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Noel Browne

Noël Browne
Minister for Health
In office
1948–1951
Taoiseach John A. Costello
Preceded by James Ryan
Succeeded by John A. Costello
Teachta Dála
In office
1948–1954
Constituency Dublin South-East
In office
1957–1965
Constituency Dublin South-East
In office
1969–1973
Constituency Dublin South-East
In office
1977–1981
Constituency Dublin Artane
In office
1981–1982
Constituency Dublin North-Central
Personal details
Born (1915-12-20)20 December 1915
Waterford, Ireland
Died 21 May 1997(1997-05-21) (aged 81)
Baile na hAbhann, County Galway, Ireland
Political party Clann na Poblachta (resigned)
Fianna Fáil (expelled)
National Progressive Democrats (party dissolved)
Labour Party (resigned)
Socialist Labour Party
Spouse(s) Phyllis Browne

Noël Christopher Browne (20 December 1915 – 21 May 1997) was an Irish politician and doctor. He holds the distinction of being one of only six TDs to be appointed Minister at the start of their first term in the Dáil. His controversial Mother and Child Scheme in effect brought down the First Inter-Party Government of John A. Costello in 1951.

Browne was a well-known but at times highly controversial public representative, and managed to be a TD for five different political parties (two of which he co-founded). These were Clann na Poblachta (resigned), Fianna Fáil (expelled), National Progressive Democrats (co-founder), Labour Party (resigned) and the Socialist Labour Party (co-founder).

Noël Browne was born in Waterford and grew up in Derry, Athlone and Ballinrobe. His mother Mary Therese Cooney was born in 1885 in Hollymount, County Mayo; a plaque has been erected there in her memory. His father worked as an inspector for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and, partly as a result of this work, all of the Browne family became infected with tuberculosis. Both parents died of the disease during the 1920s, and several of Browne's siblings also succumbed. In 1929 he was admitted free of charge to St. Anthony's, a preparatory school in Eastbourne, England. He then won a scholarship to Beaumont College, the Jesuit public school near Old Windsor, Berkshire, where he befriended Neville Chance, a wealthy boy from Dublin. Neville's father, the eminent surgeon Arthur Chance (son of surgeon, Sir Arthur Chance), subsequently paid Browne's way through medical school at Trinity College, Dublin.


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