James Crowley

Who was James Crowley?

James Crowley was an Irish nationalist politician and veterinary surgeon. He was born in County Kerry. He was a member of the Irish Volunteers. He was elected at the 1918 general election as a Sinn Féin MP for the Kerry North constituency. In January 1919, Sinn Féin MPs refused to recognise the Parliament of the United Kingdom and instead assembled at the Mansion House in Dublin as a revolutionary parliament called Dáil Éireann. At the official roll call, Crowley was marked "fé ghlas ag Gallaibh".

During the War of Independence he was interned in the Curragh Camp. He was elected at the 1921 elections as a Sinn Féin Teachta Dála for Kerry–Limerick West and was released after the truce. He supported the Anglo-Irish Treaty and voted in favour of it. He was re-elected at the 1922 general election as a Sinn Féin TD and subsequently as a Cumann na nGaedheal TD at the 1923 general election for the Kerry constituency. He lost his seat at the 1932 general election and retired from politics.