Patrick Smith (17 July 1901 – 18 March 1982) 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, who served as a

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 ...

from 1923 until 1977; a tenure of 53 years, the longest in the state. He held a number of ministerial positions within the governments of

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 governm ...

and

Seán Lemass Seán Francis Lemass (born John Francis Lemass; 15 July 1899 – 11 May 1971) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1959 to 1966. He also served as Tánaiste from 1957 to 1959, 1951 to 1954 ...

Early life

Smith was born in the town of

Bailieborough Bailieborough or Bailieboro (; ) is a town in County Cavan, Ireland. , its population was 2,683, up from 1,529 as of the 1996 census. Bailieborough's proximity to the N3 road (Ireland), N3 National Road has made it a commuter town. History P ...

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; gle, Contae an Chabháin) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Border Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is base ...

, the eighth and youngest child of Terence Smith, a farmer, and Ellen Smith (née MacManus). He joined 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 ...

, he took a small role in the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...

of 1916. By 1920, he was involved with the

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 ...

and was one of its youngest commandants, at the age of 19. He was captured by British forces in 1921, along with

Seán Moylan Seán Moylan (19 November 1889 – 16 November 1957) was a senior officer of the Irish Republican Army and later a Fianna Fáil politician. He served as Minister for Agriculture from May 1957 to November 1957, Minister for Education from 1951 ...

, who would go on to become a government colleague. He was interned, put on trial for treason but he was spared after a truce was called between the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

and the IRA during 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 ...

. After the signing of 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 ...

, Smith sided with de Valera and the Anti-Treaty side of 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 ...

. Smith had felt that the Irish negotiators did not test the British delegation enough, this sentiment would last with him well into his political career, Smith being said to have shouted across the floor at

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 ...

, "They gave us stepping-stones, but they tate forces in 1922would not walk on them." A play on the same quote by Irish revolutionary leader,

Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to: * Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician * Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and Ge ...

Spanish Civil War veteran

During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

Smith was a member of the

Connolly Column The Connolly Column (, ) was the name given to a group of Irish republican socialist volunteers who fought for the Second Spanish Republic in the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War. They were named after James Connolly, the ex ...

(a group of Irish republican socialist volunteers). In Spain made the acquaintance of the founder of the

Communist Party of Ireland The Communist Party of Ireland (CPI; ga, Páirtí Cumannach na hÉireann) is an all-Ireland Marxist–Leninist communist party, founded in 1933 and re-founded in 1970. It rarely contests elections and has never had electoral success. The part ...

Michael O'Riordan Michael O'Riordan ( ga, Mícheál Ó Ríordáin; 12 November 1917 – 18 May 2006) was the founder of the Communist Party of Ireland (3rd) and also fought with the Connolly Column in the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War. Ea ...

. During his time in Spain Smith was wounded by a bayonet and carried the scar on his head for the rest of his life.

Irish politics

He entered the Dáil in September 1923, as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

candidate. In 1926,

, the Leader of Anti-Treaty Sinn Fein, approached Smith and persuaded him to join his newly founded political party,

. Fianna Fail abandoned the

abstentionist Abstentionism is standing for election to a deliberative assembly while refusing to take up any seats won or otherwise participate in the assembly's business. Abstentionism differs from an election boycott in that abstentionists participate in ...

policy of Anti Treaty Sinn Fein and its elected members took their seats in

. De Valera and Smith had a strong personal and professional relationship; Smith had a strong loyalty for Fianna Fail and by extension, de Valera, whom he often defended from allegations of

totalitarian Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and regul ...

style policies. Smith refuted these allegations, citing that he felt de Valera had always given a voice to members of the party. He worked as Parliamentary Secretary at the Department of the Taoiseach (Government Chief Whip). Smith identified this time during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as his most fulfilling period in Irish politics. He was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance in 1943. He served under

Seán T. O'Kelly Seán Thomas O'Kelly ( ga, Seán Tomás Ó Ceallaigh; 25 August 1882 – 23 November 1966), originally John T. O'Kelly, was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as the second president of Ireland from June 1945 to June 1959. He also serve ...

and

Frank Aiken Francis Thomas Aiken (13 February 1898 – 18 May 1983) was an Irish revolutionary and politician. He was chief of staff of the Anti-Treaty IRA at the end of the Irish Civil War. Aiken later served as Tánaiste from 1965 to 1969 and Minister fo ...

during his tenure in the department. He was briefly Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture in January 1947, before his appointment as Minister for Agriculture later that month. He held this position until the collapse of the Fianna Fáil government which had been in power for nearly 16 years. The party was in opposition until the

1951 Irish general election The 1951 Irish general election was held on Wednesday, 30 May in 40 Dáil constituencies throughout Ireland for 147 seats in the lower house of parliament, Dáil Éireann. This election was the first election since the declaration of the Repu ...

. Smith was then appointed as Minister for Local Government. Smith focused on many social issues, especially the

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

issue in Ireland. He advocated for the reduction of overcrowding in the slums of Dublin. He also oversaw the doubling of the car license fee to ensure the government had enough cashflow for the upkeep of urban and rural roads. The improvement of roads also facilitated unemployment programs by offering recruitment opportunities to work on the roads. The fund for road improvement soon amounted to £3 million, and work began on surfacing the 34,000 miles of road which remained below standard. The Fianna Fail government collapsed in 1954 and was replaced by the

Second Inter-Party Government The second (symbol: s) is the unit of Time in physics, time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally t ...

, led by John A. Costello; Smith returned to the position of Minister for Local Government when Fianna Fail were re-elected at the

1957 Irish general election The 1957 Irish general election to the 16th Dáil was held on Tuesday, 5 March, following a dissolution of the 15th Dáil on 12 February by President Seán T. O'Kelly on the request of Taoiseach John A. Costello on 4 February. It was the longe ...

. Smith was appointed again as Minister for Agriculture in 1957 when Fianna Fail returned to government. His main objectives while in this office were to eliminate cattle tuberculosis, which proved to be a serious issue for Irish farmers at the time. He also encouraged greater productivity from the primary economic sector, specifically farming and also aimed to improve grassland quality across the island. Outside of agriculture, Smith continued to serve as Minister for Local Government. He also was part of a group of ministers who supervised the ''First Programme for Economic Expansion'', an economic development plan by T. K. Whitaker, Secretary at the Department of Finance, that has been heavily praised as the programme that helped kickstart Ireland's economic growth which would take full form in the mid-1990s. He also had a spell as Minister for Social Welfare. Smith continued to serve under

, but became disillusioned with the Taoiseach about relations with trade unions. Smith felt Lemass was too easily influenced by

trade unions A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...

and in protest he resigned from all his ministerial positions in 1964. Smith was not appointed to cabinet by

Jack Lynch John Mary Lynch (15 August 1917 – 20 October 1999) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1966 to 1973 and 1977 to 1979, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1966 to 1979, Leader of the Opposition from 1973 to 1977, Minister ...

upon his succession as Taoiseach in 1966 and Smith would spend the remainder of his parliamentary career on the

backbenches. During the Arms Crisis, Smith, like many of the founding members of Fianna Fail, sided with Lynch against

Charles Haughey Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach on three occasions – 1979 to 1981, March to December 1982 and 1987 to 1992. He was also Minister for the Gaeltacht from ...

and

Neil Blaney Neil Terence Columba Blaney (1 October 1922 – 8 November 1995) was an Irish politician. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann in 1948 as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) representing Donegal East. A high-profile member of the party, Blaney ...

. Smith retired from politics in 1977 at the age of 75. In the 1979 leadership election for Fianna Fail, Smith again sided with the more traditional members of the party in supporting the leadership campaign of

George Colley George Colley (18 October 1925 – 17 September 1983) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Tánaiste from 1977 to 1981, Minister for Energy from 1980 to 1981, Minister for Tourism and Transport from 1979 to 1980, Minister for ...

, who was also endorsed by Lynch. Haughey won the election and would lead Fianna Fail until 1992. Smith died on 18 March 1982, aged 80, at his home in

Castleblayney Castleblayney (; ) is a town in County Monaghan, Ireland. The town had a population of 3,607 as of the 2016 census. Castleblayney is near the border with County Armagh in Northern Ireland, and lies on the N2 road from Dublin to Derry and Let ...

County Monaghan County Monaghan ( ; ga, Contae Mhuineacháin) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Ulster and is part of Border strategic planning area of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Monaghan. Monaghan County Cou ...

. He was survived by his wife, Mary Ward and his 6 children. He body was returned to his ancestral parish of

Knockbride Knockbride is a parish in County Cavan, Ireland located outside the town of Bailieborough. There are two Roman Catholic churches namely West Knockbride and East Knockbride. There is also a Church of Ireland church and parish and a Presbyterian ...

, a townland outside of

. He was buried in West Knockbride Chapel, with his graveside oration given by

, who had been appointed

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

a number of days earlier.

References