Rickard Joseph Gerard Deasy (13 March 1916 – 13 July 1999), born in Terryglass,

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

was a prominent farmers' rights campaigner in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, Captain with the Irish army, and a member of the Labour Party. He was President of the National Farmers Association of Ireland between 1961 and 1967, and was the leader of a mass protest by Irish farmers in 1966.

Personal life

Rickard Deasy was the son of Major

Henry Hugh Peter Deasy Henry Hugh Peter Deasy (29 Jun 1866 – 24 Jan 1947) was an Irish army officer, founder of the Deasy Motor Car Company and a writer. Career He was born in Dublin, the only surviving son of Rickard Deasy, justice of the Court of Appeal in Irela ...

, founder of the

Deasy Motor Car Company The Siddeley-Deasy Motor Car Company Limited was a British automobile, aero engine and aircraft company based in Coventry in the early 20th century. It was central to the formation, by merger and buy-out, of the later Armstrong Siddeley Motor ...

, and his wife Dolores Hickie, daughter of James and Lucilla Hickie and sister of Sir William Hickie; he was a grandson of the leading judge

Rickard Deasy Rickard Deasy PC (1812 – 6 May 1883) was an Irish lawyer and judge. He was born at Phale Court, Enniskean, County Cork, the second son of Rickard Deasy, a wealthy brewer, and his wife Mary Anne Caller. He was educated at the Trinity Colleg ...

. He was educated at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

. In 1961, he succeeded Dr.

John Nassau Greene John Nassau Greene (8 March 1890 – 11 February 1973) was an Irish politician. A farmer from Athy, he was elected to Kildare County Council in the 1925 local elections, standing for the Farmers' Party in the Athy local electoral area. He was ...

as President of the National Farmers' Association of Ireland.

Military career

Deasy joined the

Irish Defence Forces The Defence Forces ( ga, Fórsaí Cosanta, officially styled ) derives its origins from the Irish Volunteers. Whilst the Irish for ''Defence Forces'' is , as Ó Cearúil (1999) points out, the Defence Forces are officially styled . is used in ...

on 5 September 1939 as a private. In 1940 he was commissioned lieutenant in the sixth field battery at Kildare Barracks, and would become commander of his unit. Later he became the instructor at the depot and school of artillery at Kildare. Before the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Deasy was the officer commanding of the thirteenth field battery.

Farmers' Rights Campaign

In 1966, frustrated with the desperate economic situation of Irish farmers and the hostile Minister for Agriculture,

Charlie Haughey Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach on three occasions – 1979 to 1981, March to December 1982 and 1987 to 1992. He was also Minister for the Gaeltacht from ...

, Deasy organised what was to be a 30,000-man walking protest from

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

to the Irish Parliament at

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 ...

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 ...

. This was followed by a 20-day sit-in protest and a six-month campaign of civil disobedience by farmers, culminating in the Irish Farmers' Association being officially recognized by the Irish Government. Recognition of the Farmers' Association was seen as a major step forward for social partnership in Ireland, and a consultative approach to economic participation. It attracted widespread media attention, coming at a time of general distrust towards groups advocating greater economic equality. Deasy was at times accused of being a Marxist, which may have thwarted his electoral chances in a mainly rural constituency. His role in the farmers' movement was considered to have damaged the political aspirations of

. Charles Haughey#Minister for Agriculture: 1966 Farmers.27 Strike In 1969, Deasy ran as a labour candidate in Tipperary North, but came in last place with a small percentage of the vote. Deasy married Countess Sheila O'Kelly de Gallagh. They had four children, three boys and one girl.

References

1919 births 1999 deaths Irish activists Irish agrarianists Labour Party (Ireland) politicians Military personnel from County Tipperary {{activist-stub