Piaras Beaslaí - the only Kerry TD present for the first meeting of Dáil Éireann

One of the four MPs returned for Kerry at the 1918 general election, Percy Frederick Beasley or Piaras Beaslaí as he was better-known, was born in Liverpool on 15 February 1881 and fought in the Easter Rising in Dublin in 1916 and in the War of Independence.

His father, also Pierce, was a native of Kerry and was the editor of the Catholic Times newspaper in England. The family moved to Dublin in 1906 and Piaras worked as a journalist with many newspapers including the Irish Independent and the Freeman’s Journal. 

An acquaintance of Michael Collins, Beasley was active in the Gaelic League as well as the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), serving in jail for a period in 1918. He is credited in some sources as having given the name ‘Oglaigh na hÉireann’ to the IRB.

 

Meeting of the First Dáil - 21 January 1919

Beaslaí was elected a Sinn Féin MP for East Kerry at the general election in 1918 and like his fellow party members decided not to take up his seat at Westminster, joining instead the first Dáil in January 1919. He was the only one of the four TDs representing Kerry to be present at its first sitting on 21 January; the other three – Austin Stack (West Kerry), James Crowley (North Kerry) and Fionán Lynch (South Kerry) – were all in prison at the time. 

Beasley was responsible for translating the Democratic Programme of the First Dáil into Irish and read it aloud at its first meeting in 1919.

Beaslaí was elected in 1921 for the newly formed constituency of Kerry-Limerick West and again in 1922 as a pro-Treaty candidate. He did not contest the 1923 election. He became a major general in the Free State Army and was Head of Press Censorship but he left the army in 1924. He is credited with having coined the phrase ‘Irregulars’ to describe those opposed to the Anglo-Irish Treaty.

Beaslaí was also renowned as a poet, novelist and author. Among his publications was ‘Michael Collins and the Making of a New Ireland’ (two volumes, 1926) which is still available in print. National Archives files on Beasley suggest that he was mooted as a candidate for the presidency in 1945. The Archives acquired his papers after his death and total some 17,000 different documents.

Beasley continued to pursue a literary career and contributed columns to a number of national newspapers in the 1950s. He died on 21 June 1965 and is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery in the same grave as Peadar Kearney and fellow Kerry man Thomas Ashe.

The only woman ever to serve as a Fianna Fáil TD for Kerry North

A native of Athea in County Limerick, Kit Ahern (neé Liston) holds the distinction of having been the only woman ever to serve as a Fianna Fáil TD in the constituency of Kerry North. Active in Fianna Fáil from a young age, she entered politics at a time when Fianna Fáil in Kerry North was a stronghold of the McEllistrim dynasty and an emerging force in local politics, Denis Foley from Tralee, who ultimately displaced her in the Dáil in 1981.

Born on 13 January 1915 to Paddy and Mary Ann Liston, she studied at the National College of Art and Design and qualified as an art teacher. She married Dan Ahern from Athea in 1941 and

Kit Ahern

joined the Women’s Home Guard and the Irish Countrywomen’s Association.

Ahern was first elected to Kerry County Council in 1967 at the top of the poll in the Listowel Electoral Area. She became the first ever female chairperson of the Council in 1977. The only other women ever to hold that post were Mary O’Donoghue from Caherciveen, mother of the former Ceann Comhairle and minister, John O’Donoghue and Sinn Féin councillor, Toiréasa Ferris, daughter of Martin Ferris TD.

She was nominated to Seanad Éireann by An Taoiseach Sean Lemass on 25 November 1964 to replace the late senator Pádraig Ó Siochfhradha (also known as ‘An Seabhac’) who was from Dingle. Her first general election outing came at the 1965 election, as a running mate to Thomas McEllistrim Jnr. She failed to win a seat but secured a nomination from Fianna Fáil again in 1969 and 1973, with her percentage of the vote increasing on each occasion.

Ahern retained her Seanad seat in 1969, on this occasion being elected on the Cultural and Educational Panel. Again, following defeat at the general election of 1973, she was re-elected to the Seanad. She was defeated for the position of Leas Cathaoirleach on 20 June 1973 by Fine Gael’s Evelyn Owens.

The Jack Lynch-led Fianna Fáil landslide of 1977 propelled Ahern into the Dáil with a vote (20.29%) almost as high as the well-established McEllistrim (20.98%). Her time in the Dáil was short however and she was defeated at the 1981 general election. She decried the fact that the two other Fianna Fáil candidates in that election, McEllistrim and Denis Foley “came into my territory and never left it” during the campaign.[1]

Ahern later moved to Ballybunion and did not contest another general election and in 1985 left Fianna Fáil to join the newly formed Progressive Democrats under Des O’Malley. Ahern was an Irish language enthusiast and remained active in the Irish Countrywomen’s Association, serving as its national president from 1961 to 1964. She also served for a time on the board of Bord Fáilte. 

At the time of her death 27 December 2007 aged 92 years, Ahern was the oldest surviving former member of the Oireachtas.

Kit Ahern is one of only two Kerry North TDs to have a road named after them (Kit Ahern Road in Ballybunion), the only other being Dan Spring (Dan Spring Road in Tralee).

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[1] The Kerryman, 19 June 1981