Ned Cronin

Edward "Ned" J. Cronin (1897–1946),[1] known simply as Ned Cronin was an Irish army officer, senior member of Fine Gael and a leader of the Blueshirts.

Ned Cronin
Ned Cronin in blueshirt attire
Personal details
Born1897
Charleville, County Cork, Ireland [1]
Died1946[2]
Shandrum, Newtownshandrum, County Cork
NationalityIrish
Political partyFine Gael
Military service
RankCommandant
Unit
Battles/wars

Personal life

He was the son of John and Johanna Cronin. One of his children, Noel died in 1930 aged 10 months.[3]

Biography

He supported the Anglo-Irish Treaty and joined the Free state army, he was made a Commandant.[4]

He was a founding member of the Blueshirts and was made its General secretary.[5] It was Cronin who suggested that they adopt the now iconic blue uniform so that they could recognise each other during riots.[6]

He was co-Vice president of Fine Gael along with W. T. Cosgrave and James Dillon.[7]

When Eoin O'Duffy, the former leader of the Blueshirts resigned as leader of Fine Gael he attempted to retake his old position. Cronin refused to accept this and the Blueshirts split into two factions, the pro-Cronin faction and the pro-O’Duffy faction.[8][9]

Cronin opposed the formation of the Irish Brigade for the purposes of fighting in the Spanish Civil War, saying it had as much chance to reach Zaragoza as it did of reaching the moon.[10]

He emigrated to England after financial problems caused by his involvement in the Blueshirts. The Taoiseach John A. Costello invited him back to serve as an adviser to the government but he died on the trip over.[7] He was buried in Shandrum, Newtownshandrum, County Cork.[3]

References
  1. http://idnc.library.illinois.edu/cgi-bin/illinois?a=d&d=DIL19341214.2.118
  2. https://historicgraves.com/shandrum/co-shan-0205/grave
  3. "Ned Cronin Grave | Shandrum, CO-SHAN-0205". historicgraves.com.
  4. Coogan, Tim Pat (2002). The IRA. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 69. ISBN 9780312294168. ned cronin.
  5. Cronin, M.; Regan, J. (2000). Ireland: The Politics of Independence, 1922-49. Palgrave Macmillan UK. p. 65. ISBN 9780230535695.
  6. Lee, Joseph (19 October 1989). Ireland, 1912-1985: Politics and Society. Cambridge University Press – via Google Books.
  7. Coogan, Tim Pat (1 December 2009). Ireland In The 20th Century. Random House – via Google Books.
  8. "Eoin O'Duffy's Blueshirts and the Abyssinian crisis". History Ireland. 12 February 2013.
  9. Broderick, Eugene (2010). Intellectuals and the Ideological Hijacking of Fine Gael, 1932-1938. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 82. ISBN 9781443818803.
  10. http://www.limerickcity.ie/media/Media,4158,en.pdf
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