Patrick Belton

For his son Patrick, see Paddy Belton.

Patrick Belton (1885 – 30 January 1945) was an Irish politician, anti-communist and leader of the Irish Christian Front. Belton provided a strong Catholic voice in an Irish nationalist context throughout his 20th century career. Supportive of General Francisco Franco and an activist in favour of the forces against Bolshevism, Belton however opposed General Eoin O'Duffy taking an Irish Brigade to Spain, feeling that they would be needed in Ireland to counter domestic "political ills". His family, including three sons and a granddaughter (Avril Doyle), also went on to have careers in Irish politics.

Nationalist beginnings

He was born in 1885 in Rathcline, near Lanesborough, County Longford. He attended the local national school and subsequently won a scholarship to King's College, London. Following his education, he stayed in London and entered the Civil Service. He became very friendly with Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins at this time. He was a prominent member of the Geraldines GAA Club in London, and he was for many years its chairman. In 1909 he became Secretary of the London County Board of the GAA.

In 1910 he was transferred to the Irish Land Commission in Dublin. He took part in the 1916 Easter Rising. His obituary in The Longford Leader noted that he "...was associated with Michael Collins and other London comrades when they came to Ireland in 1916 for the Rising. After the Rising he was suspended from the Land Commission on suspicion of having been connected with the event, but was later reinstated". In 1918 he was imprisoned in Crumlin Road Prison ('the Crum') in Belfast, possibly because of his involvement in the National Aid Association.

Events of 1927

In 1927 he was elected as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin County in the June 1927 general election. In the 8-seat constituency, he was the third person to be elected, after Kevin O'Higgins (of Cumann na nGaedheal), who would be assassinated one month later and Major Bryan Cooper. Fianna Fáil, which had been founded in 1926 by Éamonn de Valera, contested Free State elections but its policy was to refuse to take seats in the Dáil; this was because the Oath of Allegiance, agreed in the Treaty, required all TDs to swear inter alia: “I will be faithful to H.M. King George V, his heirs and successors...”

On 26 July 1927, he made headlines by breaking with Fianna Fáil policy, taking the Oath of Allegiance and entering the Dáil (Dan Breen, perhaps surprisingly, had done this on 25 January). The next day's paper quoted him as saying that he was taking his seat in the hope of saving the nation "from the degradation and destruction" which he believed the passage of proposed new legislation would involve. These measures included, in addition to the Electoral Amendment Bill (requiring inter alia that all Dáil candidates take the Oath of Allegiance), a Public Safety Bill incorporating tough new measures, and which was partly a reaction to the assassination on 10 July of Kevin O'Higgins by IRA members. The National Executive of Fianna Fáil expelled him from the party and called on him to resign his seat. Éamon de Valera said: “As for Mr Belton, everybody who was not absolutely blind could see that Mr Belton, since his election, has been manoeuvring for an opportunity to go in and take the oath. He will be alone, however.”

Ironically, on 11 August, De Valera and the 42 other Fianna Fáil TDs had a change of heart and decided to take the Oath after all, characterising it as "merely an empty political formula".

At the time of his dismissal from Fianna Fáil, Belton had been a TD for only six weeks. He subsequently lost his seat in the general election of September 1927 in which he had to stand as an Independent. From this time onward, there was a mutual and obvious enmity between Belton and de Valera.

In 1933, he joined Cumann na nGaedheal and was returned as a TD for Dublin North at the 1933 general election.^[1]

Irish Christian Front

On 22 August 1936, the Irish Independent called for the formation of a committee to help the (pro-Franco) citizens of Spain in their war effort. These calls for support resulted in the formation of the Irish Christian Front (ICF). The ICF held its initial meeting at the Mansion House in Dublin on 31 August 1936. Already a TD, an ambitious and charismatic leader, Belton became the organisation's president. The group had overwhelming support from the general population as well as the backing of the Catholic Church. On ICF platforms would stand local sympathisers, priests, Bishops and local TDs, usually from Fine Gael but some from Fianna Fáil and even the Labour Party. Belton would hold pro-Catholic and anti-communist rallies, drawing an estimated crowd of 30,000 on one occasion. He would publicise the massacres committed by the Spanish Republicans and sent aid and money to Franco's forces.

However Belton, a supporter of nationalist Spain, claimed that the important battle was to be fought at home and not abroad. An ex-Blueshirt, he went as far as opposing Eoin O'Duffy's dispatching of the Irish Brigade in the Spanish Civil War.^[2]

The ICF would dwindle following Belton's loss in the 1937 general election. He was elected as a Fine Gael TD for Dublin County at the 1938 general election, however he once again lost his seat at the 1943 general election.

Belton died on 30 January 1945, at his home, Belleview Park, Killiney, County Dublin. His death prompted The Longford Leader to write as follows: "The regretted death of Mr Patrick Belton has occasioned widespread sympathy throughout the country but particularly in his native county of Longford with his family and relatives. The name of Belton in Dublin has been associated with one of the most remarkable personal undertakings of enterprise and courage in this country in the present century. A veteran of the war of independence, a civil servant in his early days, court-martialled, imprisoned and suffering dismissal because of his national sympathies and activities, the late Mr Belton proceeded on a course of independent enterprise which astonished the greatest financiers of the day. In addition to his great practical undertakings in housing, tillage, dairying and many other pursuits, which provided extensive employment, Mr Belton was a Dáil deputy for a number of years and a Member of Dublin Corporation, County Council and practically every other public body in Dublin"

Three of his four sons – Richard, Jack and Paddy - served as members of the Oireachtas, as did his granddaughter, Avril Doyle.

Quotes

"When our organisations work is complete we will make Ireland a very hot spot for any communist to live in...if it is necessary to be a fascist to defend Christianity then I am a fascist and so are my colleagues." – Irish Independent, 12 October 1936

"I did not agree with the wisdom of Irishmen going out to Spain." – Irish Press (26 November 1936)

References