P. J. Ruttledge

Patrick Joseph Ruttledge (1 January 1892 – 8 May 1952) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Local Government and Public Health from 1939 to 1941, Minister for Justice from 1933 to 1939, Minister for Lands and Fisheries from 1932 to 1933 and Vice President of Sinn Féin from 1923 to 1926. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1921 to 1951.[1]

P. J. Ruttledge
Minister for Local Government and Public Health
In office 8 September 1939 – 14 August 1941
President	Éamon de Valera
Preceded by	Seán T. O'Kelly
Succeeded by	Seán MacEntee
Minister for Justice
In office 8 February 1933 – 8 September 1939
President	Éamon de Valera
Preceded by	James Geoghegan
Succeeded by	Gerald Boland
Minister for Lands and Fisheries
In office 9 March 1932 – 8 February 1933
President	Éamon de Valera
Preceded by	Fionán Lynch
Succeeded by	Joseph Connolly
Vice President of Sinn Féin
In office 11 July 1923 – 16 May 1926
Leader	Éamon de Valera
Preceded by	Arthur Griffith
Succeeded by	John Madden
Teachta Dála
In office May 1921 – August 1923
Constituency	Mayo North and West
In office August 1923 – May 1951
Constituency	Mayo North
Personal details
Born	Patrick Joseph Ruttledge (1892-01-01)1 January 1892 Ballina, County Mayo, Ireland
Died	8 May 1952(1952-05-08) (aged 60) Galway, Ireland
Nationality	Irish
Political party	Fianna Fáil
Spouse(s)	Helena Ruttledge (m. 1920; d. 1951)
Children	4
Education	St Muredach's College St. Enda's School
Alma mater	Trinity College Dublin
Military service
Allegiance	Irish Republic
Branch/service	Anti-Treaty IRA
Battles/wars	Irish War of Independence Irish Civil War

Born in Ballina, County Mayo, in 1892. He was educated at St Muredach's College and later at St. Enda's School, Rathfarnham, Dublin, run by Patrick Pearse. After studying at Trinity College, Dublin, he qualified as a solicitor in 1918 and built up a practice in his home town.[2]

During the Irish War of Independence he was active in the Irish Republican Army. He was a close friend of Seán Mac Diarmada, with whom he lived for some time.[2] He also took part in local politics, becoming chair of Ballina Urban Council from 1919 to 1932 and chair of Mayo County Council from 1922 to 1926.

He was first elected to Dáil Éireann in 1921 as a Sinn Féin TD for Mayo North and West.[3] He opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 and joined the Republican forces and was seriously injured during the Civil War.[2] He was re-elected to the Dáil again in 1923 for Mayo North and in a further ten elections until 1951. In 1926, Ruttledge was a founder-member of Fianna Fáil.

He joined the cabinet of Éamon de Valera in 1932, serving as Minister for Lands and Fisheries, Minister for Justice and Minister for Local Government and Public Health, resigning in 1941 for the officially stated reason of "ill health". However, it is speculated by some historians that his actual motivation for the resignation was that he morally objected to the execution of IRA members by the Fianna Fáil government.[4] During Ruttledge's tenure as Minister for Justice, he had executed 3 men for IRA activity but commuted the death sentences of 8 other men. His successor, Gerald Boland, was much more severe, executing 14 men (although commuted 12). Boland's tally of 14 executions was the most by any Minister of Justice in the history of the Irish state.[5] Ruttledge continued to work as TD for over a decade after his resignation despite his "ill health".

Ruttledge died in 1952 while still a member of the Dáil. He was described by the Irish Times as 'a gentle, kind and upright man'. He married Helena and they had one son Ronan who died young and three daughters. A horsebreeder, he was a member of the Turf Club and won the Irish Derby with Mondragon in 1939.[2]