Thomas Patrick Dowdall (1872 – 7 April 1942) was an Irish

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- ...

politician and company director.

Early life

He was born at Chatham Barracks, Gillingham,

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, the son of Charles Dowdall, colour sergeant in the 48th foot, and Margaret Dowdall (née Cassidy) of

Bandon, County Cork Bandon (; ) is a town in County Cork, Ireland. It lies on the River Bandon between two hills. The name in Irish means 'Bridge of the Bandon', a reference to the origin of the town as a crossing point on the river. In 2004 Bandon celebrated its ...

. He and his brother

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

were educated at the Presentation College, Grand Parade, Cork; together they then visited Denmark, where they studied butter manufacture. Returning to Cork, fluent in Danish and Swedish, the two joined Dowdall Bros, the creamery business of their uncle J. B. Dowdall, which had extensive business contacts in the Baltic countries. Between 1886 and 1888, J. B. Dowdall was instrumental in building or enlarging thirteen creameries and amalgamating them into a consortium known as Anglo-Irish Creameries.

Business career

After a short time Thomas took charge of the substantial Irish business, and on the death of their uncle the two Dowdall brothers and their cousin J. B. O'Mahoney formed Dowdall, O'Mahoney & Co. (1905). They soon built up an extensive butter business in Cork, with branches in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

; the company also manufactured margarine and soap. A founder member of the Cork Industrial Development Association, Thomas Dowdall was a trustee of the Cork chamber of commerce and vice-president (1939–1940) of the Cork incorporated chamber of commerce and shipping. He was the first chairman (1938) of the company that owned ''The Standard'', he played a key role in the revival of this catholic newspaper. He was a benevolent and enlightened employer and citizen; his generosity was considerable and largely conferred anonymously.

Political career

Dowdall was a keen supporter of the Irish Volunteers and later of

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 ...

; he endorsed the 1921

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 ...

and used his influence with others to have it ratified. During the

Irish Civil War The Irish Civil War ( ga, Cogadh Cathartha na hÉireann; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United ...

he acted as an intermediary between the warring factions in Cork and became chairman of the Cork Progressive Association. He was honorary treasurer of the Cork city executive of

Cumann na nGaedheal Cumann na nGaedheal (; "Society of the Gaels") was a political party in the Irish Free State, which formed the government from 1923 to 1932. In 1933 it merged with smaller groups to form the Fine Gael party. Origins In 1922 the pro-Treaty G ...

, before joining Fianna Fáil with his brother in 1927. In Fianna Fáil he was instrumental in persuading TDs to take their seats in the Dáil and was a founding director of ''

The Irish Press ''The Irish Press'' (Irish: ''Scéala Éireann'') was an Irish national daily newspaper published by Irish Press plc between 5 September 1931 and 25 May 1995. Foundation The paper's first issue was published on the eve of the 1931 All-Ireland ...

''. 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 ...

as a Fianna Fáil

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 the

Cork Borough Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the city's ...

constituency at the 1932 general election. He was re-elected at the

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Fe ...

and

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

general elections. Dowdall rarely spoke in the Dáil, but he was a strong advocate of re-afforestation, and outside the chamber he was a co-founder of the Forestry Society and contributed towards the publication of John Mackay's ''The rape of Ireland'' (1940). He was also in favour of protectionism and the establishment of a merchant navy. His brother James Charles Dowdall, was a Fianna Fáil senator from 1922 to 1936. Unmarried, Thomas Dowdall lived at 4 Alexandra Terrace, St Luke's, Cork. He died 7 April 1942 in Cork, during the

10th Dáil 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, no

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 ...

was held for his seat.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dowdall, Thomas 1872 births 1942 deaths Fianna Fáil TDs Members of the 7th Dáil Members of the 8th Dáil Members of the 9th Dáil Members of the 10th Dáil Politicians from County Cork