Neal Blaney (5 November 1889 – 30 October 1948) was an IrishFianna Fáil politician, and long-serving member of the Oireachtas.[1]
Early life and revolutionary period
Neal Blaney was born in Rosnakill, County Donegal, the fifth of six children of William Blaney, a small farmer, and Anna Blaney (née Sweeney).[2] In 1913 Blaney joined the Irish Volunteers in Rosnakill and in 1914 was appointed company captain. He was the first president of the Rosnakill branch of Sinn Féin (founded 1916), and was active in Joseph O'Doherty's 1918 general election campaign. In 1920 he was appointed officer in charge of the Fanad Battalion, 1st Northern Division of the Irish Republican Army.[2] Arrested on 18 March 1921, Blaney was sentenced to seven years penal servitude and imprisoned at Durham Prison, England until his release in January 1922 following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. During the Irish Civil War, Blaney was second-in-command of Anti-Treaty IRA Donegal no. 2 Brigade before being captured by Free State forces in December 1922. His death sentence for possession of a firearm was commuted after the ceasefire order, and he was released in June 1924.[2] Blaney applied to the Irish government for a service pension under the Military Service Pensions Act, 1934 and was awarded 7 and 23/24 years service in 1937 at Grade C for his service with the Irish Volunteers and the IRA between 1 April 1917 and 30 September 1923. [3]