Thomas F. O'Higgins | |
|---|---|
 O'Higgins in 1933 | |
| Minister for Defence | |
| In office 18 February 1948 – 7 March 1951 | |
| Taoiseach | John A. Costello |
| Preceded by | Oscar Traynor |
| Succeeded by | Seán Mac Eoin |
| Minister for Industry and Commerce | |
| In office 7 March 1951 – 13 June 1951 | |
| Taoiseach | John A. Costello |
| Preceded by | Daniel Morrissey |
| Succeeded by | Seán Lemass |
| Leader of the Opposition | |
| In office 11 January 1944 – 9 June 1944 | |
| President | Douglas Hyde |
| Taoiseach | Éamon de Valera |
| Preceded by | W. T. Cosgrave |
| Succeeded by | Richard Mulcahy |
| Teachta Dála | |
| In office February 1948 – 1 November 1953 | |
| Constituency | Cork Borough |
| In office July 1937 – February 1948 | |
| Constituency | Laois-Offaly |
| In office March 1929 – February 1932 | |
| Constituency | Dublin North |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1890-11-20)20 November 1890 Stradbally,County Laois, Ireland |
| Died | 1 November 1953(1953-11-01) (aged 62) Dublin, Ireland |
| Political party | Fine Gael |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 5, includingTom andMichael |
| Relatives |
|
| Education | Clongowes Wood College |
| Alma mater | University College Dublin |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | National Army |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Battles/wars | Irish Civil War |
Thomas Francis O'Higgins (né Higgins) (20 November 1890 – 1 November 1953) was an IrishFine Gael politician and medical practitioner who served asMinister for Defence from 1948 to 1951,Minister for Industry and Commerce from March 1951 to June 1951 andLeader of the Opposition from January 1944 to June 1944. He served as aTeachta Dála (TD) from 1929 to 1932 and 1937 to 1953.[1]
Following the killing of his father and his brother during theIrish Civil War in the 1920s, he became politically radicalised and joined Cumann na nGaedhael, as well as also briefly becoming the leader of theBlueshirts.
O'Higgins grew up inStradbally,County Laois, the second son of sixteen children (eight boys, eight girls) of Dr. Thomas Higgins and Anne Sullivan. His mother was the daughter ofTimothy Daniel Sullivan, an Irish nationalist, journalist, politician and poet. His father's first cousin,Tim Healy, was one of the most well known Irish MPs in theBritish House of Commons in the late 19th century and later the firstGovernor-General of the Irish Free State. Thomas grew up alongside his younger brotherKevin O'Higgins, the fourth son of his parents.[2]
Higgins was educated at Presentation Convent, Stradbally, the Christian Brothers’ schools in Maryborough (nowPortlaoise), andClongowes Wood College inCounty Kildare before studying medicine atUniversity College Dublin. He qualified as a medical doctor in 1914. It was while practising as a Doctor in Fontstown, County Kildare, in the late 1910s, that he became a local organiser for bothSinn Féin and theIrish Volunteers. In 1919, he was imprisoned twice; first, he was sent to inMountjoy Prison,Dublin, and then theCurragh Camp, County Kildare, for soliciting subscriptions to the first Dáil Éireann loan.[2]
Higgins's status continued to grow; he became a Town Commissioner for Portlaoise in 1920, and was later arrested again for leading the people of Portlaoise in a protest after the death ofTerence MacSwiney. As a result, he was sent toAbercorn Barracks inCounty Down, during which time his home back in Portlaoise was turned into an Officers' Mess for theBlack and Tans after they evicted his wife and children.[2]
In 1921, he added the prefix "O" to his surname, a common trend at the time, particularly amongst those involved in theGaelic League. Those adding O to their surnames believed they were simply restoring what had been previously removed duringAnglicisation in previous generations.
O'Higgins supported theAnglo-Irish Treaty and enlisted in theNational Army of the Irish Free State in 1922 during theIrish Civil War. There he was appointed captain in the medical corps, and subsequently became Medical Corps Deputy Commander and Director of Medical Services with the rank ofcolonel.[2]
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On 11 February 1923, his father was killed by theAnti-Treaty IRA during a raid on his fathers' home. On 10 July 1927, his brother Kevin O'Higgins, the Minister for Justice, was assassinated by the IRA. During the Civil War, as Minister for Justice, Kevin had brought in severe measures to crack down on the IRA, including the introduction of the death penalty. Kevin confirmed the death sentences of 77 captured Republicans, including that ofRory O'Connor, who had been the best man at Kevin's wedding. The deaths of both Thomas Senior and Kevin were believed to have been in retaliation for those death sentences.[2]
O'Higgins resigned his army commission to stand as aCumann na nGaedheal candidate forDublin North at the14 March 1929 by-election. He won a narrow victory overFianna Fáil'sOscar Traynor.[2]
At the1932 general election, he switched constituencies and was elected forLeix–Offaly.[3] This was the beginning of a sixteen-year stint as a TD for Laois–Offaly.
The political atmosphere of the early 1930s in Ireland was becoming increasingly divisive. The 1920s had seen theLabour Party as the main opposition in theDáil but in 1927Fianna Fáil dropped their abstentionism and entered the chamber, becoming the main opposition, and were much more vocally opposed to Cumann na nGaedhael than Labour had been. Fianna Fáil had been pressured to drop their abstentionism partially after Kevin O'Higgins as Minister for Justice brought forward a law that requiring all political candidates to swear that they would take theOath of Allegiance if elected to the Dáil. Fianna Fáil eventually agreed to do so after dismissing the Oath as an "Empty formula". The onset of theGreat Depression further increased tensions as the economy tanked.
It was the midset of this that Fianna Fáil won the 1932 general election. Upon entry into government, Fianna Fáil set about releasing many of the political prisoners arrested by Cumann na nGaedhael in the preceding years. As a result, many members of the IRA were freed. The IRA and many released prisoners, who held Cumann na nGaedhael in contempt, began a "campaign of unrelenting hostility" against those associated with the former Cumann na nGaedheal government.Frank Ryan, one of the most prominent socialists in 1930s Ireland, active in theIRA andRepublican Congress, declared "as long as we have fists and boots, there will be no free speech for traitors".[4] As a consequence, many Cumann na nGaedhael public meeting began to be disrupted by IRA members.
In response, former members of the National Army and supporters of the Cumann na nGaedhael party formed the Army Comrades Association (ACA), better known as theBlueshirts. The organisation began acting as stewards at Cumann na nGaedhael meetings and began engaging instreet fighting with IRA members. In August 1932, O'Higgins was invited to become the leader of the ACA, which he accepted. O'Higgins was joined in the organisation by fellow Cumann na nGaedhael TDsErnest Blythe,Patrick McGilligan andDesmond Fitzgerald.[5] It was under O'Higgins direction that the ACA went from an association of ex-National Army members into a crusading right-wing movement hitched to Cumann na nGaedhael. O'Higgins asked ACA members to defend the right to free speech and assembly against "Republican thuggery", and to defend Christian values against "Communist influences" he suggested were entering Ireland via the IRA.[2]
In 1933, Fianna Fáil calleda surprise election which saw them consolidate their power in the Dáil. That spring, O'Higgins handed over leadership of the ACA toEoin O'Duffy, the formerGarda Commissioner who had just been sacked byÉamon de Valera. O'Duffy took the ACA into a more radically hardline direction, renaming it the "National Guard" and adopting many elements of EuropeanFascism such as theRoman straight-arm salute, uniforms and huge public rallies.
In August 1933, Fianna Fáil banned the National Guard following an aborted march on Dublin. As a result, in September the National Guard, theNational Centre Party and Cumann na nGaedhael merged into one new party,Fine Gael. O'Duffy was named leader, withWT Cosgrave of CnaG replaced to avoid the idea that the new party was merely a continuation of CnaG. The National Guard, now known as the Young Ireland Association, was to act as a youth wing for the party. O'Higgins was key in battering the new alliance. Representing the National Guard in the negotiation phase, he became part of Fine Gael's first national executive and sat on its Dáil front bench.[2]
In September 1933, the Gardaí raided the National Guard's Dublin headquarters. In response, O'Higgins and Desmond FitzGerald led other Fine Gael TDs in wearing the blue shirt of the National Guard in the Dáil chamber. In February 1934, at Fine Gael's first national convention, O'Higgins denounced Fianna Fáil as ‘the vanguard of the communist policy here’, and called Éamon de Valera an ‘arch-communist agent’. O'Higgins was amongst the Fine Gael leaders more open to the introduction ofCorporatism policies being pushed by members of the Blueshirts such as James Hogan,Michael Tierney andErnest Blythe.[2]
O'Duffy lasted only a year as leader before being replaced by Cosgrave. O'Higgins was made vice-president of the party and in October 1936 reorganised the Blueshirts, abolishing their status as a semi-independent grouping within Fine Gael and made their officers directly responsible to the party's standing committee. It marked the general trend of winding down the Blueshirts and merging them into the mainstream of the party.[2]
DuringWorld War II, O'Higgins defended the right ofJames Dillon to speak out against the party's stance of supporting Irish neutrality alongside Fianna Fáil. Dillon wished to see Ireland jointhe Allies against theAxis powers.[2]
He became parliamentary leader ofFine Gael in 1944, while the former leader,Richard Mulcahy, was attempting to get elected toSeanad Éireann and retain his position.
During the1948 general election, O'Higgins left the Laois–Offaly constituency in order to allow his sonTom O'Higgins to successful stand there. O'Higgins stood forCork Borough instead.[3] In the same election, another sonMichael O'Higgins was also elected forDublin South-West.[2]
In 1948, he joined thegovernment ofJohn A. Costello asMinister for Defence. He served asMinister for Industry and Commerce from March 1951 to June 1951.
O'Higgins died while still in office in 1953. On 3 March 1954,Stephen Barrett of Fine Gael won theby-election for the vacant seat.
On 17 October 1915, O'Higgins married Agnes McCarthy ofCork. They had four sons and one daughter together.[2]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Leader of the Opposition January–June 1944 (acting) | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Defence 1948–1951 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Industry and Commerce March–June 1951 | Succeeded by |