Seán Etchingham | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Etchingham in 1916 | |
| Secretary for Fisheries | |
| In office 2 April 1919 – 9 January 1922 | |
| Preceded by | New office |
| Succeeded by | Fionán Lynch |
| Teachta Dála | |
| In office May 1921 – June 1922 | |
| Constituency | Wexford |
| In office December 1918 – May 1921 | |
| Constituency | East Wicklow |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Redmond Hutchingham (1868-03-27)27 March 1868 Courtown,County Wexford, Ireland |
| Died | 23 April 1923(1923-04-23) (aged 55) |
| Party | Sinn Féin |
| Occupation | Journalist |
Seán Redmond Etchingham (27 March 1868 – 23 April 1923) was an IrishSinn Féin politician.[1]
He was born in the townland of Ballintray,Courtown,County Wexford, one of five children of John Etchingham, described as a coachman, servant or butler, and Elizabeth (Bessie) Redmond, both of whom were also from County Wexford.[2] Like four of his siblings, his surname was recorded as Hutchingham in the birth register, although the family is referred to as Etchingham in most official documents.
In 1901, he was living in Church Lane,Gorey, where he was employed as a horse trainer.[3] By 1911, he was back in Courtown, where he gave his profession as journalist in the census of that year.[4][5]
He became a member of theIrish Volunteers, Sinn Féin, theGaelic League and theIrish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). He never married.[6]
He was jailed in 1916 for his part in theEnniscorthy raid to seize the railway and to prevent reinforcements reaching Dublin to put down theEaster Rising.[6] When the Dublin rising failed, Etchingham surrendered and was arrested, but released in the amnesty of 1917.[7]
He was first elected as a Sinn Féin candidate forWicklow East at the1918 general election.[8] As with the other Sinn Féin MPs, he did not take his seat in theBritish House of Commons, sitting instead in the revolutionaryFirst Dáil, which met in theMansion House, Dublin in January 1919.
He was later appointed to the government asSecretary for Fisheries. In May 1921 his residence at Courtown was destroyed by theBlack and Tans.[6] He was returned unopposed in the1921 general election and opposed theAnglo-Irish Treaty in the Dáil debates and again at the Volunteer Executive. He lost his Dáil seat in the1922 election.[9]
Cumann na mBan leaderMaire Comerford was good friend of Etchingham and wrote of his character:
He was a wonderful person, more unselfish than any man I ever met; a wise judge of men and the person who was fondly remembered by many because of the little sparks of gaiety he could produce when despondency was everywhere else - in a prison, or in his own sickroom, for he was very delicate.
After several months in a Dublin nursing home he returned to Courtown, where he died on 23 April 1923.[6]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forEast Wicklow 1918–1922 | Constituency abolished |
| Oireachtas | ||
| New constituency | Teachta Dála forEast Wicklow 1918–1921 | Constituency abolished |
| Political offices | ||
| New office | Secretary for Fisheries 1921–1922 | Fionán Lynch |
| International | |
|---|---|
| People | |
