Thomas J. Fitzpatrick (Cavan politician)

This article is about the Fine Gael minister. Not to be confused with Fianna Fáil TD Thomas J. Fitzpatrick (Dublin politician).

Thomas J. Fitzpatrick
Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann
In office 14 December 1982 – 10 March 1987
Deputy	John Ryan
Preceded by	John O'Connell
Succeeded by	Seán Treacy
Minister for Fisheries and Forestry
In office 30 June 1981 – 9 March 1982
Taoiseach	Garret FitzGerald
Preceded by	Paddy Power
Succeeded by	Brendan Daly
Minister for Transport and Power
In office 2 December 1976 – 5 July 1977
Taoiseach	Liam Cosgrave
Preceded by	Peter Barry
Succeeded by	Pádraig Faulkner
Minister for Lands
In office 14 March 1973 – 2 December 1976
Taoiseach	Liam Cosgrave
Preceded by	Seán Flanagan
Succeeded by	Paddy Donegan
Teachta Dála
In office June 1977 – June 1989
Constituency	Cavan–Monaghan
In office April 1965 – June 1977
Constituency	Cavan
Senator
In office 14 December 1961 – 7 April 1965
Constituency	Labour Panel
Personal details
Born	(1918-02-14)14 February 1918 Clones, County Monaghan, Ireland
Died	2 October 2006(2006-10-02) (aged 88) Cavan, Ireland
Political party	Fine Gael
Spouses	Elizabeth Cullen ​ ​ (m. 1946; died 1951)​ Carmel McDonald ​ (m. 1973)​
Children	3
Alma mater	University College Dublin

Thomas James Fitzpatrick (14 February 1918 – 2 October 2006) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann from 1982 to 1987, Minister for Fisheries and Forestry from 1981 to 1982, Minister for Transport and Power from 1976 to 1977 and Minister for Lands from 1973 to 1976. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1965 to 1989. He was a Senator for the Labour Panel from 1961 to 1965.

Early life

Fitzpatrick was born and raised in the village of Scotshouse, near Clones, in the west of County Monaghan, being born in February 1918. He was educated at St. Macartan's College, the Incorporated Law Society and University College, Dublin (UCD), where he qualified as a solicitor; he then entered practice as a solicitor in Cavan town.

Politics

Fitzpatrick first held political office in 1950, when he was elected to Cavan Urban District Council. In 1961, he moved to national politics when he was elected to Seanad Éireann. He was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fine Gael Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cavan constituency at the 1965 general election. He held many Opposition Front Bench portfolios including Defence, Health and Social Welfare, Justice and the Environment, as well as being Fine Gael Chief Whip from 1979 to 1981.

Fitzpatrick served in the Irish Government on several occasions under Liam Cosgrave and Garret FitzGerald. His first government post was in 1973, when he was appointed Minister for Lands. After Fine Gael lost power in 1977, he was mentioned as a possible leader of the party if a compromise were needed between FitzGerald and Cosgrave. Following the November 1982 general election, he was elected as Ceann Comhairle, a post which he held until 1987. Fitzpatrick was re-elected to the Dáil (or automatically returned as Ceann Comhairle) at every election until 1989 when he retired from politics.