P. J. Ruttledge | |
---|---|
Minister for Local Government and Public Health | |
In office 8 September 1939 – 14 August 1941 | |
President | Éamon de Valera |
Preceded by | Seán T. O'Kelly |
Succeeded by | Seán MacEntee |
Minister for Justice | |
In office 8 February 1933 – 8 September 1939 | |
President | Éamon de Valera |
Preceded by | James Geoghegan |
Succeeded by | Gerald Boland |
Minister for Lands and Fisheries | |
In office 9 March 1932 – 8 February 1933 | |
President | Éamon de Valera |
Preceded by | Fionán Lynch |
Succeeded by | Joseph Connolly |
Vice President of Sinn Féin | |
In office 11 July 1923 – 16 May 1926 | |
Leader | Éamon de Valera |
Preceded by | Arthur Griffith |
Succeeded by | John Madden |
Teachta Dála | |
In office August 1923 – 8 May 1952 | |
Constituency | Mayo North |
In office May 1921 – August 1923 | |
Constituency | Mayo North and West |
Personal details | |
Born | Ballina, County Mayo, Ireland | 1 January 1892
Died | 8 May 1952 Galway, Ireland | (aged 60)
Political party |
|
Spouse |
Helena Roddy (m. 1928) |
Children | 4 |
Education | |
Alma mater | Trinity College Dublin |
Military service | |
Branch/service | |
Battles/wars | |
Patrick Joseph Ruttledge (1 January 1892 – 8 May 1952) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Local Government and Public Health from 1939 to 1941, Minister for Justice from 1933 to 1939, Minister for Lands and Fisheries from 1932 to 1933 and Vice President of Sinn Féin from 1923 to 1926. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1921 to 1951.[1]
Born in Ballina, County Mayo, in 1892.[2] He was educated at St Muredach's College and later at St. Enda's School, Rathfarnham, Dublin, run by Patrick Pearse. After studying at Trinity College Dublin, he qualified as a solicitor in 1918 and built up a practice in his home town.[3]
During the Irish War of Independence he was active in the Irish Republican Army. He was a close friend of Seán Mac Diarmada, with whom he lived for some time.[3] He also took part in local politics, becoming chair of Ballina Urban Council from 1919 to 1932 and chair of Mayo County Council from 1922 to 1926.
He was first elected to Dáil Éireann in 1921 as a Sinn Féin TD for Mayo North and West.[4] He opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 and joined the Republican forces and was seriously injured during the Civil War.[3] He was re-elected to the Dáil again in 1923 for Mayo North and in a further ten elections until 1951. In 1926, Ruttledge was a founder-member of Fianna Fáil. In the Dail (in 1928) Ruttledge put forth a proposal for a committee to review the many long prison sentences under which many Republicans were still being held. He stated that the long sentences "reflected a partisan spirit in keeping with the vendetta by prominent political leaders at the time."[5]