- Austin Stack
Austin Stack (7 December 1879 – 27 April 1929) was an Irish revolutionary.
Austin Stack was born in Ballymullen,
Tralee ,County Kerry . He was educated at the Christian Brothers School in Tralee. At the age of fourteen he left school and became a clerk in a solicitor's office. A giftedGaelic football er, he captained the Kerry team to All-Ireland glory in 1904. He also served as President of the KerryGaelic Athletic Association County Board.He became politically active in 1908 when he joined the
Irish Republican Brotherhood . In 1916, as commandant of the Kerry Brigade of theIrish Volunteers , he made preparations for the landing of arms byRoger Casement . Although he was made aware that Casement was arrested and was being held in Tralee, he made no attempt to rescue Casement from Ballymullen Barracks at this time. District Inspector Kearney (RIC) treated Casement very well and made sure Stack was aware that Casement could so easily have been rescued, yet Stack refused to move. He (Stack) was arrested and sentenced to death for his involvement, however, this was later commuted topenal servitude for life. Stack was released under general amnesty in June 1917 and was elected as an abstenionistSinn Féin Member of Parliament for Kerry West in the 1918 Westminster election, becoming a member of the 1st Dáil. He was automatically elected as an abstenionist member of theHouse of Commons of Southern Ireland and a member of the 2nd Dáil as a Sinn FéinTeachta Dála forKerry–Limerick West in theIrish elections, 1921 .He opposed the
Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, and took part in the subsequent Civil War. He was captured in 1923 and went onhunger strike for forty-one days before being released in July 1924.He was elected to the
3rd Dáil at the 1922 general election and subsequent elections as a Anti-Treaty Sinn Féin TD for the Kerry constituency. WhenÉamon de Valera foundedFianna Fáil in 1926, Stack remained withSinn Féin being re-elected to theDáil in the June 1927 general election. He did not contest the September 1927 general electionStack's health never recovered after his
hunger strike and he died in aDublin hospital on 27 April 1929, aged 49.Austin Stack Park in his home town ofTralee , one of theGaelic Athletic Association 's stadiums, is named in his honour.Political career
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