gael senators Members of the 10th Seanad Members of the 15th Dáil Members of the 16th Dáil Members of the 18th Dáil Members of the Blueshirts Parliamentary Secretaries of the 15th Dáil Politicians from County Dublin Politicians from County Mayo Masters of the High Court (Ireland)