Michael Tierney (politician)

Michael Tierney
Seanad Éireann
In office 27 April 1938 – 18 August 1944
Constituency	National University
Teachta Dála
In office September 1927 – February 1932
Constituency	National University
In office March 1925 – June 1927
Constituency	Mayo North
Personal details
Born	(1894-09-30)30 September 1894 Castleblakeney, County Galway, Ireland
Died	10 May 1975(1975-05-10) (aged 80) Dublin, Ireland
Political party	Fine Gael
Other political affiliations	Cumann na nGaedheal Blueshirts
Spouse	Eibhlín MacNeill
Children	7
Relatives	Eoin MacNeill (father-in-law)
Education	St Joseph's College, Ballinasloe
Alma mater	University College Dublin

Michael Tierney (30 September 1894 – 10 May 1975) was Professor of Greek at University College Dublin (UCD) from 1923 to 1947 and President of UCD between 1947 and 1964, and was also a Cumann na nGaedheal (and later Fine Gael) politician.

Biography

Tierney was born in 1894 in the townland of Esker, near Castleblakeney, County Galway, the son of Michael Tierney, a farmer, and Bridget Finn. He attended St Joseph's College, Ballinasloe, and entered UCD in October 1911. He graduated in 1914 with a first-class honours degree in Ancient Classics. Two years later he was awarded his MA degree, and he worked as an assistant lecturer in Greek from 1918 to 1919 and 1920 to 1922. In 1917 he won a National University of Ireland (NUI) travelling studentship in Classics and used it to study in the Sorbonne, British School at Athens and Berlin from 1919 to 1921. He was appointed to the Chair of Greek in 1922.

Tierney was elected a Cumann na nGaedheal Teachta Dála (TD) for Mayo North in a by-election in 1925 and for the NUI constituency in 1927, a seat he held until 1932.

Tierney came to corporatism through a study of Catholic social thought, and through an analysis of continental systems of corporatism, particularly those of Portugal and Austria. He was an early member of the Army Comrades Association (later known as the Blueshirts) and, along with Ernest Blythe, encouraged Eoin O'Duffy to become the leader. Tierney suggested the name "Fine Gael" for a merger between his party, the Centre Party and the Blueshirts.

He was a member of Seanad Éireann from 1938 to 1944. He was the prime mover behind the transfer of UCD to its present site at Belfield.

On 28 June 1923, he married Eibhlín MacNeill, daughter of Eoin MacNeill; they had five sons and two daughters. He wrote a biography of his father-in-law, Eoin MacNeill: scholar and man of action (1980).

External links

• "Papers of Michael Tierney (1894–1975)". UCD Archives. University College Dublin. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
• Tierney/MacNeill Photographs, collection of over 500 images, the largest parts of the collection relate to the political and academic careers of Eoin MacNeill and his son-in-law Michael Tierney. A UCD Digital Library Collection.