Thomas Vincent Honan[1] (20 October 1878 – 21 October 1954), known as T. V. Honan, was a Sinn Féin activist and later a Fianna Fáil politician in Ireland who served as a senator for 20 years.[2]

T. V. Honan
De_Valera_addressing_a_crowd.jpg
Senator
In office
21 April 1948 – 14 August 1951
ConstituencyIndustrial and Commercial Panel
In office
14 August 1951 – 22 July 1954
In office
27 April 1938 – 21 April 1948
ConstituencyNominated by the Taoiseach
Senator
In office
12 December 1934 – 29 May 1936
Personal details
Born
Thomas Vincent Honan

(1878-10-20)20 October 1878
County Clare, Ireland
Died21 October 1954(1954-10-21) (aged 76)
Waterford, Ireland
Political partyFianna Fáil
ChildrenDermot Honan
RelativesTras Honan (daughter-in-law)
Profession
Éamon de Valera addressing crowd outside Ennis Courthouse, with T.V. Honan on his left.

He was a shopkeeper who owned a licensed premises in O'Connell Square in Ennis. He was a friend of Éamon de Valera and chaired the gathering at O'Connell Square Ennis in his election campaign (1917), introducing de Valera.[3] His home and premises were shelled and burned by irregular British Army Troops in 1921.[4]

He was elected in 1934 to Seanad Éireann (nominated by de Valera), for the standard nine-year term which applied under the Constitution of the Irish Free State, but his term was cut short when the Free State Seanad was abolished in May 1936. However, the Seanad was re-established under the new Constitution of Ireland which was adopted in 1937, he was nominated by the Taoiseach in 1938 to the 2nd Seanad,[5] and remained in the Senate until he stood down at the 1954 election. For the 6th Seanad from 1948 to 1951, he was elected by the Industrial and Commercial Panel.

His son Dermot was a senator from 1965 to 1973, and Dermot's widow Tras was a senator from 1977 to 1992. She was twice elected as Cathaoirleach.[6]

He died in 1954 and de Valera came to Ennis to lead the funeral procession.[7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "In Committee on Finance. - Clare Castle Pier Bill, 1933—Second Stage. – Dáil Éireann (8th Dáil) – Tuesday, 27 Jun 1933 – Tithe an Oireachtais".
  2. ^ "Thomas Honan". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 6 February 2008.
  3. ^ https://talktojoe.blogspot.com/p/clare-history.html, https://web.archive.org/web/20211230014133/https://talktojoe.blogspot.com/p/clare-history.html
  4. ^ https://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/archives/McMahon_Archival_Collection.pdf, McMahon Archival Collection, Clarelibrary (Web Archive)
  5. ^ The 2nd Seanad Éireann was actually the first Seanad elected under the 1937 constitution. This is because the Free State Seanad was considered to be in continuous session, since its members were elected for a period of nine years (reduced in 1928 from the original 12 years), with elections every three years for a those senators whose terms had expired. The Free State Seanad is therefore collectively known as the First Seanad.
  6. ^ "Tras Honan". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 6 February 2008.
  7. ^ Cuímhneamh an Chláir, Eoin Mc Inerney Interview, https://www.clarememories.ie/archive/170/eoin-mcinerney.html(Archive)