Patrick Lindsay (politician)

Patrick J. Lindsay (18 January 1914 – 29 June 1993) was a senior Irish politician and lawyer. He was born in Dublin but before his second birthday, his family returned to their native County Mayo, settling in the village of Doolough. He received his primary education at Gweesalia National School, and attended secondary school at St. Muiredach's College, Ballina.

He subsequently attended University College Galway, where he studied ancient classics, between 1933 and 1937, graduating with an M.A. He was a noted figure in the college - a gifted orator, he served on the committee of the Literary and Debating Society, and took part in the productions of the Drama Society. He was also a leader of the Blueshirt movement while in college.

Lindsay subsequently became a teacher of classics at the Royal School, Cavan, and later at schools in Dublin. He studied law at the King's Inns, and was called to the Irish Bar in 1946. He married Moya Brady in 1952.

He was first elected to Dáil Éireann on his fifth attempt, at the 1954 general election as a Fine Gael TD for Mayo North in the 15th Dáil. He was re-elected at the 1957 election, but lost his seat at the 1961 general election, after which he was elected to the 10th Seanad by the Industrial and Commercial Panel. He became "Leas-Cathaoirleach" (deputy chairman) of the Seanad.

Linday returned to the 18th Dáil at the 1965 general election, but lost his seat at the 1969 general election, when he switched constituency to Dublin North Central. He was again unsuccessful in the 1973 election.

His ministerial career was brief, lasting only eight months. In July 1956, he was appointed by Taoiseach John A. Costello as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Gaeltacht and to the Minister for Education in the Second Inter-Party Government. In October 1956, he was promoted to the cabinet as Minister for the Gaeltacht, serving until March 1957, when Fianna Fáil returned to power in the 1957 general election. On his return to the Dáil in 1965, he was appointed Fine Gael spokesman on transport and power.

Lindsay had become a Senior Counsel in 1954, and following the loss of his parliamentary seat in 1969, he devoted himself full-time to his practice at the bar, becoming a leading figure in criminal law. In 1975, he was appointed to the position of Master of the High Court, from which he retired on his seventieth birthday in January 1984.

Lindsay served as chairman of "Cumann Céimithe na Gaillimhe", the University College Galway Graduate Association, during the 1980s. He published his memoirs in 1992. He died on 29 June 1993.

ources

*Obituary, "The Irish Times", 30 June 1993.
*Oireachtas-database

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