seamus dubhghaill

Promoting Irish Culture and History from Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

Tag Archives: 10th Seanad


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Birth of Michael Butler Yeats, Barrister & Fianna Fáil Politician

Michael Butler Yeats, Irish barrister and Fianna Fáil politician, is born on August 22, 1921, at Thame, South Oxfordshire District, Oxfordshire, England. He serves two periods as a member of Seanad Éireann.

Yeats’s father is the poet William Butler Yeats, who likewise serves in the Seanad, and his mother is Georgie Hyde-Lees. His sister, Anne Yeats, is a painter and designer, as is his uncle Jack Butler Yeats. He is educated at St. Columba’s College, Dublin, and Trinity College Dublin, where he gains a first-class honours degree in history. He is an officer in the College Historical Society. He also qualifies as a lawyer but does not practise.

Yeats unsuccessfully stands for election to Dáil Éireann at the 1948 Irish general election and the 1951 Irish general election for the Dublin South-East constituency. Following the 1951 election, he is nominated to the 7th Seanad by Taoiseach Éamon de Valera. He stands at the subsequent election in 1954 for the 8th Seanad but is not elected.

From 1961 to 1980 Yeats is a member of Seanad Éireann. In 1961 he is elected to the 10th Seanad by the Labour Panel. In 1965 he is nominated by Taoiseach Seán Lemass to the 11th Seanad. In 1969 he is elected to the 12th Seanad by the Cultural and Educational Panel and re-elected to the 13th Seanad in 1973. In 1977, he is nominated by Taoiseach Jack Lynch to the 14th Seanad. He resigns from the Seanad on March 12, 1980.

From 1969 to 1973, during the 12th Seanad, Yeats serves as Cathaoirleach (chair).

While a senator, Yeats serves as a Member of the European Parliament from 1973 to 1979, being appointed to Ireland’s first, second and third delegations. He stands at the first direct elections in 1979 for the Dublin constituency but is not elected. He is Director General of the EEC Council of Ministers in Brussels in the 1980s.

Yeats marries Gráinne Ni hEigeartaigh, a singer and Irish harpist. They have four children – three daughters and a son.

Yeats dies in Dublin at the age of 85 on January 3, 2007. He is buried in Shanganagh Cemetery in Shankill, County Dublin.


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Death of Michael Butler Yeats, Barrister & Politician

Michael Butler Yeats, barrister, Fianna Fáil politician and only son of the poet William Butler Yeats, dies on January 3, 2007, in Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin. He serves two periods as a member of Seanad Éireann.

Yeats is born on August 22, 1921, in Thame, Oxfordshire, England to W. B. Yeats, who also served in the Seanad, and his mother, Georgie Hyde-Lees. His sister Anne Yeats is a painter and designer, as is his uncle Jack Butler Yeats. He is educated at Trinity College, Dublin and is an officer in the College Historical Society. He unsuccessfully stands for election to Dáil Éireann at the 1948 Irish general election and the 1951 Irish general election for the Dublin South-East constituency.

Following the 1951 election, Yeats is nominated to the 7th Seanad by the Taoiseach Éamon de Valera. He stands at the subsequent 1954 Irish general election for the 8th Seanad but is not elected.

From 1961 to 1980 Yeats is a member of Seanad Éireann. In 1961 he is elected to the 10th Seanad by the Labour Panel. In 1965 he is nominated by the Taoiseach Seán Lemass to the 11th Seanad. In 1969 he is elected to the 12th Seanad by the Cultural and Educational Panel where he serves as Cathaoirleach (chair) until 1973. He is re-elected to the 13th Seanad in 1973. In 1977, he is nominated by the Taoiseach Jack Lynch to the 14th Seanad. He resigns from the Seanad on March 12, 1980.

While a senator, Yeats serves as a Member of the European Parliament from 1973 to 1979, being appointed to Ireland’s first, second and third delegations. He stands at the first direct elections in 1979 for the Dublin constituency but is not elected.

Yeats is married to Gráinne Ni hEigeartaigh, a singer and Irish harpist. They have four children: daughters Caitríona (a concert harpist), Siobhán (a patents professional) and Síle (a broadcaster with RTÉ who also dies in 2007), and a son, Pádraig (an engineer).

Yeats dies on January 3, 2007, in St. Michael’s Hospital in Dún Laoghaire. His funeral service takes place in St. Patrick’s Church, Harbour Road, Dalkey, on January 8, 2007, followed by burial in Shanganagh Cemetery.