Roger Mary Sweetman (18 August 1874 – 20 May 1954) was an Irish

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...

politician and barrister.

Early life

Sweetman was the son of brewer Hugh Sweetman of Roebuck Hall,

Dundrum, Dublin Dundrum (, ''the ridge fort''), originally a town in its own right, is an outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The area is located in the Dublin postal districts, postal districts of Dublin 14 and Dublin 16. Dundrum is home to the Dundrum Town Centr ...

, from a Catholic family that became prosperous as brewers in the 18th century. His mother was Gertrude Blackney. He was educated at

Downside School Downside School is a co-educational Catholic independent boarding and day school in the English public school tradition for pupils aged 11 to 18. It is located between Bath, Frome, Wells and Bruton, and is attached to Downside Abbey. Originall ...

. He was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

from

King's Inns The Honorable Society of King's Inns ( ir, Cumann Onórach Óstaí an Rí) is the "Inn of Court" for the Bar of Ireland. Established in 1541, King's Inns is Ireland's oldest school of law and one of Ireland's significant historical environment ...

in 1898. An amateur

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player, he won the 1905 East of Ireland championship, and in 1902 reached the final of the Irish Open men's doubles and lost to

Sydney Howard Smith Sydney Howard Smith (3 February 1872 – 27 March 1947) was a British tennis and badminton player. Career Sydney Smith was the first All England Badminton Men's Singles champion in 1900. He reached his first Wimbledon singles final in 1899, be ...

in the first round of the Wimbledon singles.

Sinn Féin

Sweetman's cousin

John Sweetman John Sweetman (9 August 1844 – 8 September 1936) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as an Anti-Parnellite Irish National Federation Member of Parliament (MP) in the 1890s, but later radicalised. He was one of the founders of Sinn ...

was an

Irish Parliamentary Party The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP; commonly called the Irish Party or the Home Rule Party) was formed in 1874 by Isaac Butt, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish national ...

MP from 1892 to 1895, who migrated to

and became its second

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

in 1908. When John declined on age grounds to stand in the

1918 UK general election The 1918 United Kingdom general election was called immediately after the Armistice with Germany which ended the First World War, and was held on Saturday, 14 December 1918. The governing coalition, under Prime Minister David Lloyd George, sent ...

in Wexford North, Roger stood instead and unseated Thomas Esmonde of the

. He joined the other Sinn Féin members by refusing to sit in the Westminster House of Commons and in January 1919 attended the inaugural meeting of the

First Dáil The First Dáil ( ga, An Chéad Dáil) was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 1919 to 1921. It was the first meeting of the unicameral parliament of the revolutionary Irish Republic. In the December 1918 election to the Parliament of the Unite ...

at the

Mansion House, Dublin The Mansion House ( ga, Teach an Ard-Mhéara) is a house on Dawson Street, Dublin, which has been the official residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin since 1715, and was also the meeting place of the Dáil Éireann from 1919 until 1922. History ...

, which proclaimed itself parliament of an

Irish Republic The Irish Republic ( ga, Poblacht na hÉireann or ) was an unrecognised revolutionary state that declared its independence from the United Kingdom in January 1919. The Republic claimed jurisdiction over the whole island of Ireland, but by ...

. In November 1920, breaking ranks with Sinn Féin, Sweetman wrote to the press calling for a truce and peace negotiations in 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 ...

, and criticising

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief tha ...

actions, in particular the assassinations on

Bloody Sunday Bloody Sunday may refer to: Historical events Canada * Bloody Sunday (1923), a day of police violence during a steelworkers' strike for union recognition in Sydney, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia * Bloody Sunday (1938), police violence agai ...

. He was criticised for this when the Dáil next met on 25 January 1921. Two days later he announced his resignation as

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 ...

because of his "radical disagreement with the majority ... on a vital matter of policy". He did not contest the June 1921 election. Thereafter he concentrated on farming, promoting use of

Friesian cattle Frisian most often refers to: * Frisia, a cross-border coastal region in Germany and the Netherlands ** Frisians, the medieval and modern ethnic group inhabiting Frisia ***Frisii, the ancient inhabitants of Frisia prior to 600 AD **Frisian languag ...

in dairy farming.

Family

In May 1904 Sweetman married Katharine (Kathleen) Mary Kelly, daughter of Thomas Aliaga-Kelly. They lived in

Herbert Park Herbert Park () is the name of a road and a public park in Ballsbridge, Dublin. History The land used for the park was given to the city by the Sidney Herbert, 14th Earl of Pembroke, 14th Earl of Pembroke whose family name was Herbert family, ...

, Dublin, and later at Derrybawn House,

Glendalough Glendalough (; ) is a glacial valley in County Wicklow, Ireland, renowned for an Early Medieval monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by St Kevin. From 1825 to 1957, the head of the Glendalough Valley was the site of a galena lead mine. ...

. They had 11 children, 5 sons and 6 daughters including: Edmund Sweetman, a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. A nephew was

Gerard Sweetman Hugh Gerard Sweetman (20 June 1908 – 28 January 1970) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Minister for Finance from 1954 to 1957. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kildare constituency from 1948 to 1970. He was a Senator fo ...

, was

Minister for Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

in the 1954–1957 coalition.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweetman, Roger 1874 births 1954 deaths Early Sinn Féin TDs Members of the 1st Dáil Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Wexford constituencies (1801–1922) UK MPs 1918–1922 Irish barristers Irish farmers Dairy farmers People educated at Downside School Irish male tennis players

Early life

Sinn Féin

Family

See also

References

External links