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Patrick Little

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Patrick Little
Minister for Posts and Telegraphs
In office
8 September 1939 – 18 February 1948
TaoiseachÉamon de Valera
Preceded byThomas Derrig
Succeeded byJames Everett
Parliamentary Secretary
1933–1939Government Chief Whip
1933–1939External Affairs
Teachta Dála
In office
June 1927 – May 1954
ConstituencyWaterford
Personal details
Born(1884-06-17)17 June 1884
Dundrum, County Dublin, Ireland
Died16 May 1963(1963-05-16) (aged 78)
Dublin, Ireland
Political partyFianna Fáil
Spouse
Seonaid Ní Leoid
​
(m. 1917)​
Parent
RelativesCiarán Cuffe (grand-nephew)
EducationClongowes Wood College
Alma materUniversity College Dublin
OccupationSolicitor, journalist

Patrick John Little (17 June 1884 – 16 May 1963) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician.[1] A founder-member of the party, he served in a number of cabinet positions, most notably as the country's longest-serving Minister for Posts and Telegraphs.

Early life

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Born in Dundrum, County Dublin, Little was the son of Philip Francis Little and Mary Jane Holdright.[2][3] Both his parents were Canadian natives, while his father had served as the first Premier of Newfoundland before settling in Ireland.[4] Here he became involved in the Irish Home Rule Movement.

Little was educated at Clongowes Wood College,[5] before later attending University College Dublin. Here he studied law and qualified as a solicitor in 1914.[3]

Revolutionary years

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Little was engaged in the independence struggle from an early stage. Following the Easter Rising in 1916, he formed, together with Stephen O'Mara, the Irish Nation League, who while being opposed to the Irish Parliamentary Party and supportive of abstentionism, were wary of the militarism of the Irish Volunteers. In 1918 the Volunteers, the Irish Nation League, and the Liberty Clubs, followers of George Noble Plunkett, agreed to merge under the Sinn Féin banner with Éamon de Valera as President to fight the 1918 general election on an abstentionist platform.[6]

Little contested the constituency of Dublin Rathmines but lost to Unionist Maurice Dockrell,[7] the only Unionist elected in the area that would become Irish Free State outside of Dublin University. He remained in the background of Sinn Féin for the next number of years. In 1921 he was sent to South Africa to represent the government of the Irish Republic. He opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty and fought with the Four Courts Garrison during the Civil War.[3]

He became the first editor of An Phoblacht in 1925.[8] He also edited other republican newspapers including New Ireland, Éire and Sinn Féin.[3]

Political career

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Little joined Fianna Fáil shortly after its foundation in 1926. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a TD for the Waterford constituency at the June 1927 general election. He represented the constituency until 1954.[9][1]

Little was appointed Government Chief Whip and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for External Affairs in 1933.[3][10] Little was appointed Minister for Posts and Telegraphs in 1939[11][12] and remained in this office until 1948, when Fianna Fáil failed to form a government.[9] He was not reappointed to the cabinet when Fianna Fáil returned to office in 1951. In 1952, following the death of Bridget Redmond, Fianna Fáil won the resulting by-election and held three out of four seats in the constituency. This would have been unsustainable at the next general election so Little did not contest the 1954 general election.[9]

Retirement

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He was the first chairman of the Arts Council from 1951 until 1956.[3][13] He was responsible for the development of the Radio Éireann Symphony Orchestra.[3] In 1957 he was appointed to the Council of State by Seán T. O'Kelly.[14] He was re-appointed to the Council by Éamon de Valera in 1959.[3]

Little died in May 1963.[9] He is a grand-uncle of Green Party MEP Ciarán Cuffe.[15]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Patrick Little". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  2. ^ Coleman, Marie. "Little, Patrick John". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "Obituary – Mr. Patrick J. Little". The Irish Times. 17 May 1963. p. 9. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
  4. ^ "Patrick Little". The Irish Law Times and Solicitors' Journal. 71: 237. 1937. Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
  5. ^ Costello, Peter (1989). Clongowes Wood: a history of Clongowes Wood College, 1814–1989. Gill and Macmillan. p. 202. Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
  6. ^ Laffan, Michael. The Resurrection of Ireland: The Sinn Féin Party, 1916–1923.
  7. ^ "General Election: 1918 – Dublin Rathmines". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 23 May 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  8. ^ MacEoin, Uinseann (1997). The IRA in the twilight years: 1923–1948 (PDF). Dublin: Argenta. pp. 2, 117. ISBN 9780951117248. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 May 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020 – via Irish Military Archives.
  9. ^ a b c d "Mr. Patrick J. Little". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 2 November 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  10. ^ "Appointment of Parliamentary Secretaries – Dáil Éireann (8th Dáil)". Houses of the Oireachtas. 1 March 1933. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  11. ^ "Nomination of Member of Government – Dáil Éireann (10th Dáil)". Houses of the Oireachtas. 27 September 1939. Archived from the original on 28 August 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  12. ^ "Appointment of Minister – Dáil Éireann (10th Dáil)". Houses of the Oireachtas. 28 September 1939. Archived from the original on 14 July 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  13. ^ "Dreams and Responsibilities" (PDF). Arts Council. 1990. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 January 2017. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  14. ^ "Mr Little a member of Council of State". The Irish Times. 16 July 1957. p. 1. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
  15. ^ "Dáil family trees show clans who rule Ireland". Irish Independent. 27 December 2009. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
Political offices
Preceded by Government Chief Whip
1933–1939 		Succeeded by
Vacant Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for External Affairs
1933–1939
Preceded by Minister for Posts and Telegraphs
1939–1948 		Succeeded by
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