Frank Aiken

Frank Aiken
Aiken in 1944
Tánaiste
In office
21 April 1965 – 2 July 1969
Taoiseach
Preceded bySeán MacEntee
Succeeded byErskine H. Childers
Minister for External Affairs
In office
20 March 1957 – 2 July 1969
Taoiseach
  • Éamon de Valera
  • Seán Lemass
  • Jack Lynch
Preceded byLiam Cosgrave
Succeeded byPatrick Hillery
In office
13 June 1951 – 2 June 1954
TaoiseachÉamon de Valera
Preceded bySeán MacBride
Succeeded byLiam Cosgrave
Minister for Finance
In office
19 June 1945 – 18 February 1948
TaoiseachÉamon de Valera
Preceded bySeán T. O'Kelly
Succeeded byPatrick McGilligan
Minister for the Co-ordination of Defensive Measures
In office
8 September 1939 – 18 June 1945
TaoiseachÉamon de Valera
Preceded byNew office
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Minister for Defence
In office
9 March 1932 – 8 September 1939
TaoiseachÉamon de Valera
Preceded byDesmond FitzGerald
Succeeded byOscar Traynor
Minister for Lands and Fisheries
In office
3 June 1936 – 11 November 1936
TaoiseachÉamon de Valera
Preceded byJoseph Connolly
Succeeded byGerald Boland
Teachta Dála
In office
August 1923 – February 1973
ConstituencyLouth
Personal details
Born
Francis Thomas Aiken[1]

(1898-02-13)13 February 1898
Camlough, County Armagh, Ireland
Died18 May 1983(1983-05-18) (aged 85)
Blackrock, Dublin, Ireland
Resting placeSt Malachy's Church, Camlough, County Armagh, Northern Ireland
Political partyFianna Fáil (from 1926)
Other political
affiliations
Sinn Féin (1923–26)
Spouse
(m. 1934; died 1978)
Children3
Education
Alma materUniversity College Dublin
Military service
Allegiance
Years of service1914–1925
RankGeneral (chief of staff)
Battles/wars

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 for External Affairs from 1951 to 1954 and 1957 to 1969. He was also Minister for Finance from 1945 to 1948, Minister for the Co-ordination of Defensive Measures 1939 to 1945, and Minister for Defence from 1932 to 1939.

He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Louth constituency from 1923 to 1973, making him the second longest-serving member of Dáil Éireann and the longest-serving cabinet minister. Originally a member of Sinn Féin, he was later a founding member of Fianna Fáil.[2]

  1. ^ Magennis, Eoin (1 January 1970). "Frank Aiken – Family and Early Life, 1898-1921 | eoin magennis". Academia.edu. Archived from the original on 22 September 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  2. ^ "Frank Aiken". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 20 June 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2011.