Seán McGarry (2 August 1886 – 9 December 1958) was a 20th-century

Irish nationalist Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of c ...

and politician. A longtime senior member of the

Irish Republican Brotherhood The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB; ) was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland between 1858 and 1924.McGee, p. 15. Its counterpart in the United States ...

(IRB), he served as its president from May 1917 until May 1918 when he was one of a number of nationalist leaders arrested for his alleged involvement in the so-called German Plot.

Biography

He was born in number 17, Pembroke Cottages, Dundrum, Dublin in 1886. An active member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, McGarry was a close friend of

Bulmer Hobson John Bulmer Hobson (14 January 1883 – 8 August 1969) was a leading member of the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) before the Easter Rising in 1916.D.J. Hickey & J. E. Doherty, ''A New Dictionary of Irish History fro ...

and was frequently arrested or imprisoned by British authorities for his activities with the IRB during the early 1900s. McGarry participated in the 1916 Easter Rising as an aide-de-camp to Tom Clarke and sentenced to eight years penal servitude for his role in the failed rebellion. He was sent to

Frongoch internment camp Frongoch internment camp at Frongoch in Merionethshire, Wales was a makeshift place of imprisonment during the First World War and the 1916 Easter Rising. History 1916 the camp housed German prisoners of war in a yellow distillery and cru ...

in Wales, but was eventually released. McGarry assisted Michael Collins in his efforts to reorganise the Irish Republican Brotherhood and, at the Volunteer Executive Meeting held in late 1917, he was elected General Secretary of the

Irish Volunteers The Irish Volunteers ( ga, Óglaigh na hÉireann), sometimes called the Irish Volunteer Force or Irish Volunteer Army, was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists and republicans. It was ostensibly formed in respon ...

. On the night of 17 May 1918, McGarry was arrested, along with seventy-three other Irish nationalist leaders, and deported to England, where they were held in custody without charge. The day following their arrest, he and the others were charged with conspiring ''"to enter into, and have entered into, treasonable communication with the German enemy"''. In his absence,

Harry Boland Harry Boland (27 April 1887 – 1 August 1922) was an Irish republican politician who served as President of the Irish Republican Brotherhood from 1919 to 1920. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1918 to 1922. He was elected at the 1918 ...

was selected for the Supreme Council and became his successor as president of the IRB. He was only imprisoned a short time when he took part in the famous escape from Lincoln Jail with

Seán Milroy Seán Milroy (1877 – 30 November 1946) was an Irish revolutionary and politician, who took part in the 1916 Easter Rising and served in the Second Dáil during the War of Independence and afterwards in the Seanad of the Irish Free State. Bi ...

and

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of govern ...

on 3 February 1919. He and Milroy had managed to smuggle out a postcard, a comical sketch of McGarry to his wife, allowing a copy of the key to their cell to be made. They were later assisted by Harry Boland and Michael Collins who awaited them outside the prison. A month later, McGarry gave a dramatic speech at a Sinn Féin concert held 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. Histor ...

before going into hiding. Throughout the Irish War of Independence, McGarry served as a commander and was eventually elected to

Second Dáil The Second Dáil () was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 16 August 1921 until 8 June 1922. From 1919 to 1922, Dáil Éireann was the revolutionary parliament of the self-proclaimed Irish Republic. The Second Dáil consisted of members elect ...

in the 1921 elections as a

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 G ...

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) representing Dublin Mid. He, like the majority of those in the Irish Republican Brotherhood, supported 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 ...

and was involved in debates against de Valera during the controversy, most especially discussing the status of Sinn Féin as a political entity. He was re-elected as a Pro-Treaty Sinn Féin TD in the 1922 general election, siding with the Free State government during the Irish Civil War. Liam Lynch and other members of the

anti-Treaty IRA 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 ...

planned the assassination of McGarry among other TDs supporting the ''Public Safety Bill''. As one anti-Treaty volunteer told Ernie O'Malley, "Seán McGarry was often drunk in Amiens St. and the boys wanted to shoot him and the Staters there but I wouldn't let them..." On 10 December 1922, shortly before the first meeting of the Free State parliament, a fire was deliberately set by irregulars (anti-Treatyites) at his family home. His seven-year-old son, Emmet, was badly burned and died as a result. Seán McGarry was one of four targeted by anti-Treatyites during the December Free State executions. De Valera publicly denounced the attack. McGarry was re-elected as a

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 ...

TD in the 1923 general election for

Dublin North Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ce ...

. Dissatisfied and disillusioned with Cumann na nGeadhael, he resigned from the party after the Irish Army Mutiny and joined Joseph McGrath's National Party. He resigned his seat in October 1924. Coogan, Tim Pat. ''De Valera: Long Fellow Long Shadow''. London: Hutchinson, 1995. After retiring from politics, he worked for the Irish Hospitals Trust.

Gallery

File:Piece 207-147; Sean McGarry (1922).pdf, page=3, British Army military intelligence file for Seán McGarry File:Seán_McGarry.jpg, Mugshot of Seán McGarry taken by Dublin Metropolitan Police circa 1916

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGarry, Sean 1886 births 1958 deaths People of the Irish Civil War (Pro-Treaty side) Early Sinn Féin TDs Irish Republican Army (1919–1922) members Members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood Members of the 2nd Dáil Members of the 3rd Dáil Members of the 4th Dáil

Biography

Gallery

Further reading

References