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P. J. Ruttledge
Ruttledge in 1933
Minister for Local Government and Public Health
In office 8 September 1939 – 14 August 1941
President	Éamon de Valera
Preceded by	Seán T. O'Kelly
Succeeded by	Seán MacEntee
Minister for Justice
In office 8 February 1933 – 8 September 1939
President	Éamon de Valera
Preceded by	James Geoghegan
Succeeded by	Gerald Boland
Minister for Lands and Fisheries
In office 9 March 1932 – 8 February 1933
President	Éamon de Valera
Preceded by	Fionán Lynch
Succeeded by	Joseph Connolly
Vice President of Sinn Féin
In office 11 July 1923 – 16 May 1926
Leader	Éamon de Valera
Preceded by	Arthur Griffith
Succeeded by	John Madden
Teachta Dála
In office August 1923 – 8 May 1952
Constituency	Mayo North
In office May 1921 – August 1923
Constituency	Mayo North and West
Personal details
Born	(1892-01-01)1 January 1892 Ballina, County Mayo, Ireland
Died	8 May 1952(1952-05-08) (aged 60) Galway, Ireland
Political party	Fianna Fáil Sinn Féin (until 1926)
Spouse	Helena Roddy ​(m. 1928)​
Children	4
Education	St Muredach's College St. Enda's School
Alma mater	Trinity College Dublin
Military service
Branch/service	Irish Republican Army Anti-Treaty IRA
Battles/wars	Irish War of Independence Irish Civil War

Patrick Joseph Ruttledge (1 January 1892 – 8 May 1952) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Local Government and Public Health from 1939 to 1941, Minister for Justice from 1933 to 1939, Minister for Lands and Fisheries from 1932 to 1933 and Vice President of Sinn Féin from 1923 to 1926. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1921 to 1951.

Born in Ballina, County Mayo, in 1892. He was educated at St Muredach's College and later at St. Enda's School, Rathfarnham, Dublin, run by Patrick Pearse. After studying at Trinity College Dublin, he qualified as a solicitor in 1918 and built up a practice in his home town.

During the Irish War of Independence he was active in the Irish Republican Army. He was a close friend of Seán Mac Diarmada, with whom he lived for some time. He also took part in local politics, becoming chair of Ballina Urban Council from 1919 to 1932 and chair of Mayo County Council from 1922 to 1926.

He was first elected to Dáil Éireann in 1921 as a Sinn Féin TD for Mayo North and West. He opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 and joined the Republican forces and was seriously injured during the Civil War. He was re-elected to the Dáil again in 1923 for Mayo North and in a further ten elections until 1951. In 1926, Ruttledge was a founder-member of Fianna Fáil. In the Dail (in 1928) Ruttledge put forth a proposal for a committee to review the many long prison sentences under which many Republicans were still being held. He stated that the long sentences "reflected a partisan spirit in keeping with the vendetta by prominent political leaders at the time."

Cabinet Positions

He joined the cabinet of Éamon de Valera in 1932, serving as Minister for Lands and Fisheries, Minister for Justice and Minister for Local Government and Public Health, resigning in 1941 for the officially stated reason of "ill health". However, it is speculated by some historians that his actual motivation for the resignation was that he morally objected to the execution of IRA members by the Fianna Fáil government. Ruttledge continued to work as TD for over a decade after his resignation despite his "ill health".

Minister of Justice

During Ruttledge's tenure as Minister for Justice, three IRA men were executed for IRA activities but eight others had their death sentences commuted. Ruttledge worked to suppress a movement he considered to be fascist (the Blueshirts). In February 1933 he had their leader Eoin O'Duffy removed from his position as the Commissioner of the Irish national police force - the Garda Síochána. In 1934 Ruttledge introduced anti-fascist legislation that would prevent the Blueshirts from wearing their uniforms in public (also known as the Blueshirts Bill). In 1937 Ruttledge banned the annual IRA Easter Rising commemoration in Castlebar, County Mayo. Violence ensued with police baton charging marchers with numerous injuries and 13 arrests for Civil Disobedience (including future hunger striker Jack McNeela).

Ruttledge died in 1952 while still a member of the Dáil. He was described by The Irish Times as 'a gentle, kind and upright man'. He married Helena Roddy in 1928, and they had one son who died young and three daughters. A horse breeder, he was a member of the Turf Club and won the Irish Derby with Mondragon in 1939.

References

1. "Patrick Ruttledge". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 7 November 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
2. Coleman, Marie. "Ruttledge, Patrick Joseph". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
3. ^ "Obituary: Mr P. J. Ruttledge, T. D.", The Irish Times, 9 May 1952.
4. "Patrick J. Ruttledge". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 12 April 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
5. Thorne, Kathleen (2019). Echoes of Their Footsteps Volume Three. Oregon: Generation Organization. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-692-04283-0.
6. Ó Beacháin, Donnacha (12 November 2010). Destiny of the Soldiers – Fianna Fáil, Irish Republicanism and the IRA, 1926–1973: The History of Ireland's Largest and Most Successful Political Party. Gill Books. ISBN 9780717151660. Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
7. O'Donnell, Ian (9 November 2017). Justice, Mercy, and Caprice: Clemency and the Death Penalty in Ireland. OUP Oxford. p. 146. ISBN 9780198798477. Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
8. Coleman
9. Thorne, Pg. 242
10. "Marriage certificate" (PDF). IrishGenealogy.ie. 31 December 1928. Retrieved 30 April 2024.

External links

• "Rutledge, Patrick J." . Thom's Irish Who's Who . Dublin: Alexander Thom and Son Ltd. 1923. p. 224  – via Wikisource.

• British Army intelligence file for Patrick J Ruttledge

• 1892 births
• 1952 deaths
• Early Sinn Féin TDs
• Fianna Fáil TDs
• Members of the 2nd Dáil
• Members of the 3rd Dáil
• Members of the 4th Dáil
• Members of the 5th Dáil
• Members of the 6th Dáil
• Members of the 7th Dáil
• Members of the 8th Dáil
• Members of the 9th Dáil
• Members of the 10th Dáil
• Members of the 11th Dáil
• Members of the 12th Dáil
• Members of the 13th Dáil
• Members of the 14th Dáil
• Politicians from County Mayo
• Irish Republican Army (1919–1922) members
• Irish Republican Army (1922–1969) members
• Ministers for health of Ireland
• Ministers for justice of Ireland
• People educated at St. Enda's School
• Alumni of Trinity College Dublin