Thomas Scanlan (21 May 1874 – 9 January 1930) was an

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 ...

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

and

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

politician. He was

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for North Sligo from 1909 to 1918, as a member of the

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 ...

in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Early life

Son of Thomas Scanlan, a farmer, he was born at

Drumcliff Drumcliff or Drumcliffe () is a village in County Sligo, Ireland. It is 8 km (5 miles) north of Sligo town on the N15 road on a low gravel ridge between the mountain of Ben Bulben and Drumcliff bay. It is on the Drumcliff river, original ...

County Sligo County Sligo ( , gle, Contae Shligigh) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the Border Region and is part of the province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in the county. Sligo County Council is the local ...

, and educated at

Summerhill College Summerhill College (aka The College of the Immaculate Conception) is a Roman Catholic voluntary secondary school for boys located in the town of Sligo in northwest Ireland. History The school was founded in 1857 by then-Bishop of Elphin, Dr La ...

Sligo Sligo ( ; ga, Sligeach , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of approximately 20,000 in 2016, it is the List of urban areas ...

and at the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. In 1905 he married Mary Helen Mullen of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, daughter of John Mullen. He began his career as a journalist on the ''Glasgow Observer''. Later he became a solicitor and eventually was called to the

English Bar Barristers in England and Wales are one of the two main categories of lawyer in England and Wales, the other being solicitors. Barristers have traditionally had the role of handling cases for representation in court, both defence and prosecutio ...

and became prominently identified with the Irish movement in

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 ...

Political career

Scanlan was elected unopposed for North Sligo at a by-election in August 1909 after the death of Patrick McHugh MP.Walker (1978), p.171 and was unopposed in the

January January is the first month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is also the first of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The first day of the month is known as New Year's Day. It is, on average, the coldest month of the ...

and December 1910 general elections. At one time he served as a secretary of the Irish Parliamentary Party. In 1918 he lost his seat to J. J. Clancy 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 ...

, by a margin of more than two to one. Scanlan introduced the

Sligo Corporation Act 1918 An election for all 24 members of Sligo Corporation took place on 15 January 1919, using the single transferable vote (STV). Urban districts in Ireland held annual elections on 15 January each year under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, ...

to use the

single transferable vote Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...

(STV) for elections to

Sligo Corporation Sligo ( ; ga, Sligeach , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of approximately 20,000 in 2016, it is the List of urban areas ...

, and to enhance the corporation's power to set

rates Rate or rates may refer to: Finance * Rates (tax), a type of taxation system in the United Kingdom used to fund local government * Exchange rate, rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another Mathematics and science * Rate (mathema ...

. STV had been introduced in

university constituencies A university constituency is a constituency, used in elections to a legislature, that represents the members of one or more universities rather than residents of a geographical area. These may or may not involve plural voting, in which voters ar ...

by the

Representation of the People Act 1918 The Representation of the People Act 1918 was an Act of Parliament passed to reform the electoral system in Great Britain and Ireland. It is sometimes known as the Fourth Reform Act. The Act extended the franchise in parliamentary elections, also ...

, and was envisaged for the

Home Rule Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...

assembly of the

Government of Ireland Act 1914 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 passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom intended to provide home rule (self-governm ...

which never

came into force In law, coming into force or entry into force (also called commencement) is the process by which legislation, regulations, treaties and other legal instruments come to have legal force and effect. The term is closely related to the date of this t ...

. STV's success in Sligo saw it extended to all Ireland for the 1920 local elections.

Legal career

As a barrister, Scanlan represented the

National Sailors' and Firemen's Union The National Union of Seamen (NUS) was the principal trade union of merchant seafarers in the United Kingdom from the late 1880s to 1990. In 1990, the union amalgamated with the National Union of Railwaymen to form the National Union of Rail, ...

at the inquiry into the sinking of the ''Titanic'' in 1912. In the event the government paid the Union's costs, and on this account Scanlan was criticised in some quarters for accepting a government brief, although he had accepted the brief before he knew that the government would pay. He was also criticised for living in England. After his parliamentary defeat he was a

London Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

from 1924 to 1927,Who Was Who says 1925 to 1927, the ''Irish Independent'' 1924 to 1928 resigning due to ill-health. Afterwards he resumed his practice at the Bar. During his career he was a close friend of

T. P. O'Connor Thomas Power O'Connor (5 October 1848 – 18 November 1929), known as T. P. O'Connor and occasionally as Tay Pay (mimicking his own pronunciation of the initials ''T. P.''), was an Irish nationalist politician and journalist who served as a ...

, acting as a pall-bearer at the latter's funeral in 1929.

Notes

Sources

* ''

Dod's Parliamentary Companion ''Dods Parliamentary Companion'' (formerly "Dod's Parliamentary Companion") is an annual politics reference book published in the United Kingdom. It provides biographies and contact information on members of the Houses of Parliament and the Ci ...

'' 1912 * ''Irish Independent'', 10 January 1930 * Patrick Maume, The Long Gestation: Irish Nationalist Life 1891–1918, New York, St Martin's Press, 1999 * Cornelius O'Leary, ''Irish Elections 1918-1977: Parties, Voters and Proportional Representation'', Dublin, Gill & MacMillan, 1979 * * ''Who Was Who'', 1929–1940

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Scanlan, Thomas 1874 births 1930 deaths Irish barristers Irish Parliamentary Party MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Sligo constituencies (1801–1922) People educated at Summerhill College Alumni of the University of St Andrews Politicians from County Sligo UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 Stipendiary magistrates (England and Wales)