Patrick Shea CB, OBE,

FRSA The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

(27 April 1908 – 31 May 1986) was a

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

and the first

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

since A. N. Bonaparte-Wyse in the 1920s to achieve the rank of

permanent secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day ...

of a government department in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

Career

Shea was born in

Delvin Delvin () is a village in County Westmeath, Ireland; it is located on the N52 road at a junction with the N51 to Navan. The town is from Mullingar (along the N52). The word Delvin comes from Delbhna. That tribe settled in what is present-d ...

County Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Sovereign state, Country , subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces o ...

, where his father, a native

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 ...

speaker from West Kerry, was a member of the

Royal Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ga, Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the country was part of the United Kingdom. A separate ...

. Shea grew up in various locations around the country to which his father was posted. One of his earliest memories was being taken by his father to watch the celebrations in the Phoenix Park, Dublin that followed the passing of the

Third Home Rule Bill The Government of Ireland Act 1914 (4 & 5 Geo. 5 c. 90), also known as the Home Rule Act, and before enactment as the Third Home Rule Bill, was an Act of Parliament, Act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom intended to provide home ...

in 1912. This would have established a devolved parliament in Dublin after it had completed its passage through the House of Lords which it was due to do by 1914. However, the outbreak of

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 ...

caused Home Rule to be suspended for the war's duration, and following the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...

of 1916, the subsequent success of

Sinn Fein In the philosophy of language, the distinction between sense and reference was an idea of the German philosopher and mathematician Gottlob Frege in 1892 (in his paper "On Sense and Reference"; German: "Über Sinn und Bedeutung"), reflecting the ...

at the 1918 General Election and its establishment of a

provisional government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or f ...

in Dublin in 1919 the Bill was never put into effect. During the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

, Shea developed a strong hostility to Irish Republicans whose primary targets were RIC policeman such as his father. "Their guns were aimed at the ones I loved. I was an uncompromising West Briton". Following the disbandment of the RIC in 1922 upon the creation of the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between th ...

via the

Anglo-Irish Treaty The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty ( ga , An Conradh Angla-Éireannach), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the ...

Partition of Ireland The partition of Ireland ( ga, críochdheighilt na hÉireann) was the process by which the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland divided Ireland into two self-governing polities: Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. I ...

, Shea's father joined the

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the Royal ...

, attaining the rank of head constable and later clerk of petty sessions in

Newry Newry (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Clanrye river in counties Armagh and Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry was founded in 1144 alongside a Cistercian monastery, althoug ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

, where the family later lived. Patrick Shea attended the

Abbey CBS The Abbey School (formerly Abbey CBS) is a Christian Brothers Secondary School in the town of Tipperary, County Tipperary, Ireland. The Abbey is an all-boys school and has about 412 students. In recent years the school has been extended twice. ...

in Newry. Upon leaving, he joined the

Northern Ireland Civil Service The Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS; ga, Státseirbhís Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlann Cïvil Sarvice'') is the permanent bureaucracy of employees that supports the Northern Ireland Executive, ...

in June 1926. His postings included: * Ministry of Labour, clerical officer 1926–1935 Belfast, outdoor officer

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from ga, Inis Ceithleann , 'Cethlenn, Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of ...

1935–1938, senior clerk, headquarters 1938–1939 * Ministry of Finance, assistant principal 1939–1941, deputy principal 1941. His initial appointment to this office was blocked because he was a

by the Minister of Labour

John F. Gordon John Fawcett Gordon PC(NI) (13 May 1879 – 21 June 1965) was a politician in Northern Ireland. Son of William James Gordon and Margaret Fawcett. Husband of Charlotte Banks. Born in the Belfast area, Gordon was sent to live with relati ...

who was later overruled by John M. Andrews the Minister of Finance. * Secretary Civil Service Committee for Northern Ireland 1941 * Ministry of Education, principal December 1947 – 1959, establishment officer and accountant * Ministry of Finance, Public Buildings and Works, 1959–1963, assistant secretary 1963–1969 * Ministry of Education, permanent secretary, December 1969 – 1973 After retirement he chaired Enterprise Ulster from 1973 to 1979. Shea commented on his own career by recalling that it "was my experience that some Catholics, and especially those in Belfast, where I had been told, the Bishop advised them against seeking Government employment, looked with suspicion on Catholic civil servants. We had joined the enemy, we were lost souls".''A New History of Ireland, Volume II''
edited by Art Cosgrove, p. 217; (hc); (p)

Honours

Shea was given an OBE in 1961 and CB 1972. He was made an Honorary member of the

Royal Society of Ulster Architects The Royal Society of Ulster Architects (RSUA) is the professional body for registered architects in Northern Ireland.Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

in 1977. He was a long-time member of the Ulster Arts Club.

Personal life

He married Eithne McHugh (d. 2000) in September 1941, and they had a daughter and two sons.

Sources

* Shea, Patrick. ''Voices and the sound of drums'', Blackstaff Press: 1981; .

References

External links

Graham Gudgin on Stormont Administration
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shea, Patrick 1908 births 1986 deaths Catholic Unionists Civil servants from Northern Ireland Companions of the Order of the Bath Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Abbey Christian Brothers' Grammar School People from Newry People from Delvin