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 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 ...

during the

War of Independence This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars). These wars may or may not have been successful in achieving a goal of independence. List See also * Lists of active separatist movements * List of civil wars * List o ...

and afterwards in the Seanad of the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...

Biography

Milroy was born in

Maryport Maryport is a town and civil parish in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England, historically in Cumberland. The town is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, at the northern end of the former Cumberland Coalfield. Location ...

, Cumberland, England to Scottish parents. He moved to Cork as a young adult. He was a journalist by profession. He was a close personal friend of

Arthur Griffith Arthur Joseph Griffith ( ga, Art Seosamh Ó Gríobhtha; 31 March 1871 – 12 August 1922) was an Irish writer, newspaper editor and politician who founded the political party Sinn Féin. He led the Irish delegation at the negotiations that prod ...

and an early member 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 G ...

, serving on its national executive from 1909 to 1912. He joined 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 ...

, and in 1915 he was arrested and imprisoned for three months for a speech in which he urged Irishmen not to fight in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He fought in the Easter Rising in 1916, and was imprisoned in England. On 3 April 1918, Milroy contested a by-election for Sinn Féin in Tyrone East unsuccessfully. At the 1918 United Kingdom general election he stood in Tyrone North-East, but an electoral pact brokered by Cardinal Michael Logue allocated the seat to the Irish Parliamentary Party and it was not contested by Sinn Féin.''Dublin Evening Telegraph''. 4 December 1918. Milroy defied the pact as a breakaway candidate but received only 56 votes. He was elected a Sinn Féin

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) at the 1921 elections for both the Cavan constituency and for the Fermanagh and Tyrone constituency. He 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 voted in favour of it. He became a member 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 ...

but left the party and resigned from his seat on 30 October 1924 along with seven other TDs in opposition to the Government's actions to the so-called Irish Army Mutiny. He contested the June 1927 general election unsuccessfully. In later years, he made up with his former colleagues and was elected to

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann (, ; "Senate of Ireland") is the upper house of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (the lower house). It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its memb ...

, serving for both Cumann na nGaedheal and later for

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...

from 1928 until the Free State Seanad was abolished in 1936. He was re-elected to the new Seanad in 1938, following the 1937 general election but failed to be re-elected following the 1938 general election.

References

Sources

*Todd Andrews (1979), ''Dublin Made Me''. *Tim Pat Coogan (1995), ''De Valera: Long Fellow, Long Shadow''. *''Memoirs of Senator Joseph Connolly: A Founder of Modern Ireland.'' J. Anthony Gaughan (ed), 1996. Piece 210-005; John Milroy (1915).pdf, page=7, Colonial office intelligence file for John Milroy Piece 207-129; John Milroy (1922).pdf, page=8, British Army military intelligence file for John Milroy {{DEFAULTSORT:Milroy, Sean 1877 births 1946 deaths Early Sinn Féin TDs Cumann na nGaedheal TDs Cumann na nGaedheal senators People of the Easter Rising Fine Gael senators Irish anti–World War I activists Irish people of Scottish descent Members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood Members of the 2nd Dáil Members of the 3rd Dáil Members of the 4th Dáil Members of the 1928 Seanad Members of the 1931 Seanad Members of the 1934 Seanad Members of the 2nd Seanad Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1921–1925 Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland for Fermanagh and Tyrone People from Maryport People of the Irish Civil War (Pro-Treaty side) Sinn Féin parliamentary candidates Irish Republican Army (1919–1922) members