Michael Colivet | |
|---|---|
 Colivet c.1920s | |
| Teachta Dála | |
| In office May 1921 – August 1923 | |
| Constituency | Limerick City–Limerick East |
| In office December 1918 – May 1921 | |
| Constituency | Limerick City |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1884-05-29)29 May 1884 Limerick, Ireland |
| Died | 4 May 1955(1955-05-04) (aged 70) Limerick, Ireland |
| Party | Sinn Féin |
| Education | St Joseph's Patrician College |
Michael Patrick Colivet (29 May 1884 – 4 May 1955) was an IrishSinn Féin politician. He was Commander of theIrish Volunteers inLimerick during the1916 Easter Rising, and was elected to theFirst Dáil.[1]
Michael Patrick Colivet was born at 11 Windmill street in Limerick city. His father, John Colivet, was a Sea Captain from Jersey (of French origin), and his mother Anne Kinnerk was fromAskeaton,County Limerick. Michael spent most of his formative years in Limerick. At age 12 his family moved to The Claddagh in Galway and he attended secondary school atSt Joseph's Patrician College in Galway. The family lived in Galway until 1903 before returning to settle in Limerick.
Colivet was Commandant of the Irish Volunteers for Limerick City and East Clare, and led the 1916 Easter Rising in Limerick. He was later arrested andinterned for his part in the Rising.
In 1918 he was voted on to the Council for Limerick Corporation while he was jailed inLincoln prison. Mayor O'Mara stated that the action was "a protest against the way Irishmen had been treated by the Government, who were filling the gaols with men who had the courage of their convictions".[2] He remained an Alderman on the City Municipal (Glentworth and Shannon Wards) until 1925.
His cellmate at Lincoln prison wasÉamon de Valera.[3] De Valera, aided byMichael Collins andHarry Boland, famously escaped from Lincoln prison in 1919 with the help of a key made by Peter De Loughry.[4]
He was elected as aSinn FéinMP for theLimerick City constituency at the1918 general election.[5] In January 1919, Sinn Féin MPs refused to recognise theParliament of the United Kingdom and instead assembled at theMansion House inDublin as a revolutionary parliament calledDáil Éireann. At the official roll call, Colivet was marked "fé ghlas ag Gallaibh" (imprisoned by the foreign enemy).[6] Like many other elected Irish MPs he was interned in a British prison at the time.
On 14 April 1921 his treatment at Rathkeale prison was debated in the House of Commons - MPs questioned his cell conditions and if it was appropriate to carry around an elected MP, who was awaiting trial, as a hostage on British Army trucks.[7] English journalist Wilfrid Ewart gives an interesting account of Ireland at that time, including a visit to Rathkeale prison and a meeting with Colivet, who was interned there in April 1921.[8]
He was re-elected unopposed at the1921 elections for theLimerick City–Limerick East constituency.[9] He opposed theAnglo-Irish Treaty andvoted against it, stating in the Dáil debate:
"I am now asked to throw out the Republican Government and accept the status of a Dominion within the British Empire. Many men can find it within themselves to reconcile such with their previous views and opinions whether they were expressed in oaths or in any other form whatsoever. That is their business. I am only concerned with mine, and my point of view is, I cannot do that thing. I have declared myself a Republican, and have been elected a Republican, and I will never willingly become a subject of the British Empire".
He was again re-elected unopposed at the1922 general election as an anti-Treaty Sinn FéinTeachta Dála (TD) but did not take his seat in the Dáil as he did not recognise the legitimacy of theThird Dáil. He lost his seat at the1923 general election.[10]
In the Limerick Municipal elections of 1925, he stood for the Republican party in the Abbey and Castle Wards and was elected as a Councillor.
In 1926, many Anti-Treaty republicans decided to resume constitutional politics and founded theFianna Fáil party. In 1927 they took the Oath of Allegiance and entered the Dáil.[11] Colivet did not join Fianna Fáil as he refused to take the Oath of Allegiance, and soon after he retired from political life.
He continued his work in Limerick as manager of the Shannon Foundry. He later moved to Dublin when he was appointed to the Civil Service asGeneral Inspector of Housing in the Department of Local Government. He was Chairman of theNational Housing Board and theDublin Housing Committee of Inquiry (1939–43). The latter produced an influential report recommending the clearing of city slums in Dublin.[12][13]
In later life he supportedClann na Poblachta for a time, as an alternative Republican party to Fianna Fáil. However he was disillusioned when they went into power withFine Gael (and the other opposition parties) after the 1948 general election.
Colivet was buried atMount Jerome Cemetery in 1955. Many TDs were in attendance at his funeral including Éamon de Valera,Donogh O'Malley,Dan Breen andJohn Joe Sheehy. As reported in theLimerick Leader, a number of his close friends were killed in the struggle for independence, includingGeorge Clancy and Michael O'Callaghan. His first wife died while he was imprisoned onSpike Island, County Cork; he was denied release to attend the funeral. The paper also reported that Colivet fought on the Republican side during the Civil War, but "at no time did he entertain a feeling of bitterness to those who differed from him, and nothing caused him more sadness than the sundering of the grand bond of Irish unity".[14]
Colivet Drive in Limerick city is named in his honour. In 2009, his son, Brian Colivet, donated Michael Colivet's volunteer uniform, and a number of other artefacts (including de Valera's shaving mug from Lincoln prison) to theLimerick City Museum in Limerick city.[15]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forLimerick City 1918–1922 | Constituency abolished |
| Oireachtas | ||
| New constituency | Teachta Dála forLimerick City 1918–1921 | Constituency abolished |
| International | |
|---|---|
| People | |
