Seán MacSwiney

Seán MacSwiney (19 March 1878 – 22 January 1942) was an officer in the Irish Republican Army and Sinn Féin politician.

Biography He was born at 23 North Main Street, Cork city to John McSwiney, a tobacco manufacturer, and Mary Wilkinson. He was the brother of Terence MacSwiney and Mary MacSwiney.

In 1914, he was in Canada, where spent time in custody as a result of his activities against conscription when it was introduced during World War I.

During the Irish War of Independence, he served as an officer in Cork No 1 Brigade in the Irish Republican Army. His sister Mary was elected for the Cork Borough constituency at the same election. Captured in 1921, he was sentenced to death, later commuted to 15 years' penal servitude. A few months into his sentence, in April 1921, he escaped from Spike Island. In 1933, standing on a Republican ticket, he was elected to Cork Corporation.

He died, aged 63, at Glenvera private hospital, Cork.