Seán Francis MacEntee (; 23 August 1889 – 9 January 1984) was an Irish

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 ...

politician who served as

Tánaiste The Tánaiste ( , ) is the second-ranking member of the government of Ireland and the holder of its second-most senior office. It is the equivalent of the deputy prime minister in other parliamentary systems. The Tánaiste is appointed by the P ...

from 1959 to 1965, Minister for Social Welfare from 1957 to 1961,

Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

from 1957 to 1965, Minister for Local Government and Public Health from 1941 to 1948, Minister for Industry and Commerce from 1939 to 1941, Minister for Finance from 1932 to 1939 and 1951 to 1954. He served as a

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) from 1918 to 1969. At the time of his death, he was the last surviving member of the

First Dáil First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

Early life

Born as John McEntee at 47 King Street,

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

on 23 August 1889, the son of James McEntee, a publican, and his wife, Mary Owens, both of whom were from

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It also provides the name of its Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish and Monaghan (barony), Monaghan barony. The population of the town as of the 2022 cen ...

. In 1901 and 1911, the family's address was 49 King Street. James McEntee was a prominent Nationalist member of Belfast Corporation and a close friend of Joe Devlin MP. MacEntee was educated at St Mary's Christian Brothers School, St Malachy's College and the Belfast Municipal College of Technology where he qualified as an electrical engineer. His early political involvement was with the

Irish Socialist Republican Party The Irish Socialist Republican Party was a small but pivotal Irish political party founded in 1896 by James Connolly. Its aim was to establish an Irish workers' republic. The party split in 1904 following months of internal political rows Hi ...

in Belfast city. He quickly rose through the ranks of the trade union movement becoming junior representative in the city's shipyards. Following his education MacEntee worked as an engineer in

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

County Louth County Louth ( ; ) is a coastal Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of County Meath, Meath to the ...

, and was involved in the establishment of a local corps of the

Irish Volunteers The Irish Volunteers (), also known as the Irish Volunteer Force or the Irish Volunteer Army, was a paramilitary organisation established in 1913 by nationalists and republicans in Ireland. It was ostensibly formed in response to the format ...

in the town. He mobilised in Dundalk and fought in the

General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Established in England in the 17th century, the GPO was a state monopoly covering the dispatch of items from a specific ...

Garrison in the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising (), 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 aim of establishing an ind ...

in 1916. He was sentenced to death for his part in the rising. This sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment. MacEntee was released in the general amnesty in 1917 and was later elected a member of the National Executives of both

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

and the Irish Volunteers in October 1917. MacEntee was later elected Sinn Féin Member of Parliament (MP) for Monaghan South at the 1918 general election.

Rebellion years

An attempt to develop his career as a consulting engineer in

was interrupted by the

War of Independence Wars of national liberation, also called wars of independence or wars of liberation, are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) ...

in 1919. MacEntee served as Vice-Commandant of the Belfast Brigade of the

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...

. He was also a member of the Volunteer Executive, ''a sort of Cabinet and Directory for the Minister for Defence and the HQ Staff'' But MacEntee remained one of the few Sinn Féiners from the north. On 6 August 1920, MacEntee presented 'a Memorial' lecture to the Dáil from the Belfast Corporation. He told the Dáil it was the ''only custodian of public order'', and that a Nationalist pogrom was taking place, he advised them ''to fight Belfast''. The Dáil government's policy was dubbed''Hibernia Irredenta'' or 'Greening Ireland'. Sean MacEntee was asked to resign his South Monaghan seat, after voting against a bunting celebration in Lurgan to mark the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty.

Path to civil war

From April 1921, when MacEntee was transferred to

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

to direct a special anti-partition campaign in connection with the May general election. It remained Collins's policy, he declared, that the largely Protestant shipyard workers of Belfast were being directed by the British, urging all Irishmen to rejoin the Republic. Correspondingly the Ulster Unionist Council rejected the call for a review of the boundary commission decision made on Northern Ireland. But when Ulstermen chose James Craig as Premier, Collins denounced democracy in the north as a sham. It was on the partition of Ireland issue that MacEntee voted against the

Anglo-Irish Treaty The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty (), 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 United Kingdom of Great Britain an ...

of 1921. During the subsequent

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

MacEntee commanded the IRA unit in Marlboro Street Post Office in Dublin. He later fought with

Cathal Brugha Cathal Brugha (; born Charles William St John Burgess; 18 July 1874 – 7 July 1922) was an Irish republican politician who served as Minister for Defence from 1919 to 1922, Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann in January 1919, the first presid ...

in the Hamman Hotel and was subsequently interned in Kilmainham and Gormanstown until December 1923.

Politician in the Free State

After his release from prison, MacEntee devoted himself more fully to his engineering practice, although he unsuccessfully contested Dublin County by-election of 1924. He became a founder-member of

in 1926 and was eventually elected a TD for Dublin County at the 1927 general election. MacEntee founded the Association of Patent Agents in 1929, having gained his interest in Patents when he worked as an assistant engineer in Dundalk Urban District Council. On MacEntee's appointment as Minister for Finance in 1932, his colleague, Francis Litton who was acting as Secretary of the Association, circulated the members with a notice to the effect that the Association was "suspended" until MacEntee could return as he now had to devote his energies to the affairs of the State. However, the other members decided to carry on. MacEntee must have valued his status as a Patent Agent since he maintained his name on the Register for over 30 years while he held Ministerial rank in the Irish Government, although he is not thought to have taken any active part in the patent business, which was carried on by his business partners.

In the first Fianna Fáil government (1932–1948)

In 1932, Fianna Fáil came to power for the very first time, with MacEntee becoming Minister for Finance. In keeping with the party's

protectionist Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...

economic policies, his first budget in March of that year saw the introduction of new duties on forty-three imports, many of them coming from

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

. This saw retaliation from the

British government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

, which in turn provoked a response from the

Irish government The Government of Ireland () is the executive authority of Ireland, headed by the , the head of government. The government – also known as the cabinet – is composed of ministers, each of whom must be a member of the , which consists of ...

. This was the beginning of the '' Economic War'' between the two nations, however, a treaty in 1938, signed by MacEntee and other senior members brought an end to the issue. During the Dáil debates on the

Constitution of Ireland The Constitution of Ireland (, ) is the constitution, fundamental law of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It asserts the national sovereignty of the Irish people. It guarantees certain fundamental rights, along with a popularly elected non-executi ...

in 1937, MacEntee described it as 'the Constitution of a Catholic State'. In 1939,

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

broke out and a cabinet reshuffle resulted in MacEntee being appointed as Minister for Industry and Commerce, taking over from his rival

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 ...

. During his tenure at this department, MacEntee introduced the important Trade Union Act (1941). In 1941, another reshuffle of ministers took place, with MacEntee becoming Minister for Local Government and Public Health. The Health portfolio was transferred to a new

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their o ...

in 1947. Following the 1948 general election, Fianna Fáil returned to the opposition benches for the first time in sixteen years.

Later Fianna Fáil governments (1951–1954, 1957–1965)

In 1951, Fianna Fáil were back in government, although in minority status, depending on independent deputies for survival. MacEntee once again returned to the position of Minister for Finance where he felt it was vital to deal with the balance of payments deficit. He brought in a harsh budget in 1951 which raised income tax and tariffs on imports. His chief aim was to cut spending and reduce imports, however, this came at a cost as unemployment increased sharply. The increases were retained in his next two budgets in 1952 and 1953. It is often said that it was MacEntee's performance during this period that cost Fianna Fáil the general election in 1954. The poor grasp of economics also did his political career tremendous damage as up to that point he was seen as a likely successor as

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 nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

. Now, however,

was firmly seen as the "heir apparent". In 1957, Fianna Fáil returned to power with an overall majority with MacEntee being appointed Minister for Health. The financial and economic portfolios were dominated by Lemass and other like-minded ministers who wanted to move away from protection to free trade. He is credited during this period with the reorganisation of the health services, the establishment of separate departments of health and social welfare, and the fluoridation of water supplies in Ireland. In 1959, MacEntee became

when Seán Lemass was elected Taoiseach.

Retirement and death

Following the 1965 general election, MacEntee was 76 years old and retired from the government. This did not mean that he went quietly to the backbenches. He re-emerged in 1966 to launch a verbal attack on Seán Lemass for deciding to step down as party leader and Taoiseach. The two men, however, patched up their differences shortly afterwards. MacEntee retired from Dáil Éireann in 1969 at the age of 80, making him the oldest TD in Irish history. He had a negative view of the

Provisional IRA The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

. MacEntee served in the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up of ...

and repeatedly proposed amendments that would have watered down resolutions against the

Greek junta The Greek junta or Regime of the Colonels was a Right-wing politics, right-wing military junta that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974. On 21 April 1967, a group of colonels with CIA backing 1967 Greek coup d'état, overthrew the caretaker gove ...

(see

Greek case In September 1967, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands brought the Greek case to the European Commission of Human Rights, alleging violations of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) by the Greek junta, which had taken power e ...

). MacEntee died in

on 9 January 1984, at the age of 94.Irish Times. 10 January 1984. This states that he died the previous day. Note 140 on page 226 says "See Irish Times, 10 January 1984, for obituary". Original from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. Digitized 30 June 2010

Family

In June 1921, he married a strongly nationalistic woman from

County Tipperary County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...

, Margaret Browne (1893–1976), who later taught Irish at Alexandra College and then at UCD. Among Margaret's brothers were

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

Michael Browne, poet and academic

Monsignor Monsignor (; ) is a form of address or title for certain members of the clergy in the Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" can be abbreviated as Mons.... or Msgr. In some ...

Pádraig de Brún Pádraig Monsignor de Brún (13 October 1889 – 5 June 1960), also called Patrick Joseph Monsignor Browne, was an Irish Roman Catholic priest, linguist, Classicist, and Celticist. With regard to his contribution to Modern literature in Iris ...

, and author Monsignor Maurice Browne. One of Seán and Margaret's daughters was the Irish poet

Máire Mhac an tSaoi Máire Mhac an tSaoi (4 April 1922 – 16 October 2021) was an Irish civil service diplomat, writer of Modernist poetry in the Corca Dhuibhne dialect of Munster Irish, a memoirist, and a highly important figure within modern literature in I ...

(1922 - 2021). She was married to the politician

Conor Cruise O'Brien Donal Conor David Dermot Donat Cruise O'Brien (3 November 1917 – 18 December 2008), often nicknamed "The Cruiser", was an Irish diplomat, politician, writer, historian and academic, who served as Minister for Posts and Telegraphs from 1973 ...

until his death. Their other daughter was Barbara MacEntee-Biggar (1928–1995), who was married to Irish Ambassador Frank Biggar (1917–1974); Original from the

, Digitized 6 Sep 2011 Barbara and Frank's eldest son is former Irish ambassador John Biggar (1952–). Barbara and Frank's third son was Maurice Biggar (1956–2023), a "young star of L&H debates, diplomat, barrister, gaeilgeoir, linguist and poet". ( MSN also have a (currently free) backup copy of this articl
here
. Seán and Margaret also had a son, Seamus MacEntee (1924–2000), who lived mostly in England, working as a psychiatrist, as well as being an artist painting under the name Sagesson (" Sage's son" is an English translation of the name MacEntee, which is an

anglicisation Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

of the Irish Mac an tSaoi, meaning "Son of the wise man").Biggar-Donnellan Ancestry Tree at Ancestry.com

References

Bibliographical sources

* Beaslai, Piaras, ''Michael Collins and the Making of a New Ireland'' 2 vols, (Dublin 1926) * Boyce, George D & Alan O' Day (eds.) ''The Ulster Crisis 1885–1921'' (Basingstoke 2006) * Coogan, Tim Pat, ''Michael Collins: A biography'' (London 1990) * Costello, Francis, ''Enduring the Most: The Life and Death of Terence MacSwiney'' (Dingle 1995) * Curran, Joseph, ''The Birth of the Irish Free State'' (Tuscaloosa, Ala, USA 1980) * Doherty, Gabriel & Dermot Keogh (eds) ''Michael Collins and the Making of the Irish State'' (Cork 1998) * Farrell, Brian, ''Creation of the Dail'' (Dublin 1994) * Original from the

. Digitized 30 Jun 2010 * Foy, Michael T., ''Michael Collins' Intelligence War: The Struggle between the British and the IRA 1919–1921'' (Stroud 2006) * Lynch, Robert, ''The Northern IRA and the Early Years of Partition, 1920–1922'' (Dublin 2006) * McDermott, Jim, ''Northern Divisions: The Old IRA and the Belfast Pogroms 1920–22'' (Belfast 2001) * Morgan, Austen, ''Labour and Partition: The Belfast Working Class 1905–23'' (London 1990) * Phoenix, Eamon, ''Northern Nationalism: Nationalist Politics, Partition and the Catholic Minority in Northern Ireland, 1890–1940'' (Belfast 1994)

External links