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Thomas Westropp Bennett
Thomas William Westropp Bennett (30 January 1867 – 1 February 1962) was an Irish politician, magistrate and public figure in Irish agriculture.
Born on his father's estate in Ballymurphy in the village of Crecora in County Limerick he was the eldest son (and second of five children) of Captain Thomas Westropp Bennett, a gentleman-farmer, Crimean War veteran and Anne Bennett (née Fitzgerald). One of his younger brothers, George C. Bennett was Cumann na Gaedhael/Fine Gael TD for Limerick County. The Bennetts were an old Limerick family of Protestant gentry who had been resident in Limerick since the 1670s. His father was a Church of Ireland member, but the children followed the Catholic faith of their mother.
Westropp Bennett's ancestors followed the usual occupations of their class: Protestant clergymen, Justice of the Peace (magistrates), landowners or military officers; several cousins (Ensign Thomas Bennett and Lt Joseph Bennett) had fought in the Peninsular War and another, Lt Francis W Bennett, died of wounds after fighting in the Battle of Waterloo. Two maternal ancestors were prominent politicians, Hugh Massy, 2nd Lord Massy of Duntrileague in Henry Grattan's Irish Parliament in the 1780s in both the Irish House of Commons and, later, the Irish House of Lords and General Eyre Massey, first Lord Clarina sat in Grattan's parliament and was later a Union Peer. The family had been politically active at a county level, including a Lord Mayor of Limerick, several Freemen of Limerick and numerous JPs.
Westropp Bennett was educated at Kilkenny College, where he was a contemporary of Admiral of the Fleet, the 1st Earl Beatty (later First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy during World War 1) and the Queen's Service Academy in Dublin but, unusually, did not attend Trinity College Dublin where many of his ancestors had studied. On completion of his education, he returned to the Bennett family's extensive landholdings in Limerick and both farmed and took a prominent role in County Limerick life.
As a magistrate he was active in local government as a district and county councillor and stood for the Westminster Parliament at the January 1910 general election as an Independent Nationalist in West Limerick, with the support of the All-for Ireland League, a non-sectarian alliance of nationalists and unionists, where he came within 70 votes of winning the seat in a close fought contest. His standing in this election reflected a proud family tradition of Irish independence, following on from his ancestor George Bennett, a landed proprietor of Castle Creagh (Gleneffy) House in Limerick, who had signed a petition to Lord Castlereagh in 1799 as a prominent Limerick opponent of the Act of Union.
As Chair of Limerick County Council, where he was a member for the Bruree Division from 1908–1920, he rose to national prominence in a variety of organisations including the Gaelic Language Association, was founder of the Kilmallock show, the Kilmallock Agricultural and Industrial Society and Chair of the Influential Ratepayers Protection Association (1907–11). He was also a member of the District Council for Kilmallock.
A noted agricultural expert, he was on the board of the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society (IAOS) from 1912 where he remained until 1927 with the noted reformer Sir Horace Plunkett. He was elected to the Irish Free State Seanad in 1922 for Cumann na nGaedheal, where he was part of a parliamentary Commission to broker peace in the Irish Civil War.
He was elected as Leas-Chathaoirleach to Lord Glenavy in 1925 and as Cathaoirleach (Chair) of the Senate in 1928, he was vigorous in defending constitutionalism in Irish life during a turbulent time and was engaged in a very high-profile contest with the President of the Executive Council Éamon de Valera in 1935 during the campaign to abolish the Seanad, in which he was assisted by his brother George C. Bennett, a Teachta Dála (TD) in Fine Gael and later Senator. Following the abolition of the senate in 1936 he did not hold public office again, but remained a prominent figure in farming and agricultural circles.
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Thomas Westropp Bennett
Thomas William Westropp Bennett (30 January 1867 – 1 February 1962) was an Irish politician, magistrate and public figure in Irish agriculture.
Born on his father's estate in Ballymurphy in the village of Crecora in County Limerick he was the eldest son (and second of five children) of Captain Thomas Westropp Bennett, a gentleman-farmer, Crimean War veteran and Anne Bennett (née Fitzgerald). One of his younger brothers, George C. Bennett was Cumann na Gaedhael/Fine Gael TD for Limerick County. The Bennetts were an old Limerick family of Protestant gentry who had been resident in Limerick since the 1670s. His father was a Church of Ireland member, but the children followed the Catholic faith of their mother.
Westropp Bennett's ancestors followed the usual occupations of their class: Protestant clergymen, Justice of the Peace (magistrates), landowners or military officers; several cousins (Ensign Thomas Bennett and Lt Joseph Bennett) had fought in the Peninsular War and another, Lt Francis W Bennett, died of wounds after fighting in the Battle of Waterloo. Two maternal ancestors were prominent politicians, Hugh Massy, 2nd Lord Massy of Duntrileague in Henry Grattan's Irish Parliament in the 1780s in both the Irish House of Commons and, later, the Irish House of Lords and General Eyre Massey, first Lord Clarina sat in Grattan's parliament and was later a Union Peer. The family had been politically active at a county level, including a Lord Mayor of Limerick, several Freemen of Limerick and numerous JPs.
Westropp Bennett was educated at Kilkenny College, where he was a contemporary of Admiral of the Fleet, the 1st Earl Beatty (later First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy during World War 1) and the Queen's Service Academy in Dublin but, unusually, did not attend Trinity College Dublin where many of his ancestors had studied. On completion of his education, he returned to the Bennett family's extensive landholdings in Limerick and both farmed and took a prominent role in County Limerick life.
As a magistrate he was active in local government as a district and county councillor and stood for the Westminster Parliament at the January 1910 general election as an Independent Nationalist in West Limerick, with the support of the All-for Ireland League, a non-sectarian alliance of nationalists and unionists, where he came within 70 votes of winning the seat in a close fought contest. His standing in this election reflected a proud family tradition of Irish independence, following on from his ancestor George Bennett, a landed proprietor of Castle Creagh (Gleneffy) House in Limerick, who had signed a petition to Lord Castlereagh in 1799 as a prominent Limerick opponent of the Act of Union.
As Chair of Limerick County Council, where he was a member for the Bruree Division from 1908–1920, he rose to national prominence in a variety of organisations including the Gaelic Language Association, was founder of the Kilmallock show, the Kilmallock Agricultural and Industrial Society and Chair of the Influential Ratepayers Protection Association (1907–11). He was also a member of the District Council for Kilmallock.
A noted agricultural expert, he was on the board of the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society (IAOS) from 1912 where he remained until 1927 with the noted reformer Sir Horace Plunkett. He was elected to the Irish Free State Seanad in 1922 for Cumann na nGaedheal, where he was part of a parliamentary Commission to broker peace in the Irish Civil War.
He was elected as Leas-Chathaoirleach to Lord Glenavy in 1925 and as Cathaoirleach (Chair) of the Senate in 1928, he was vigorous in defending constitutionalism in Irish life during a turbulent time and was engaged in a very high-profile contest with the President of the Executive Council Éamon de Valera in 1935 during the campaign to abolish the Seanad, in which he was assisted by his brother George C. Bennett, a Teachta Dála (TD) in Fine Gael and later Senator. Following the abolition of the senate in 1936 he did not hold public office again, but remained a prominent figure in farming and agricultural circles.