1934 Seanad

1934 Seanad
1934 Seanad
Overview
Legislative body	Seanad Éireann
Jurisdiction	Irish Free State
Meeting place	Leinster House
Term	12 December 1934 – 19 May 1936
Government	7th Executive Council
Members	60
Cathaoirleach	Thomas Westropp Bennett (FG)
Leas-Chathaoirleach	Michael Comyn (FF) (1934–1936); David Robinson (FF) (1936);

The 1934 Seanad was the part of the Seanad of the Irish Free State (1922–1936) in office after the 1934 Seanad election until its abolition in 1936. Elections to the Seanad, the Senate of the Oireachtas (parliament of the Irish Free State) took place on a triennial basis, with senators elected in stages. The 1934 Seanad included members elected at the 1925, 1928, 1931 and 1934 Seanad elections. It sat as a second chamber to the 8th Dáil elected at the 1933 general election.

The Seanad of the Irish Free State was not numbered after every election, with the whole period later considered the First Seanad. Under the Constitution (Amendment No. 24) Act 1936, the Seanad was abolished, and for a time the Oireachtas became a unicameral legislature. The last sitting of the Seanad was on 19 May 1936, with the amendment signed on 29 May 1936. In 1937, on the adoption of the Constitution of Ireland, a new Seanad Éireann was established, with elections to follow general elections to Dáil Éireann, with each new Seanad numbered. An election to the 2nd Seanad took place in March 1938.

Composition of the 1934 Seanad

There were a total of 60 seats in the Free State Seanad. In 1934, 22 Senators were elected. The Seanad election in 1925 was a popular election. However, at the 1928 and subsequent elections, the franchise was restricted to Oireachtas members.

23 Senators had been elected at the 1931 Seanad election, 17 Senators had been elected at the 1928 Seanad election and 19 Senators had been elected at the 1925 Seanad election.^[1]

The following table shows the composition by party when the 1934 Seanad first met on 12 December 1934.^[2]

Party		Seats
	Fine Gael	22
	Fianna Fáil	19
	Labour	7
	Independent	12
Total		60

Cathaoirleach

At the first meeting on 12 December 1934, there was a contest for the position of Cathaoirleach. James J. MacKean was absent for the vote but all other members were present. General Sir William Hickie chaired the election. The two candidates were the outgoing Cathaoirleach, Thomas Westropp Bennett, and the Fianna Fáil candidate, Michael Comyn. Neither of the two candidates voted and so fifty-six senators voted in the election. This resulted in a tie of twenty-eight votes each. Westropp Bennett received the votes of all twenty-one members of Fine Gael and seven independents. Comyn received the votes of his eighteen Fianna Fáil colleagues, the seven Labour Party senators, and three independents (Sir Edward Bellingham, Thomas Linehan and Laurence O'Neill). Hickie then gave his casting vote for Westropp Bennett saying he would have done so had he had the opportunity in the division.^[3]

The following week, Comyn defeated the outgoing Leas-Chathaoirleach, Michael O'Hanlon of Fine Gael, by twenty-six votes to twenty-five.^[4]^[5]

On 11 March 1936, David Robinson was elected unanimously as Leas-Chathaoirleach following the appointment of Comyn to the Circuit Court.^[6]

List of senators

Note: The entries for Senators who were elected or appointed to fill vacancies are shown in italics

Name	Party	Entered Office	Term	Notes
Henry Barniville	Fine Gael	Elected in 1925	12 years
Sir Edward Bellingham	Independent	Elected in 1925	12 years
William Cummins	Labour	Elected in 1925	12 years
James Dillon	Fine Gael	Elected in 1925	12 years
Michael Fanning	Fine Gael	Elected in 1925	12 years
Thomas Foran	Labour	Elected in 1925	12 years
Sir William Hickie	Independent	Elected in 1925	12 years
Cornelius Kennedy	Fine Gael	Elected in 1925	12 years
Thomas Linehan	Independent	Elected in 1925	12 years
Joseph O'Connor	Fine Gael	Elected in 1925	12 years
J. T. O'Farrell	Labour	Elected in 1925	12 years
Michael F. O'Hanlon	Fine Gael	Elected in 1925	12 years
James Parkinson	Fine Gael	Elected in 1925	12 years
Thomas Toal	Fine Gael	Elected in 1925	12 years
Kathleen Clarke	Fianna Fáil	Elected in 1928	9 years
Joseph Connolly	Fianna Fáil	Elected in 1928	9 years
Seán Milroy	Fine Gael	Elected in 1928	9 years
Séumas Robinson	Fianna Fáil	Elected in 1928	9 years	Resigned on 11 December 1935^[7]
William O'Sullivan	Fine Gael	Elected in 1931	6 years
Michael Comyn	Fianna Fáil	Elected in 1931	9 years	Appointed as a judge of the Circuit Court on 24 February 1936^[8]
John Counihan	Fine Gael	Elected in 1931	9 years
James G. Douglas	Independent	Elected in 1931	9 years
Michael Duffy	Labour	Elected in 1931	9 years
Thomas Farren	Labour	Elected in 1931	9 years
Hugh Garahan	Fine Gael	Elected in 1931	9 years
Sir John Griffith	Independent	Elected in 1931	9 years
Seán MacEllin	Fianna Fáil	Elected in 1931	9 years
Ross McGillycuddy	Independent	Elected in 1931	9 years
James J. MacKean	Fine Gael	Elected in 1931	9 years
John MacLoughlin	Fine Gael	Elected in 1931	9 years
Daniel MacParland	Fianna Fáil	Elected in 1931	9 years
Maurice George Moore	Fianna Fáil	Elected in 1931	9 years
Laurence O'Neill	Independent	Elected in 1931	9 years
Brian O'Rourke	Fine Gael	Elected in 1931	9 years
William Quirke	Fianna Fáil	Elected in 1931	9 years
David Robinson	Fianna Fáil	Elected in 1931	9 years
Michael Staines	Fine Gael	Elected in 1931	9 years
Sir Edward Coey Bigger	Independent	Elected in 1934	3 years
John Philip Bagwell	Independent	Elected in 1934	6 years
Patrick Baxter	Fine Gael	Elected in 1934	9 years
Thomas Westropp Bennett	Independent	Elected in 1934	9 years
Ernest Blythe	Fine Gael	Elected in 1934	9 years
James Boyle	Fianna Fáil	Elected in 1934	9 years
Samuel Lombard Brown	Independent	Elected in 1934	6 years
Kathleen Browne	Fine Gael	Elected in 1934	9 years
James Charles Dowdall	Fianna Fáil	Elected in 1934	9 years
Eamonn Duggan	Fine Gael	Elected in 1934	9 years
Séamus Fitzgerald	Fianna Fáil	Elected in 1934	9 years
Oliver St. John Gogarty	Fine Gael	Elected in 1934	9 years
Denis Healy	Fianna Fáil	Elected in 1934	9 years
T. V. Honan	Fianna Fáil	Elected in 1934	9 years
Andrew Jameson	Independent	Elected in 1934	9 years
Thomas Johnson	Labour	Elected in 1934	9 years
Thomas Kennedy	Labour	Elected in 1934	9 years
Raphael Keyes	Fianna Fáil	Elected in 1934	9 years
Patrick Lynch	Fianna Fáil	Elected in 1934	9 years
Pádraic Ó Máille	Fianna Fáil	Elected in 1934	9 years
Thomas Ruane	Fianna Fáil	Elected in 1934	9 years
Richard Wilson	Fine Gael	Elected in 1934	9 years
Jennie Wyse Power	Fianna Fáil	Elected in 1934	9 years	Joined Fianna Fáil in advance of the 1934 Seanad election^[9]

Changes

Date	Loss		Gain		Note
11 December 1935		Fianna Fáil			Resignation of Séumas Robinson^[7]
24 February 1936		Fianna Fáil			Michael Comyn appointed as a judge of the Circuit Court^[8]

References

^ "The New Free State Senate". The Irish Times. 8 December 1934. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
^ "1934 Seanad". Oireachtas Members Database.
^ "Election of Cathaoirleach – Seanad Éireann (1934 Seanad) – Vol. 19 No. 9". Oireachtas Debates. 12 December 1934.
^ "Election of Leas-Chathaoirleach – Seanad Éireann (1934 Seanad) – Vol. 19 No. 9". Oireachtas Debates. 19 December 1934.
^ O'Sullivan, Donal (1940). The Irish Free State and its Senate: A Study in Contemporary Politics. London: Faber and Faber. p. 448.
^ "Election of Leas-Chathaoirleach – Seanad Éireann (1934 Seanad) – Vol. 20 No. 29". Oireachtas Debates. 11 March 1936.
^ ^a ^b "Mr. Séamus Robinson". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 23 November 2009.
^ ^a ^b "Mr. Michael Comyn". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 23 November 2009.
^ O'Neill, Marie (1991). From Parnell to de Valera: A Biography of Jennie Wyse Power 1858–1941. Dublin: Blackwater Press. p. 172.