Thomas Derrig

Thomas Derrig
Minister for Lands
In office 13 June 1951 – 2 June 1954
Preceded by	Joseph Blowick
Succeeded by	Joseph Blowick
In office 8 September 1939 – 2 July 1943
Preceded by	Gerald Boland
Succeeded by	Seán Moylan
Minister for Education
In office 18 June 1940 – 18 February 1948
Preceded by	Éamon de Valera
Succeeded by	Richard Mulcahy
In office 9 March 1932 – 8 September 1939
Preceded by	John M. O'Sullivan
Succeeded by	Seán T. O'Kelly
Minister for Posts and Telegraphs
In office 8 September 1939 – 27 September 1939
Preceded by	Oscar Traynor
Succeeded by	Patrick Little
Personal details
Born	(1897-11-26)26 November 1897 Westport, County Mayo, Ireland
Died	19 November 1956(1956-11-19) (aged 58) Dublin, Ireland
Nationality	Irish
Political party	Fianna Fáil
Spouse(s)	Sinéad Derrig
Alma mater	University College Galway
Occupation	Teacher

Thomas Derrig (Irish: Tomás Ó Deirg; 26 November 1897 – 19 November 1956) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician.^[1]

Early life and career

Derrig was born on 26 November 1897, in County Mayo. He was educated locally and at University College Galway. During his time in college he organised a corps of the Irish Volunteers. After the 1916 Easter Rising he was arrested and imprisoned. After his release he graduated from college and became headmaster in a technical college in Mayo. During the Irish War of Independence Derrig was interned at the Curragh Camp. While there he was elected a Sinn Féin Teachta Dála (TD) for Mayo North and West.^[2]

Derrig took the republican side during the Irish Civil War. He was later captured by the Irish Free State army. While in custody of the Criminal Investigation Department he was severely injured, having an eye shot out by CID detectives.

Political career

At the June 1927 general election he was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil TD for Carlow–Kilkenny. In Éamon de Valera's first government in 1932 Derrig was appointed Minister for Education. Derrig initiated a review of industrial and reformatory schools and the rules under the Children Act 1908, resulting in the critical 1936 Cussen Report, which he shelved. His lack of action was noted in 2009 when the Ryan Report examined the subsequent management of these "residential institutions"; Derrig was the first minister to seek a report that could have resulted in much-needed reforms. It has been suggested that he did not want to follow British law reforms in the 1920s and 1930s because of his strong anti-British views, and that Irish children had suffered needlessly as a result.^[3]

From 1939 to 1943 he served as Minister for Lands. He was re-appointed to Education in 1943 until 1948. During this period a bitter teachers' strike, involving the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO), took place, lasting from 20 March to 30 October. Between 1951 and 1954 he became Minister for Lands again.

Thomas Derrig died in Dublin on 19 November 1956, seven days before his 59th birthday.

References

External links

• Obituary, Connaught Telegraph, 24 November 1956 (Mayo County Library)