Ernest Blythe

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Ernest Blythe (Irish: Earnán de Blaghd; 13 April 1889 – 23 February 1975) was an Irish politician.

Ernest Blythe was born to a Presbyterian and Unionist family near Lisburn, County Antrim in 1889, the son of a farmer, and was educated locally. At the age of fifteen he started working as a clerk in the Department of Agriculture in Dublin.

Blythe joined the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Republican Brotherhood^{[citation needed]}. He also joined the Gaelic League, where his Irish teacher was Sinéad Flanagan, the future wife of Éamon de Valera. In 1909 Blythe became a junior news reporter with the North Down Herald.

Blythe soon became involved in the activities of the Irish Volunteers. This led to years of arrests, imprisonment, and hunger strikes. He spent the Easter Rising of 1916 in prison. In the general election of 1918 Blythe was elected as a Teachta Dála (TD) for North Monaghan. From then until 1922 he served as Minister for Industry & Commerce. Blythe was a strong supporter of the Anglo-Irish Treaty and in 1923 he became Minister for Finance in President W. T. Cosgrave's first government.

He married Anne McHugh in 1919.

Blythe was committed to keeping a balanced budget at all costs, which was not at all easy. The Irish Civil War had placed an enormous strain on the nascent Free State, with public spending almost doubling in the previous twelve months. As a result, Blythe was confronted with a projected budget of more than £8 million for the coming year when the national debt already stood at £6 million. He did however fund the Ardnacrusha or Shannon Scheme. But there was widespread criticism when he reduced old-age pensions from 10 shillings (50p) to 9 shillings (45p) a week. Blythe also served as Minister for Posts and Telegraphs and Vice-President of the Executive Council. In the 1933 general election Blythe lost his seat.

Blythe was a senior figure in the Blueshirts and his support for the fascist leader Eoin O'Duffy as leader of that organisation (and of the Fine Gael party) left him a marginal figure, once Fine Gael rid itself of O'Duffy.

He served in the Senate until the institution was abolished in 1936. He then retired from politics.

Throughout his life he was committed to the revival of the Irish language. He encouraged Micheál MacLiammóir and Hilton Edwards to found an Irish language theatre in Galway.

Between 1941 and 1967 he served as managing director of the Abbey Theatre. It was said^{[by whom?]} that he rejected many good plays in favour of those which were more financially rewarding.^{[citation needed]} In 1957 he published an autobiographical account of his life until 1913.

Ernest Blythe died in Dublin on 23 February 1975, aged 85.

v • d • e Vice-Presidents of the Executive Council Leas-Uachtaráin na hArd-Chomhairle Kevin O'Higgins · Ernest Blythe · Seán T. O'Kelly Tánaistí Seán T. O'Kelly · Seán Lemass · William Norton · Seán MacEntee · Frank Aiken · Erskine H. Childers · Brendan Corish · George Colley · Michael O'Leary · Ray MacSharry · Dick Spring • Peter Barry · Brian Lenihan · John Wilson · Bertie Ahern · Mary Harney · Michael McDowell · Brian Cowen · Mary Coughlan

v • d • e « 1931 Seanad «  Members of the 1934 Seanad Éireann (1934–1936) » 2nd Seanad » Cathaoirleach Thomas Westropp Bennett (FG)  • Leader of the Seanad name (party) Elected in 1934 3 years Sir Edward Coey Bigger (Ind) 6 years John Philip Bagwell (Ind) 9 years Patrick Baxter (FP) • Thomas Westropp Bennett (FG) • Ernest Blythe (FG) • James Boyle (FF) • Kathleen Browne (FG) • James Charles Dowdall (Ind) • Eamonn Duggan (FG) • Séamus Fitzgerald (FF) • Oliver St. John Gogarty (FG) • Denis Healy (FF) • T. V. Honan (FF) • Andrew Jameson (Ind) • Thomas Johnson (Lab) • Thomas Kennedy (Lab) • Raphael Keyes (FF) • Patrick Lynch (FF) • Pádraic Ó Máille (FF) • Thomas Ruane (FF) • Richard Wilson (FP) • Jennie Wyse Power (FF) Elected in 1931 6 years William O'Sullivan (Ind) 9 years Michael Comyn (??) • John Counihan (FG) • James Douglas (Ind) • Michael Duffy (Lab) • Thomas Farren (Lab) • Hugh Garahan (FP) • Sir John Griffith (Ind) • Seán MacEllin (??) • Ross McGillycuddy (??) • James J. MacKean (Ind) • John MacLoughlin (Ind) • Daniel MacParland (??) • Maurice George Moore (Ind) • Laurence O'Neill (Ind) • Brian O'Rourke (Ind) • William Quirke (??) • David Robinson (FF) • Michael Staines (FG) Elected in 1928 9 years Kathleen Clarke (FF) • Joseph Connolly (FF) • Seán Milroy (FG) • Séamus Robinson (FF) Elected in 1925 12 years Henry Barniville (Ind) • Sir Edward Bellingham (??) • William Cummins (Lab) • James Dillon (FP) • Michael Fanning (??) • Thomas Foran (Lab) • Sir William Bernard Hickie (??) • Cornelius Kennedy (FG) • Thomas Linehan (FP) • Joseph O'Connor (FG) • John O'Farrell (Lab) • Michael F. O'Hanlon (FP) • James Parkinson (FG) • Thomas Toal (FG) Elected at by-elections Feb. 1926 Samuel Lombard Brown (Ind) FF: Fianna Fáil • FG: Fine Gael • FP: Farmers' Party • Lab: Labour • Ind: Independent •  ??: Unknown party

v • d • e « 1928 Seanad «  Members of the 1931 Seanad Éireann (1931–1934) » 1934 Seanad » Cathaoirleach Thomas Westropp Bennett (CnaG)  • Leader of the Seanad name (party) Elected in 1931 3 years Kathleen Browne (CnaG) • Eileen Costello (Ind) 6 years William O'Sullivan (Ind) 9 years Michael Comyn (??) • John Counihan (CnaG) • James Douglas (Ind) • Michael Duffy (Lab) • Thomas Farren (Lab) • Hugh Garahan (FP) • Sir John Griffith (Ind) • Seán MacEllin (??) • Ross McGillycuddy (??) • James J. MacKean (Ind) • John MacLoughlin (Ind) • Daniel MacParland (??) • Maurice George Moore (Ind) • Laurence O'Neill (Ind) • Brian O'Rourke (Ind) • William Quirke (??) • David Robinson (FF) • Seamus Ryan (??) • Michael Staines (CnaG) • Arthur Vincent (??) Elected in 1928 6 years John Philip Bagwell (Ind) • Alfred Byrne (Ind) • Oliver St. John Gogarty (??) • Andrew Jameson (??) • Thomas Johnson (Lab) • Richard Wilson (FP) 9 years Kathleen Clarke (FF) • Joseph Connolly (FF) • Seán Milroy (CnaG) • Joseph O'Doherty (FF) • Séamus Robinson (FF) Elected in 1925 9 years Thomas Westropp Bennett (CnaG) • Sir Edward Coey Bigger (??) • Francis McGuinness (CnaG) 12 years Henry Barniville (Ind) • Sir Edward Bellingham (??) • William Cummins (Lab) • James Dillon (FP) • Michael Fanning (??) • Thomas Foran (Lab) • Sir William Bernard Hickie (??) • Cornelius Kennedy (CnaG) • Thomas Linehan (FP) • Joseph O'Connor (CnaG) • John O'Farrell (Lab) • Michael F. O'Hanlon (FP) • James Parkinson (CnaG) • Thomas Toal (CnaG) Elected in 1922 12 years Henry Guinness (Ind) Nominated by the President in 1922 12 years Ellen Cuffe (Ind) • James Charles Dowdall (Ind) • Sir Thomas Esmonde (Ind) • Bernard Forbes (??) • Sir John Keane (Ind) • James Moran (??) • Jennie Wyse Power (Ind) Elected at by-elections Feb. 1926 Samuel Lombard Brown (Ind) • Jan. 1932 George Crosbie (CnaG) • Apr. 1933 Eamonn Duggan (CnaG) • Jan. 1934 Ernest Blythe (CnaG) • Raphael Keyes (FF) • Sep. 1934 Patrick Lynch (FF) CnaG: Cumann na nGaedhael • FF: Fianna Fáil • FP: Farmers' Party • Lab: Labour Party • Ind: Independent •  ??: Unknown party

This page incorporates information from the Oireachtas Members Database