Seán Milroy (1877 – 30 November 1946) was an Irish revolutionary and politician, who took part in the 1916

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 ...

and served in the

Second Dáil The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

during 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) ...

and afterwards in the Seanad of the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

Biography

Milroy was born in

Maryport Maryport is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is on the coast of the Solway Firth and lies at the northern end of the former Cumberland Co ...

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

, 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 (; 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 produced the 1921 Anglo-Irish Trea ...

and an early member of

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 ...

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

, 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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He fought in the

in 1916, and was later imprisoned in England. On 3 February 1919 he escaped from Lincoln Jail in England along with Seán McGarry 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 an American-born Irish statesman and political leader. He served as the 3rd President of Ire ...

. On 3 April 1918, Milroy contested a by-election for Sinn Féin in Tyrone East unsuccessfully. At the

1918 United Kingdom general election The 1918 United Kingdom general election was called immediately after the Armistice with Germany which ended the First World War, and was held on Saturday, 14 December 1918. The governing coalition, under Prime Minister David Lloyd George, sen ...

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 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) 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 (), 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 ...

and voted in favour of it. He strongly supported the controversial executions of Rory O'Connor,

Liam Mellows William Joseph Mellows (, 25 May 1892 – 8 December 1922) was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican and Sinn Féin politician. Born in England to an English father and Irish mother, he grew up in Ashton-under-Lyne before moving to Ireland, ...

, Dick Barrett and Joe McKelvey who were executed without trial or court martial, after serving five months in prison, the day after the assassination of a pro-treaty TD. He became a member of

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 ...

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 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 ...

, serving for both Cumann na nGaedheal and later for

Fine Gael Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, 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 Éireann. The party had a member ...

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 Labour Panel senators