seamus dubhghaill

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

Tag Archives: 13th 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 Bernard Cowen, Fianna Fáil Politician

Bernard Francis Cowen, Irish Fianna Fáil politician who serves as Minister of State for Disadvantaged Areas from March 1982 to December 1982, dies on January 24, 1984, at Donnybrook, Dublin. He serves as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Laois–Offaly constituency from 1969 to 1973 and 1977 to 1984. He is a Senator for the Agricultural Panel from 1973 to 1977.

Born on January 29, 1932, in Clara, County Offaly, Cowen is the son of Christy Cowen, a cattle dealer and a Fianna Fáil member who served as a member of Offaly County Council from 1932 until his death in 1967. He is educated at Clara National School and subsequently attends Tullamore CBS. After completion of his secondary schooling, he works in the family business which includes a public house and a butcher shop. He later becomes an auctioneer.

Cowen first becomes involved in politics in 1967, when he is co-opted onto Offaly County Council, following the death of his father. Later that year he heads the poll in the Tullamore area and retains his seat until his death.

Cowen is first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil TD for Laois–Offaly constituency at the 1969 Irish general election. Fianna Fáil returns to government for the fourth successive time following a general election, however, as a new TD, he remains on the backbenches. He loses his seat at the 1973 Irish general election as a Fine Gael–Labour coalition government is formed. However, he is subsequently elected to the 13th Seanad for the Agricultural Panel.

Cowen returns to the Dáil following the 1977 Irish general election, when Fianna Fáil returns to power in a landslide. Once again, he remains on the backbenches.

In 1979, Jack Lynch resigns as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil. Cowen supports the bid of Charles Haughey for the leadership. Haughey wins the subsequent leadership election. In spite of offering his support, Cowen fails to secure promotion to ministerial office.

A period of political instability follows with three general elections being held throughout 1981 and 1982. Cowen retains his seat in all of these elections. In March 1982, he is finally promoted to junior ministerial level, when he is appointed Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture with special responsibility for disadvantaged areas. He holds that position until December of the same year, when Fianna Fáil loses power.

While attending a meeting of Offaly County Council in January 1984, Cowen is taken ill. He is taken to St. Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin where he dies several days later on January 24, 1984. He is survived by his wife, Mary, and three sons. The consequent by-election for his seat in the 24th Dáil, is won by his second son, Brian, who goes on to serve as Taoiseach from 2008 to 2011. In 2011, Cowen’s youngest son, Barry, is elected to the seat previously held by his father and brother, having previously been an Offaly County Councillor for the Tullamore electoral area.


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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.