Séan Francis Gibbons (31 May 1883 – 19 April 1952) was an Irish politician who sat as
Cumann na nGaedheal
Cumann na nGaedheal (; ) was a political party in the Irish Free State, which formed the government from 1923 to 1932. It was named after the original Cumann na nGaedheal organisation which merged with the Dungannon Clubs and the National Co ...
Teachta Dála
A Teachta Dála ( ; ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish language, Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The official Engli ...
(TD) in the 1920s and as a
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland.
Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...
TD in the 1930s. He later became a
Senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...
, and was
Cathaoirleach
Cathaoirleach (; Irish language, Irish for Chair (officer), chairperson; plural: ) is the title of the chair (or speaker (politics), presiding officer) of Seanad Éireann, the sixty-member upper house of the Oireachtas, the legislature of Repub ...
(chairperson) of the Seanad for five years.
Revolutionary period
Gibbons did not take part in the 1916 Easter Rising but was arrested in its aftermath and was interned in several prisons in Ireland, Wales and England. During the War of Independence (January 1919 - July 1921), he served as Company Captain of Clomantagh Company of 2 Battalion, Kilkenny Brigade, IRA and later as Battalion Intelligence Officer. Taking the pro Treaty side in the Civil War, he was attached to Kilkenny Brigade, 2 Southern Division, National Army. He resigned from the National Army in August 1923 to take part in the General Election on behalf of the Cumann na nGaedheal political party. Gibbons later applied to the Irish government for a service pension under the Military Service Pensions Act, 1924 and was awarded 4.836 years service in 1927 at Grade C for his service with the IRA and National Army between 1 April 1920 and 30 September 1923. Unusually, Gibbons never accepted receipt of nor was paid any part of this pension prior to his death in 1952. In his will he left his military service pension and arrears arising up to his death, to the Minister for Finance of the Government of Ireland, to be used in the reduction of the debt of the Irish State.
Politics
Gibbons was elected to
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann ( ; , ) is the lower house and principal chamber of the Oireachtas, which also includes the president of Ireland and a senate called Seanad Éireann.Article 15.1.2° of the Constitution of Ireland reads: "The Oireachtas shall co ...
on his first attempt, as a Cumann na nGaedheal candidate in the
Carlow–Kilkenny constituency at the
1923 general election.
However, he was not an active participant in proceedings because his health was poor, requiring him to leave the country at one point.
He left Cumann na nGaedhael to join the
National Party in March 1924, led by
Joseph McGrath, in the aftermath of the
Army Mutiny.
[See the exchange between O'Higgins, ]Gorey
Gorey () is a market town in north County Wexford, Ireland. It is bypassed by the main N11 road (Ireland), M11 Dublin to Wexford road. The town is also connected to the Gorey railway station, railway network along the same route. Local newspape ...
and Gibbons a
Dáil Éireann Official Report - Volume 9 - 22 October 1924
He and eight other National Party TDs resigned their seats in the
4th Dáil on 30 October 1924, only 14 months after his election.
The
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections.
A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...
was held on 11 March 1925 and won by Cumann na nGaedheal's
Thomas Bolger.
Gibbons joined Fianna Fáil and stood for them as a candidate in Carlow–Kilkenny at the
1932 general election, winning one of his party's fifteen new seats in the
7th Dáil. He was returned at the
1933 general election, but after the constituency was divided under the
Electoral (Revision of Constituencies) Act 1935
The Electoral (Revision of Constituencies) Act 1935 (No. 5) was a law in Ireland which replaced the Dáil constituencies which had been defined in the Electoral Act 1923.
Unlike the constituencies in the 1923 Act, it included many instances of ...
, he lost his seat at the
1937 general election in the new
Kilkenny
Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...
constituency.
He then stood as a Fianna Fáil candidate for election to
Seanad Éireann
Seanad Éireann ( ; ; "Senate of Ireland") is the senate of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (defined as the house of representatives).
It is commonly called the Seanad or ...
on the
Agricultural Panel, winning a seat in the
2nd Seanad
The 2nd Seanad was in office in 1938. An election to Seanad Éireann, the Senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament), took place in March 1938, following the coming into operation of the Constitution of Ireland in December 1937. The senators ...
and becoming
Cathaoirleach
Cathaoirleach (; Irish language, Irish for Chair (officer), chairperson; plural: ) is the title of the chair (or speaker (politics), presiding officer) of Seanad Éireann, the sixty-member upper house of the Oireachtas, the legislature of Repub ...
. He remained as Cathoirleach in the
3rd Seanad, holding the office until 1944, when he was re-elected to the
4th Seanad
The 4th Seanad was in office from 1943 to 1944. An election to Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament), followed the 1944 general election to the 11th Dáil. The senators served until the close of poll for the 5th Sean ...
. He did not sit in the
5th Seanad
The 5th Seanad was in office from 1944 to 1948. An election to Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament), followed the 1944 general election to the 12th Dáil. The senators served until the close of poll for the 6th Seana ...
but was re-elected by the Agricultural Panel to the
6th Seanad
The 6th Seanad was in office from 1948 to 1951. An election to Seanad Éireann, the Senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament), followed the 1948 general election to the 13th Dáil. The senators served until the close of poll for the 7th Sea ...
, sitting from 1948 to 1951.
He died on 19 April 1952, aged 68. Five years later, his nephew
Jim Gibbons was elected as a Fianna Fáil TD in the restored Carlow–Kilkenny constituency, where Jim's son
Martin Gibbons was a
Progressive Democrat TD from 1987 to 1989. Another of Jim's sons,
Jim Gibbons Jnr was a Progressive Democrat Senator.
See also
*
Families in the Oireachtas
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibbons, Sean
1883 births
1952 deaths
Cumann na nGaedheal TDs
Fianna Fáil TDs
Cathaoirligh of Seanad Éireann
Members of the 4th Dáil
Members of the 7th Dáil
Members of the 8th Dáil
Members of the 2nd Seanad
Members of the 3rd Seanad
Members of the 4th Seanad
Members of the 6th Seanad
Fianna Fáil senators
Agricultural Panel senators