A NEW limited edition book of unpublished papers of former Westminster MP Cahir Healy has been launched.
The book, ‘Cahir Healy- Irish Patriot and Man of Letters’ is edited by his grandson Brian Leavy. It carries selected literary and political writings throughout his life, including chapters on ‘The Leader of the Orangemen’, My Days on an Ulster Prison ship’ and ‘The Mutation of a Nation: The Story of the Partition of Ireland’.
Cahir Healy MP lived most of his life in Enniskillen, during which time he represented Fermanagh and South Tyrone at both Stormont and Westminster.
Former Irish President Mary McAleese in her foreward said, “The name Cahir Healy evokes for me childhood memories of a men revered. To describe him as a politician and leave it at that is to miss the breadth, depth and reach of the man and his formidable influence on the generations who lived through the most cathartic period of modern Irish history. He was a man of passionate commitment to his country.”
During his early career he worked as a journalist in Enniskillen for ‘The Fermanagh News’ based at East Bridge Street, later to become the residence of the YMCA. He was also a frequent contributor to the Fermanagh Herald.
During his stay in Enniskillen he met Catherine Creswell and in 1896 they married and went to live in Killarney, Co Kerry, where he worked as a solicitor’s clerk. But he returned to journalism with the ‘Roscommon Herald’ and later the ‘Sligo Champion’.
When his first child was born in Enniskillen in 1897 he decided to return to the island town and got a job as a local agent for the Refuge Assurance and remained there until he retired in 1937.
He joined Sinn Fein in 1905 and in 1921 backed the Treaty, believing that Article 12 would be enforced by the British. After the Agreement of 1925 between Dublin and Westminster Governments he moved his allegiance to de Valera. At the setting up of the Free State government, Collins offered him a position of Secretary in the Department of Education, but he declined the offer. he stated then that he would not leave the North while Partition remained.
He was arrested in 1922 and interned on the prison ship ‘Argenta’ for two years along with 300 other internees, including several from Fermanagh. He was elected as an MP to Westminster while still interned, which launched him on a long career as a parliamentary representative.
In his early days he was one of those that organised the Gaelic League and GAA in Fermanagh. He was the first Chairman of the GAA County Board in Fermanagh and became vice-Chairman of the first Provincial Council of the GAA and the following year was appointed Chairman.
The limited edition isn’t available in book shops at present.
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