Hugh Law (Cumann na nGaedheal politician)

For his father, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, see Hugh Law.

Hugh Law
Teachta Dála
In office
June 1927 – February 1932
ConstituencyDonegal
Member of Parliament
In office
25 April 1902 – 14 December 1918
Preceded byJames Boyle
Succeeded byJoseph Sweeney
ConstituencyWest Donegal
Personal details
Born(1872-07-28)28 July 1872
Dublin, Ireland
Died2 April 1943(1943-04-02) (aged 70)
Dublin, Ireland
Political partyCumann na nGaedheal
Other political
affiliations
SpouseCharlotte Stuart
Children4
Parent
EducationRugby School
Alma materUniversity College, Oxford

Hugh Alexander Law (28 July 1872 – 2 April 1943) was an Irish nationalist politician.[1] He represented constituencies in County Donegal as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the British House of Commons and later as a Teachta Dála (TD) in Dáil Éireann.[2]

A barrister, he was the second son of Hugh Law, who had been Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1881 to 1883,[3] and his wife Helen White, and was educated in England at Rugby School and University College, Oxford.[2]

He was returned as an Irish Parliamentary Party member of the Westminster parliament for West Donegal at an unopposed by-election in April 1902,[4][5] and was unopposed at successive general elections until he stood down at the 1918 general election,[5] when the seat was won by Joseph Sweeney of Sinn Féin.

A supporter of the pro-war policy of John Redmond during World War I, he held a number of administrative positions in London: in the secretariat of the Ministry of Munitions (1915–1916), the news department of the Foreign Office (1916–1918), and the advisory council of the Ministry of Reconstruction (1918).[2]

At the 1923 Irish general election he was an unsuccessful Farmers' Party candidate for the 5th Dáil in the Donegal constituency.[6] He stood again as a Cumann na nGaedheal candidate at the June 1927 general election and was elected to the 6th Dáil.[7] Law was re-elected at the September 1927 general election, but lost his seat at the 1932 general election, and did not stand again.[8]

  1. ^ "Historical list of MPs: constituencies beginning with "D", part 2". Leigh Rayment's House of Commons pages. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ a b c Coleman, Marie. "Law, Hugh Alexander". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  3. ^ Irish News (Belfast), 3 April 2012
  4. ^ "No. 27429". The London Gazette. 29 April 1902. p. 2860.
  5. ^ a b Brian M. Walker, ed. (1978). Parliamentary election results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 978-0-901714-12-1.
  6. ^ Brian M. Walker, ed. (1992). Parliamentary election results in Ireland, 1918–92. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 978-0-901714-96-1. ISSN 0332-0286.
  7. ^ "Hugh Law". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
  8. ^ "Hugh Law". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 8 June 2012.