Neal Blaney
Neal Blaney (5 November 1889 – 30 October 1948) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician from County Donegal who spent many years in the Oireachtas.
Born in Rosnakill to a farming family, he joined the Irish Volunteers in 1913 and became a company captain in 1914. He led Sinn Féin in Rosnakill and worked on the 1918 campaign. In 1920 he led the Fanad Battalion of the IRA. He was jailed in England after being arrested in 1921 and released in 1922 after the Anglo-Irish Treaty. In the Civil War he fought on the Anti-Treaty side and was captured in 1922; released in 1924.
Blaney entered politics and was elected TD for Donegal in 1927, serving until 1937. After boundary changes he represented Donegal East until 1938, when he lost the election. He then sat in the Senate from 1938 to 1943. He returned to the Dáil in 1943 and was re-elected in 1944. He died in 1948 of cancer, while still a TD. His son Neil won the by-election to replace him later that year.
He also ran businesses, including the Milford Bakery and the Donegal Bacon Company, and had 11 children with his wife Nora Sweeney, including Neil and Harry; his grandson Niall Blaney later became a TD.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 05:32 (CET).