Researching Cahir Healy

Born in Mountcharles in County Donegal, he became a journalist working on various local papers. He joined Sinn Féin on its foundation in 1905. He later campaigned against the inclusion of County Fermanagh and County Tyrone in Northern Ireland, arguing that they had an Irish nationalist majority. He was imprisoned for his activities in 1922, before being elected in the 1922 UK general election to represent Fermanagh and Tyrone as a Nationalist Party MP, but with the support of Sinn Féin.

He was re-elected in 1923, but remained in custody until the following year, in which he did not defend his seat. Instead, he was elected to represent the seat in the Northern Ireland House of Commons in the 1925 election, but not taking his seat until 1927 due to the Nationalist abstentionist policy. In 1928 he became a founder of the National League of the North. In 1929, with the break-up of the large Fermanagh and Tyrone constituency, he switched to sit for the new seat of South Fermanagh. In a 1931 by-election he was again elected for Fermanagh and Tyrone to the British Parliament, but stood down again in 1935.

Healy became an insurance official but continued to write, his output including journalism, poetry and short stories. He was interned by the United Kingdom government for a year during the Second World War, under Defence Regulation 18B. In 1950 he was elected to the British House of Commons for a third time, on this occasion representing Fermanagh and South Tyrone. He finally sat in the British Parliament in 1952, and held the seat until he stood down in 1955. He left the Northern Ireland House of Commons in 1965, by which point he was the Father of the House.

Cahir Healy was a leader of northern Nationalists and was a self-educated man who made major contributions to Ireland's cultural and literary heritage. He died on 8 February 1970.