- Piaras Béaslaí
Piaras Béaslaí (15 February 1881 – 22 June 1965) was a member of the
Irish Republican Brotherhood , a member ofDáil Éireann and also an Irish author, playwright, biographer and translator.cite book | last = Coogan | first = Tim | authorlink = Tim Pat Coogan | title = Michael Collins | publisher = Arrow Books | date = 1991 | pages = pp. 98-99 | doi = | isbn = 0-09-968580-9]Born Pierce Beasley in
Liverpool, England , in 1881, and educated at a Jesuit school inMerseyside , he headed for Ireland at an early age, and helpedRichard Mulcahy ,Patrick Pearse and other members of theIRB to infiltrate theGaelic League , helping to force out the founder of the League,Douglas Hyde in 1915, the same year that aninsurrection was planned for the coming Easter. Beaslaí fought in theEaster Rising of 1916, and theIrish War of Independence . During the Irish War of Independence, he helped facilitate a mass escape of rebels from gaol inManchester .He was a cousin of Lily Merin (or Mernin), one of Michael Collins' moles in
Dublin Castle , who passed much useful information to Collins, and pointed out undercover targets in the street. [Coogan, p. 83.]Later Béaslaí became director of publicity for IRA, and at the 1918 general election he was elected to the First Dáil Éireann as
Sinn Féin TD forKerry East . At the 1921 general election he was returned to the2nd Dáil as a Sinn FéinTeachta Dála forKerry–Limerick West .He was re-elected in the 1922 election as a pro-Treaty Sinn Féin candidate.
He did not contest the 1923 election, and in his latter years he dedicated himself to literature. He wrote a book about his experiences titled "Michael Collins and the Making of a New Ireland" (which was published in Dublin in 1926).
He died on 21 June 1965.
He and
Con Collins share a distinction in that they contested and were elected in the three general elections, without a vote being cast in their favour on each occasion.References
External links
* [http://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=1018 Piaras Béaslaí's electoral history] (ElectionsIreland.org)
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